Speech of John Carmody at Portland, Oregon

ST-92 Address by Honorable John Carmody, "United Victory" Launching Ceremony, January 12th, 1944, at Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation. Mr. Kaiser, Mrs. Beck, Distinguished Guests, and Fellow Workers in the shipbuilding industry: At the outset I should like to say to you, Edgar, that I am sure my colleagues all appreciate your generous appraisal of their responsibilities and of their modest accomplishments. To the men and women of the Oregon Yards I bring from my colleagues greetings and an expression of appreciation for the splendid manner in which you have accomplished this record. It is fortunate in some respects that the first Victory ship is to come from this yard. :I am very sorry that my colleagues could not be here. I am especially sorry that Admiral Vickery who has devoted almost a life- time to the design of ships and who has worked very, very hard to get this new Victory ship into production could not be here but, fortunately, I have here a telegram that he sent to Edgar Kaiser last night, "THE LAUNCHING OF THE UNITED VICTORY IS A SIGNIFICANT: EVENT. IT MARKS THE FIRST STEP IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A HUGE FLEET OF SHIPS WHICH MAY BE EXPECTED TO PERFORM OUTSTANDING SERVICE DURING THE WAR AND AS CARRIERS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE IN THE YEARS TO FOLLOW. THE VICTORY SHIPS WITH THEIR GREATER SPEED WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE MANY MORE VOYAGES PER YEAR THAN THEIR SLOWER SISTER SHIPS THE LIBERTIES AND IT IS ALREADY EVIDENT THAT POST WAR TRADE- WILL BE BUILT AROUND THE FACTOR OF SPEED. 'AS COMPARED WITH THE LIBERTY THE VICTORY WILL CARRY ABOUT THE SAME WEIGHT OF CARGO ALTHOUGH IT WILL HAVE MORE CUBIC SPACE. IT WILL HAVE SLEEKER LINES AND A MORE EFFICIENT PROPULSION PLANT. MOREOVER IT WILL INCORFORATE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN SAFETY AND MODERNISM WITHOUT ANY SACRIFICE OF RAPID CONSTRUCTION SUCH AS HAS CHARACTERIZED THE BUILDING OF LIBERTY SHIPS. "WHILE THE UNITED VICTORY IS THE FIRST OF THE VICTORY SHIPS HUNDREDS OF THEM WILL SOON BE BUILT. TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF OREGON SHIP I SEND MY CONGRATULATIONS ON WHAT THEY HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IN; THE BUILDING OF THIS GREAT SHIP TO DATE. I WANT TO REMIND THEM HOWEVER THAT THE UNITED VICTORY AT LAUNCHING IS A JOB ONLY HALF DONE. REMEMBER IT'S. A DELIVERED SHIP THAT COUNTS. u Admiral Land who has been Chairman of the Maritime Commission for some years and is one of the most experienced shipbuilders in this country, says: "AS THE FIRST VICTORY SHIP UNITED VICTORY SLIDES DOWN THE WAYS SHE MARKS A CHANGE IN THE TEMPO OF THE WAR AND SHIPBUILDING. AT THE BATTLE FRONTS THE UNITED NATIONS ARE WINNING VICTORY. IN THE SHIPYARDS WE ARE BUILDING FOR THAT VICTORY. NO MAN CAN REST ON THE JOB. KEEP BUILDING. REMEMBER THAT TEAMWORK UMAN WINS. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SPONSOR AND BEST LUCK TO ALL HANDS. It is . and I add this -- when he is talking, he always says "Best of luck to all hands and the ship's cook." I'll add that for him today.