that the dredge is there, you would be paying a lot more for dredg ing than you are now-and that was by officials of the Navy Department.

CONTINUANCE OF DREDGING PROGRAM ESSENTIAL AT PEARL HARBOR

Mr. UMSTEAD. Admiral, as I understand it, the continuation st present of the dredging program is essential to the security and accommodation of the fleet at Pearl Harbor?

Admiral MOREELL. That is my understanding, Mr. Chairman. However, it is not my function to determine the necessity for installing facilities for the fleet. The Chief of Naval Operations, who has a representative here today, is the official who decides on the necessity for the improvements.

Mr. UMSTEAD. Yes. But the necessity in this case is the justifying cause, I take it.

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir. Capt. C. M. Austin is here, and is prepared to state the justifying reasons for the work at Pearl Harbor. Captain AUSTIN. The development of a deeper channel in the etrance to Pearl Harbor and in the harbor itself is necessary in ord: that the fleet may enter with all types of all ships. Part of the dredging program inside the harbor is necessary in order to have the required berthing space available. The needs for increased water in the harbor have been worked out as a result of a war plan study. Detailed drawings and studies were made of how each and every vessel would be berthed, that we might expect to call into use in the case of an overseas campaign in the area. That berthing space is a part of the program essential to its accomplishment.

CONTRACTS FOR DREDGING IN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

Mr. SCHRUGHAM. Admiral, was the dredge recently brought over there the one named the Hell Gate?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. Have you had any disaster with that dredge since it was taken to Hawaii?

Admiral MOREELL. No, sir; we have not.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. Before you assumed your present post, Admira Morcell, you were located in the Hawaiian Islands?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. And you occupied the position of public works officer out there?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. You were connected with the matter of the maintenance of yards and docks in the Hawaiian Islands?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. Who negotiates the contracts for the dredging in the Hawaiian Islands?

Admiral MOREELL. Those contracts are not negotiated, Govern . The contracts are advertised, as is any other contract for public works, bids are received and opened in the usual manner, and the contract is let to the lowest responsible bidder, provided his bid is a price which appears to be attractive to the Navy Department. Mr. SCRUGHAM. Who awards the contracts?

Admiral MOREELL. The Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks. Mr. THOM. Is it not a fact that Admiral Smith heretofore has testified that by reason of the presence of the dredge in the Hawaiian Islands he was able to negotiate a cheaper contract with the dredging company?

Admiral MOREELL. I think if you will refer to the hearings held last year, Mr. Thom, you will see that Admiral Smith did not go on record as stating positively that the presence of the dredge Hell Gate in Hawaii resulted in the lower bids. I think my memory is correct when I say that Admiral Smith stated that the presence of the Hell Gate probably had an effect but that the difference in working conditions would also have an effect. I believe his statement was not positive.

Mr. THOM. Did you have anything to do with letting the contract for dredging in the Hawaiian Islands during your stay? Admiral MOREELL. No, sir. I was only in Hawaii for a month and 2 days, sir.

Mr. THOM. You are not conversant with the history of the contracts for dredging in the Hawaiian Islands?

Admiral MOREELL. I am conversant with that history, sir, because I was in the Bureau of Yards and Docks before I went out there. However, all of the contracts had been let before I arrived at Pearl Harbor.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. You indicated that the difference in the difficulty of dredging could have been responsible for the lower contract price. What could have been this difference?

Admiral MOREELL. The principal difference is that in the outer reaches of the channel the contractors' equipment was exposed to the hazards and difficult working conditions of severe wave action. This location is practically in the open sea, as you may recall. Then there was a difference in the character of the material. Under one of the current contracts, for which we have a price of 482 cents a cubic yard, there is a larger proportion of soft material than under the previous contracts for work in the channel. Under the other current contract, the work is entirely in soft material and the price is 170 cents per cubic yard. So it is plainly evident that the prices have a direct relation to the character of the material and the hazards.

Mr. THOм. Now, in the particular vicinity where the dredging is to take place under this appropriation for 1939, what do you expect in the way of bids?

Admiral MOREELL. Assuming that all of the dredging is done in the mooring areas, that material, as far as we know now, is very soft, and we expect to get that work accomplished for something less than 20 cents a cubic yard. That will be, probably, all hydraulic dredging. Mr. TнOм. That is all.

MOORING FACILITIES AND ACCESSORIES, NAVY YARD, PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII

Admiral MOREELL. At the Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, we ask, for mooring facilities and accessories, $325,000.

The Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor, is the concentration point for the United States Fleet during maneuvers in the Pacific and adequate and safe anchorage acreas should be provided in the protected harbor to accommodate as much of the fleet as possible, in a manner such

that rapid ingress and egress is possible. The restricted water area of the Pearl Lochs is such that use must be made of all available water areas in order that the greatest number of ships possible caz be berthed.

The project contemplates an extension of the mooring facilitie for which appropriations have been included in past appropriation bills. The moorings consist of buoys spaced at appropriate intervals around the perimeter of the lochs and held in fixed position by anchors and chains so arranged as to keep the ships in fixed pos tions while anchored. Two buoys with the necessary anchors a chains are required for each four to six ships, the buoys being spaced at the required distance apart to allow the ships to be moored by the bows and sterns to prevent swinging. This is required in order to conserve space so as to berth as many ships as possible. The mor ings are located so that the ships head into the prevailing wind to reduce pull on the anchors.

The project will provide for 10 sets of moorings for the accou.modation of 40 ships. This is a continuation of a comprehensive program of moorings which when completed will provide safe archorage for a majority of the combatant ships of the fleet with ther auxiliaries and train. The ultimate cost of the remainder of the mooring program is estimated to be approximately $1,725,000, whic it is proposed to request in regular increments as the dredging » performed in the anchorage areas. The work of placing the moorings is dependent upon and follows the dredging requested in a previous item.

Mr. UMSTEAD. Admiral, did we not appropriate money for tcurrent fiscal year for this project?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir. There was appropriated $500,000 for the establishment of platform moorings on the north side of For: Island.

Mr. UMSTEAD. That is not a part of the item just discussed by you' Admiral MOREELL. No, sir. This item is a continuation of the moor ing program, of which last year's item was a third increment. Mr. UMSTEAD. Then this is not the beginning?

Admiral MOREELL. No, sir. It is a beginning only in the ser that it provides for the beginning of a program of buoy moorings. as contrasted to the platform moorings heretofore installed.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. Are the buoys structures that float or are they concrete piles of a very large size sunk in the harbor?

Admiral MOREELL. These are floating buoys, Governor.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. Anchored at the bottom?

Admiral MOREELL. Anchored at the bottom, with a steel anch and chain which is weighted down with large concrete blocks.

Mr. UMSTEAD. You may go ahead, Admiral, with the next item.

POWER PLANT BUILDING AND ACCESSORIES, EQUIPMENT AND DISTRIBUTING SYSTEMS NAVY YARD, PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII

Admiral MOREELL. We have requested for power-plant building and accessories $500,000 and for the power-plant equipment and ditributing systems $2.250,000. The power-plant building was authorized by Congress by act of April 15, 1935, Public, No. 36. Seventy fourth Congress. The equipment and distributing systems do r require legislative authorization.

The Pearl Harbor Navy Yard is dependent upon its own facilities for the generation of power, including electricity, compressed air and steam for the operation of the repair, docking, and overhaul facilities of the yard. The present connection with the utility company is insufficient to provide for the necessary power requirements of the naval activities in and around Pearl Harbor. The navy yard furnishes all of the necessary power for the outlying activities, including the submarine base, fleet air base, hospital, Marine barracks, and West Loch ammunition shipping depot.

Increased activity at Pearl Harbor renders the existing power plant inadequate to supply the demands for power. The existing equipment is old, inefficient, and more or less obsolete. Some of the units are more than 20 years old and soon will be worn out.

The building is constructed of galvanized, corrugated steel sheets on steel framework and is not suitable for the larger modern units contemplated to furnish power economically. Also, the existing plant will be required to operate while the new plant is being constructed.

The new power plant proposed will include boilers, turbo-alternators, air compressors, condensers, pumps, circulating loop, switchboard, and all needed accessories of the most modern type. The units will be larger than the existing equipment and will have much lower steam rates. Of the existing equipment, only one air compressor will be reinstalled in the new plan. The new plant will be located nearer the center of load at the yard than the existing plant. It will operate at higher steam pressure, permitting industrial steam and supply to auxiliaries to be extracted from the main turbines, thus reducing all power costs and lowering production expenses.

This improvement merits the most serious consideration as a means to promote economy of the yard operation as a whole and to provide adequate capacity for expansion of activities.

Mr. THOM. At the present time you are getting some surplus power from a private plant located near the navy yard? Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. THOM. How long ago was that private plant built?

Admiral MOREELL. I do not have the date when it was built, Mr. Thom. That is the Hawaiian Electric Co. plant, located in the city of Honolulu.

Mr. THOм. I know there is a substation located right near the yard.

Admiral MOREELL. That is not in commission, sir. That is an auxiliary generating plant and it is still under construction.

Mr. THOM. That new plant of the Hawaiian Electric Co. is not in commission?

Admiral MOREELL. No, sir. That is not in commission.

Mr. THOм. I have been under the impression that that was in operation and was supplying a portion of the power used by the navy yard.

Admiral MOREELL. No, sir. The navy yard is buying part of its power supply from the Hawaiian Electric Co., but it is now being furnished from the plant located in the city of Honolulu. When that new station is completed it will feed its power into the general distribution system of the Hawaiian Electric Co. However, the navy yard will not be able to obtain an increased supply on account of

the new plant since the capacity of our connection to the distribution system is only 3,000 kilowatts and we are using all we can get now. Mr. UMSTEAD. What is the average life of a power plant such as is contemplated for the navy yard?

Admiral MOREELL. Each piece of equipment has a different life. For instance, the life of a boiler would not be as great as the life of a generator.

Mr. UMSTEAD. You are asking for a complete outfit?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. UMSTEAD. And on that basis the difference between the longevity of the different items of equipment in the power plant would make no difference? If it would, then you would be seeking to replace only the parts which are not in good shape?

Admiral MOREELL. The useful lives of the various pieces of equip ment in the existing plant differ; but all of the equipment, except one compressor, is from 15 to 20 years old or more and, while it is still in use, it is on its last legs. The navy yard power plant was built in 1912.

Mr. UMSTEAD. Do you know the average useful life of commercial power plants of this type?

Admiral MOREELL. I think it can be said that a turbo-generator would probably be useful for about 20 years, a boiler for about 15 years. There are standard tables which give the estimated useful life of each different piece of equipment. The actual useful life will depend greatly on the severity of the service and the care given to the equipment.

Mr. UMSTEAD. You say, though, that it is the judgment of the Navy Department that this entire unit should be removed, because of its age and obsolescence?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir.

Mг. THOм. Out of this $2,750,000 you are going to build a plant that will furnish current and distribute current?

Admiral MOREELL. That is correct, sir.

Mr. THOм. And after the proposed plant is completed, will you still need to buy current from the plant of the Hawaiian Electric Co. at Honolulu?

Admiral MOREELL. No, sir; we would not need to buy current from the Hawaiian Electric Co., because the capacity of this new plant would be sufficient to provide all present and prospective remirements of the Navy and even to furnish some power to the Armya limited amount.

Mr. THOм. So that, with this proposed plant, you will be wholly independent of the supply from Honolulu, so far as the needs of the navy yard are concerned?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir. But as a matter of prudence, it would be advantageous to maintain a cross-connection, so that if either plant broke down the other would be able to help it out.

Mr. PLUMLEY. From what source wil! you derive the electrical energy necessary to operate the radio station!

Admiral MOREELL. They will have their own generator, sir.

Mr. PLUMLEY. There is none transmitted there from this central station?

Admiral MOREELL. Yes, sir. At the present time, the radio station is purchasing power from the Hawaiian Electric Co. We have