PROPOSED INCREASES IN PROGRAM

(1) An increase of $4,000,000 for advancing the completion of the “Essex.”—An increase of $4,000,000 is required to advance the completion date of the Essex (CV-9) by 4 months. The funds requested will provide obligational authority and cash for overtime, additional indirect costs and other expenses incident to speeding up the completion of the Essex conversion.

NEW CONSTRUCTION

Mr. MAHON. Under Construction of Ships, what vessels are involved?

Admiral CLARK. 139 new boats and craft, primarily. There is no large ship involved in the construction here. There are 10 minesweepers, wooden minesweepers, 165 feet long; 15 minesweeping boats, which are much smaller; and there are some LVT's for the Marines, 70 LVT's armored, and 43 LVT's personnel.

Mr. MAHON. Are those actually new?

Admiral CLARK. Yes, sir; those are new amphibious ships, new construction.

CONVERSIONS

Mr. MAHON. Some of the ships in this list are conversions; are they not?

Admiral CLARK. Yes, sir. We have 31 conversions, about 93,000 tons total. There is an LSM conversion to a cable layer, and 4 DE escort radar picket conversions, 19 submarines having snorkels put aboard, and there is a carrier conversion. There is a store ship and a fleet tanker and a general store ship. In addition to those, there are 30 new lighters which are needed to handle supplies.

Mr. MAHON. Will you use these funds to expedite the construction of ships now under construction, such as certain submarines which are now under construction at various yards.

(Discussion off the record.)

REACTIVATION PROGRAM

Mr. MAHON. I think we all agree that the reactivation program which is being presented is not an excessive program under all the facts and circumstances. Maybe it does not go far enough. I think nobody knows for sure.

Admiral CLARK. Off the record.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. MAHON. Any questions?

Mr. SHEPPARD. I have one question, Mr. Chairman.

SHORE FACILITIES

With reference to item 6, the maintenance and operation of shore facilities, is it contemplated you are going to open any new facilities under this presentation, or to reactivate any?

Admiral CLARK. Not at the present time, Mr. Sheppard. This item that you read there is really the indirect charges for direct labor. It takes care of the leave and the supervision and the planning and the estimating that goes into that work that goes on every ship. It is not

any increase in the cost of the maintenance of the shore facility as such.

At least, a very small part of it is.

Mr. SHEPPARD. In other words, there is no reactivation?
Admiral CLARK. Not contemplated at the moment, sir.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Thank you. That is all.

ORDNANCE AND FACILITIES

WITNESSES

REAR ADM. A. G. NOBLE, CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF ORDNANCE

Mr. MAHON. The next item we have for consideration is "Ordnance and facilities."

Admiral HopwOOD. We have Rear Admiral Noble, the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, present to testify.

Mr. MAHON. Give us a statement about your ordnance program, Admiral Noble.

GENERAL STATEMENT

Admiral NOBLE. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the additional responsibilities of the Bureau of Ordnance under the revised military programs made necessary by recent developments in the Far East will be carried out under one annual appropriation, "Ordnance and facilities," and one continuing appropriation "Ordnance for new construction."

ORDNANCE AND FACILITIES, NAVY

The estimates set forth in this supplement to the appropriation "Ordnance and facilities" give major emphasis to procurement (72.3 percent) and maintenance (18.8 percent) or ordnance and ammunition. These percentages, compared with the requirements for similar items in the original 1951 budget (31.1 percent for procurement and 15 percent for maintenance of ordnance and ammunition), reflect the essential difference in purpose for which additional funds will be required in this first phase of an expanded naval ordnance responsibility. The requirements for funds requested in this supplemental estimate are generated by the commitment of forces in the Far East and the planned augmentation of the operating forces during the current fiscal year. These requirements are by no means those of full mobilization. They are derived from considered estimates of procurement necessary to provide adequate logistic support to the augmented operating forces, to replace critical items expended in combat and training, to provide a portion of the requirement for improved weapons and ammunition for increased combat effectiveness in the active fleet, and to provide for a level of operation in the Ordnance shore establishment, adequate to support the augmented operating force and to meet urgent operational requirements.

Although large quantities of World War II ammunition and weapons are on hand, certain types are in critical supply. This is particularly true with items developed and accepted for operational use since the end of hostilities. The critically short supply of improved rockets is an example of this type of requirement for which the procurement and production program in this estimate is necessary. Procurement of sufficient quantities of such types to fill operational and pipeline

requirements and to provide replacement for expenditures is essential. It is planned to devote 54.4 percent of the total additional funds requested herein to this purpose.

Funds are also requested for increased procurement of certain recently developed items of ordnance equipment, principally in the air-defense and antisubmarine warfare fields, for installation in ships of the active fleet for improved combat effectiveness of those vessels. The amount requested for this purpose reflects availability of ships for installation and the capacity of industry to absorb the increased requirement.

As stated previously, large quantities of World War II ammunition are on hand. These stocks, after completion of identification, segregation, and renovation to a serviceable condition, have been and will continue to be the source of much of the replacement ammunition for the active fleet at a cost of about 3 percent of current procurement costs. It is essential that large stocks of unserviceable ammunition in the coastal depots be immediately reconditioned to assure the readiness of this ammunition for issue to the operating forces and to place those depots in a more satisfactory state of readiness to meet mobilization requirements. Additional funds are requested to provide for reconditioning all unserviceable ammunition in the coastal depots, to accelerate the reconditioning program in the inland depots and to provide for handling and outloading ammunition as required by the operating forces (the amount now estimated at 228,000 tons). The estimate also reflects additional requirements for procurement of spare parts in critical supply for maintenance of ordnance in additional ships being activated and for necessary acceleration of the program for overhaul and preparation of equipment for issue.

Eight and seven-tenths percent of the additional funds requested are required to provide a level of operation in the Crdnance shore establishments adequate to support the augmented operating force and to meet urgent operational requirements. Funds for essential rehabilitation of facilities to support this level of operation are inIcluded in the estimate.

ORDNANCE FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION, NAVY

The Bureau of Ordnance provides for the manufacture and procurement of armor, armament, and ammunition for vessels in the naval shipbuilding and conversion programs. A continuing appropriation, "Ordnance for new construction" complements the "Construction of Ships" appropriation in carrying out postwar naval ship-construction and conversion programs. It is estimated that ordnance costs for the additional ships included in this supplemental 1951 program will be $25,000,000.

Admiral NOBLE. The estimates here are essentially to support the Korean operation, and to replace critical items of ordnance which are expended, to outfit the ships properly which are being withdrawn from mothballs, and place them in operational status, and to improve the ability of the shore establishment to support the operations in the Far East.

All of the things we are asking for are associated directly with the effort in the Far East and are approved by the Secretary of the Navy, and under his general instructions to us.

SUMMARY JUSTIFICATION DATA

Mr. MAHON. We will insert the prepared justifications at this point.

No increase is requested for this budget activity in this supplemental. 2. Procurement of ordnance and ammunition:

(1) An increase of $100,746,000 for procurement of ammunition as follows:

The funds requested herein will provide for procurement to support the following increased program requirements:

1. Replacement of critical items in short supply as a result of increased service use.

$51, 665, 000

2. Additional pipeline requirements to support augmented fleet operations in the Far East__

39, 514, 000

3. Replacement of critical items in short supply as a result of increased training requirements..

4. Pay for additional personnel for offices of naval inspectors of ordnance__-

9, 473, 000

94, 000

(2) An increase of $16,800,000 for procurement of torpedoes, mines, and nets: This increase is required to provide essential replacement of under-water weapons used to destroy enemy targets, and for net panels for defensive measures. Available stocks of items requiring replacement are in short supply and will be critically depleted by present Far East commitments.

(3) An increase of $38,712,000 for procurement of ordnance equipment as follows:

(a) Fire control -

(b) Guns, gun mounts, and projectors -

(c) Battle damage spares - .

$11, 620, 000

25, 592, 000

1, 500, 000

The funds requested herein will provide for the procurement of weapons to support the following increased requirements:

1. Improved fire control equipment for additional ships to be activated in fiscal 1951.

2. Improved guns, gun mounts and projectors for additional ships to be activa

ted in fiscal 1951.

3. Battle damage spares of critical equipment items.

3. Maintenance of ordnance and ammunition:

(1) An increase of $11,580,000 in funds for maintenance of ordnance equipment.— The additional funds requested herein will provide for procurement of spare parts in critical supply essential for the maintenance of ordnance in the additional ships being activated and becoming operational in fiscal 1951. Funds requested herein will also provide for necessary acceleration of the program for overhaul and preparation of equipment for issue.

(2) An increase of $28,000,000 in funds for maintenance of ammunition.— Funds requested under this subhead provide for the necessary handling of ammunition and for the identification, segregation, and reconditioning of ammunition on hand at about 3 percent of its replacement cost to return it to a condition of serviceability and readiness for issue. There is at present a large stock of unserviceable ammunition in the coastal depots which must be reconditioned to assure the readiness of those depots to meet operational requirements. The additional funds requested herein will provide for handling and outloading of an estimated 228,000 tons of ammunition, for reconditioning of unserviceable ammunition in the coastal depots, and for acceleration of the ammunition reconditioning program in the inland depots to the degree necessary to insure adequate stocks of serviceable ammunition to meet the requirements of the operating forces. (3) An_increase of $500,000 in funds requested for surveillance and quality control. Funds requested herein will provide for necessary augmentation of the surveillance and quality-control program to meet the requirements of increased operation. The additional funds requested primarily reflect the acceleration in the programs for renovation and issue of ammunition.

(4) An increase of $500,000 in funds for procurement of material for advance base components. No funds for this purpose were included in the fiscal 1951 estimates previously submitted. The additional funds requested herein will provide for procurement of material necessary to complete certain component units and for preparation of designated units for shipment.

4. Maintenance and operation of facilities

Senate bill, 1951 - -

Proposed supplemental.

Revised requirement, 1951 - -

PROPOSED INCREASES IN PROGRAM

$29, 174, 700 10, 920, 000

40, 094, 700

(1) An increase $8,470,000 for maintenance and operation of the ordnance establishment. This increase is required to provide for the additional routine maintenance and basic administration of ordance establishment facilities operating in support of an augmented active fleet with operational commitments that were not included in original 1951 rogram estimates.

(2) An increase of $200,000 for commercial communications including tolls and leased lines.-This increase is necessary to permit the most effective supervision and coordination of expanded responsibilities of the ordnance shore establishment.