Armed Services. Seapower Subcommittee. [H.A.S.C. No. 93-82] 39-530 COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES SECOND SESSION Part 1 of 3 Parts NAVAL SHIPYARDS HEARINGS HELD JULY 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, AND 18, 1974 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1974 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office KF27 .A768 pt. 1 SEAPOWER SUBCOMMITTEE CHARLES E. BENNETT, Florida, Chairman WILLIAM J. RANDALL, Missouri RICHARD C. WHITE, Texas BOB WILSON, California FLOYD D. SPENCE, South Carolina ROBERT H. (BOB) MOLLOHAN, West Virginia WILLIAM L. ARMSTRONG, Colorado PATRICIA SCHROEDER, Colorado GEORGE NORRIS, Counsel (II) ރ ކ [H.A.S.C. No. 93-82] SEAPOWER SUBCOMMITTEE HEARINGS ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF SHIPYARDS, 1974 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SEAPOWER SUBCOMMITTEE, Washington, D.C., Tuesday, July 9, 1974. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:17 a.m. in room 2212, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable Charles E. Bennett (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. BENNETT. The committee will come to order. This is the first of a new series of meetings on shipyards. In this series of hearings we hope to hear about the problems involved in both the private and the naval shipyards. We want to see what can be done to be helpful to both so that there is a firm foundation for the shipyards in this country. We are especially going to look for a firm level of naval ship construction for the next 5 years so that everybody will know what is coming and will be able to plan accordingly. We want to set a nuclear warship construction program, but, of course, want to see that all warships that are needed are built. We are not seeking to pit shipyard against shipyard. We want to find out where the problems are so that we can make recommendations for necessary legislation and for administrative action to be carried out by the Departments. I would like to call to the attention of the subcommittee members the tentative schedule which is in front of you. You will notice that we start off with Navy and the naval shipyards. Then we wind up with discussions of the problems raised and their possible solutions by both Navy and Defense officials. We will try to hold to the schedule as best we can. As I indicated in my earlier notice, we will hold our meetings on Monday through Thursday, leaving Friday open. Our lead-off witness this morning is Rear Admiral Robert C. Gooding, Commander of the newly-formed Naval Sea Systems Command. Admiral, I congratulate you on your new position and look forward to your statement on the Navy's overall views on shipbuilding. Also present is Admiral I. Č. Kidd, Chief of Naval Material. It is a pleasure to have you here. Admiral KIDD. My presence here for these hearings, Mr. Chairman, is a mark of respect for your committee and for the very great importance of these hearings to our Navy. STATEMENT OF REAR ADM. ROBERT C. GOODING, COMMANDER, Admiral GOODING. Thank you, sir. I find it a little embarrassing to have Admiral Kidd as a back up witness to me, nonetheless that is the way it was set up. (1) Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee: It is a pleasure to appear before you this morning at the opening of these hearings. on the naval and private shipyards. The Navy welcomes this opportunity to review and discuss shipyard capabilities. We consider this to be an extremely important testimony since, together, the naval and private shipyards represent a major element in the security of our Nation. Our shipyards have been vital in the maintenance of American seapower ever since the birth of our Republic. The shipyards have changed and developed in response to enormous growth in America's world position and to the technological changes that have occurred with increasing rapidity. Throughout their long history, the shipyards have been responsive to the needs of the Nation by maintaining the capability of handling military and merchant fleet requirements by acquiring special skills and facilities in many areas. As the shipyards have developed, they have become important to the economy, not only in the individual communities in which they are located, but also to the Nation as a whole. For example, the materials, supplies, and components which they consume are purchased in virtually every State in the Union. We in the Navy feel keenly our constitutional responsibility to prepare naval forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war, we accept it fully, and in accepting it, we consider what means are available to us to meet that responsibility. One of the most important means at our disposal-and a truly indispensable one to guarantee responsive support ashore for our ships at sea-is our combined naval and private shipyard complex. These shipyards have been able to support our naval forces in the past and today are prepared to answer both planned and emergency requirements of the fleet. In order to properly support the fleet of the future, we must have shipyards in operation which have the available skills and facilities to do the job. We must have a labor force trained and available at all times which can respond to the needs of the operating forces. Our Navy, in recent years, has rapidly adapted itself to expanding technologies. We have a missile-armed, nuclear-powered navy with computer controls and electronics guidance systems which tax our best efforts to provide logistic support. Yet, our shipyards have acquired the skills, facilities, and equipment to provide the kind of support we now need and will need in greater quantity in the future. We must continue to maintain. this vigorous, highly qualified shipyard complex. With the concurrence of the subcommittee I shall now provide, in the briefest terms, a comparison of the U.S. shipbuilding industry with that of other countries. Then I will turn to U.S. shipyard workload and the U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industry. Following this, there will be a discussion in somewhat more detail of the U.S. naval shipyards. At the next session, if you desire, the management of the shipyard modernization program will be described, to be followed by a discussion of the plan for each naval shipyard. These presentations will include capability requirements, planned changes, and funding requirements as well as other aspects. It should be recognized that when I speak of shipyards, I am talking of naval and private shipyards with major capabilities; that is, those shipyards which have the capability of constructing, converting, or |