Emergency Fleet Corporation

On 2 April 1917 President Woodrow Wilson cited Germany's refusal to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean in his request for a declaration of war on Germany, and Congress concurred on 2 April 1917. In that April 1,250,000 deadweight tons were sunk, with 122 ocean-going ships sunk in the first two weeks after that declaration of war. British losses in that period equaled an average round-trip voyage loss of 25%. Allied losses before U.S. entry had already been that heavy that yards outside the U.S. struggled to replace losses in a timely manner.

Congress had rejected previous attempts to create a shipping board to manage U.S. maritime affairs, beginning with bills introduced on 4 September 1914. President Wilson repeatedly requested enactment of a shipping act until Representative Joshua W. Alexander introduced House Bill 15455 that became law as the Shipping Act of 1916 (39 Stat. L. 728). That act established the United States Shipping Board headed by five commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. That board had complete control over American ships and shipping. Most importantly with respect to the Emergency Fleet Corporation was its power to form corporations for acquiring, maintaining and operating merchant vessels under certain conditions. Ten days after declaration of war, on 16 April 1917, the Board created the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) in the District of Columbia with a capital stock of $50,000,000.

Early controversy

A fundamental flaw led to early controversy. The Chairman of the United States Shipping Board, William Denman (a lawyer and campaign contributor to Woodrow Wilson), was also head of the EFC with only nominal powers over the EFC with the critical exception of the power to sign contracts. The EFC General Manager, General George Washington Goethals, had all other effective powers without that one crucial power necessary to implement the Corporation's policies. Popular conception of what became the Denman-Goethals controversy involved William Denman's support of wooden ship construction and General Goethals' opposition. That Goethals could not sign contracts while expected to build ships and Denman as President of the Fleet Corporation who could sign contracts had no control over the actual operation of the EFC resulted in the highly public resignation of both men. After the war, the wooden ship program in particular resulted in a large number of hulls with no useful purpose that were then a disposal problem. In retrospect some considered this entire effort a waste. The impractical plan to mass-produce a thousand small wooden steamers was developed by the lawyer William Denman and an amateur yachtsman from Massachusetts (Frederic A. Eustis). Both men convinced Woodrow Wilson of this scheme, and claimed the famous engineer General George Washington Goethals agreed to assist them, the White House announced to the press that Goethals would take the job (without his knowledge). Goethals reluctantly agreed —because his quick resignation would lead to a public relations disaster for the president—, but he soon realized that the plan for building wooden ships was flawed (they were small, slow and could not efficiently be mass-produced). Goethals encouraged ship builders to look into the mass production of steel vessels by fabricating standardized parts across the country, a plan that would eventually be adopted.

Controversies

The EFC was a subject of controversy. The armistice took effect before the yards, Hog Island being by far the largest and most publicized, reached full production and the expense was very large. The wooden ship program in particular resulted in a large number of hulls with no useful purpose that were then a disposal problem. Gearing up for wartime production produced a glut of ships and a market problem with peace. In retrospect some considered the entire effort waste. There were allegations of fraud, with one involving charges and civil suits against Charles W. Morse.

The USSB and EFC are used by both those of the opinion government is too close to industry in collaboration for war projects and those with the view government should stay out of such matters and a source of waste even in national emergency.

Controversial wooden ships

A notable, possibly notorious, project was the wooden, ocean-going steamer. William Denman had been an early proponent of these ships, as the nation had abundant lumber supplies, and there was doubt whether domestic steel production could cope with the demands of shipbuilding in conjunction with other wartime pressures. Both British and U.S. officials considered the ships worthwhile if the ships could make a single, successful one-way voyage to the war. Still, the wooden ship program was so controversial that Edward N. Hurley, Chairman United States Shipping Board, had to defend them in a public speech at the Commodore Hotel in March 1919, then in 1927 in his book "The Bridge to France", within a chapter titled "Wood Ships Were Necessary": "I am convinced that we were amply justified in building the wood ships, although no one wished to assume the responsibility for them because of the criticism and ridicule which they had received."

Some of the several designs are commonly named Ferris designs after Theodore E. Ferris, the official naval architect for the USSB. Ferris designed both steel and wood ships for mass production. The most numerous wooden Ferris type was Design 1001, a wooden 3,500-ton steam freighter with dimensions of approximately 281 X 46 X 23.5 feet (7.2 m) built largely of precut, numbered components of pine or Douglas fir.

There were other wooden ship designs, many unique to regional yards, and a large wooden fleet was built, one that has been called by some the "white elephant" fleet. Some were burned in accidents; however others were burned after the war to recover valuable metals. For example, in 1922 Western Marine and Salvage Company (WM&SC) of Alexandria, Virginia bought 233 such ships for $750,000 so that the ships could have machinery removed in Alexandria and then towed back to the anchorage on the Potomac and burned to regain remaining scrap. That activity brought protests from watermen and the operation was moved in 1924 to 566 acres (2.29 km2) of company owned farmland surrounding Mallows Bay in Maryland.