Lifeboat Covers Now of Plywood

Silenced for the duration is much of the story of the S. S. I{erman F. Whiton as today, like other ships of the merchant marine, she is in war service for the war Shipping Administration. Not until after the victory is won will the public know where she sailed or what arms or food made up her cargoes to the widespread battle fronts.

And in pre-war days she was pretty much an ordinary rtssel. Of 8,800 tons launched in 1919 as a prodding workship, her holds carried a rather ugly cargosulphur from the first, ever made from plywood rather than from canvas, the conventional material. Plywood for such applications aboard ship was a new thing for the seafaring men aboard the Whiton when first installed. Maybe in recent years the owners of other ships have heard of this use for plywood and the advantages of the panels for covers. Maybe other vessels now are fitted out with the wood rather than canvas coverings.

In any event, during the six years the plywood covers ihe vessel wcs qt a west coqst pori being fitted out lor war duty io ccrrry loods crnd munitiong.

Texas through Panama Canal to the pulp mills of the West Coast. Sometimes lumber for Atlantic ports was piled beneath or atop decks on the return voyage. She was owned by Union Sulphur Co.; her home port, New York City.

But even while the freighter trudges along in convoys there is at least one thing about her that warrants attention-and can be discussed. So far as is known, the plywood lifeboat covers which were lashed in place more than six years ago are still covering and protecting those lifeboats.

Those covers may have been the first, certainly among have kept sea water and rain water out of the lifeboats of the Whiton, they have-proved their worth to the officeis of the vessel; Captain W. F. Whelan and First Mate Evans attest to this fact. And when two lifeboats were washed overboard and destroyed in a storm a year ago, the replacements purchased at the next port rvere promptly covered with plywood.

Answers Need

?herein lies one of the claims for using plywood rather

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Manufacluers ol Douglas fir and Red Gedar Shingles

Stecnrrers-Arura than canvas. First Mate Evans pointed out recently, when the Whiton was being converted for war duty, that the ship's carpenter can fashion a plywood cover at his leisure while the boat is underway (the Whiton has several panels of each of several thicknesses of Douglas fir plywood in her storeroom always). With the modern merchant marine not schooled in the use of sailcloth, the job of making a new canvas cover often must await the next port and become a rush job for a sailmaker while the ship unloads or loads.

Buying Office-Beedsport, Ore.

The test aboard the Whiton sailing in the South Atlantic

Installation of lifeboat covers may have served as the opening wedge for taking aboard plywood as part of the stores of the Whiton, and now the ship's carpenter has many uses for the panels. Shower rooms are lined with the Exterior (waterproof) panels. The big panels, painted white, are easy to keep clean. Then there is a large cabinet or storage box for signal flags on the bridge where the flags u'ill be convenient to the signal halyards. Even signal boards, some of them as big as four by six feet and f inch thick, are of plywood.

\?PB Urges Buginessmen to Use Field Of[ices

Washington, Sept. 22.1he War Production Board today again called the attention of businessmen to the fact that whenever they wish to obtain information from WPB they should go to their regional or field offices before coming to Washington.

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Something ncw cbocrrd ahip. \lllhen instclled on lhe S. S. Wbiton six yeqrs ago (this photo talen then), these plywood lileboat covers probcbly were near the equator and northward to the Puget Sound ports in the Pacific proves again that Exterior type fir plywood will withstand all vicissitudes of weather. Inspection of the covers showed neither the sun nor wind-driven saltwater had affected the appearance or the durability of the covers. The Exterior type fir plywood, used for marine and outdoor applications, is bonded with synthetic resins completely waterproof, and the panels will withstand the same abuse as the wood from which they are made. These panels need only the same paint protection accorded any wood surface; aboard the Whiton the plywood covers were painted whenever the cabin and other super-structure of the freighter was given a new coat.

It is believed Captain Whelan was the originator of plywood lifeboat coyers when he ordered them built for his vessel. They are made in sections for ease of installation. These sections are lashed down with only eight ropes, four on each side, and can quickly be torn off in emergency. The panels are .ft-inch thick.

"We have 12 regional and t27 field offices scattered throughout the country," the announcement said. "They were established in order to save businessmen the trouble of coming to Washington, and also to prevent an overload of work in Washington.

"'When a businessman comes to Washington instead of going to his regional or field office he not only undergoes considerable expense and inconvenience himself, but also increases the burden on the men in Washington. Furthermore, the businessman can usually get quicker action in the field."

Rockport Redwood Company Will Rebuild Mill

Announcement is made by the Rockport Redwood Co., San Francisco, that it is the desire of the directors to construct another mill as soon as possible to replace their sawmill at Rockport, Calif., which was destroyed by fire on September 8. The new mill will be of a type that can be put into early production. It is also announced that the company will have call by November 15 on a certain amount of production from another new Redwood mill.

The fire also destroyed the power plant, but the rest of the plant and the lumber stocks were not damaged. Shipments of lumber stocks on hand which can be applied on pending orders have been resumed.