Speech of Senator Harry S. Truman at Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation at South Portland, Maine

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Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, we have assembled here to witness the launching of five 10,000 ton cargo vessels, which are being built by the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation under a contract with our British allies, and these five vessels are to be delivered to them. There are few things today which are as important as the pro- duction of ships. Enemy submarines have taken an exceedingly heavy toll of Allied shipping. Measures have been taken to cope with the submarine menace, and we all hope that they will be successful, but no matter how successful they are we have great need for every additional ton of shipping that can possibly be constructed. The capacity of the United States to produce planes, tanks, guns and other articles of war is exceedingly great, but all those things are of little importance unless we can transport them to the various areas in which war operations are taking place, and to do that we must have ships. Consequently, the United States Maritime Commission has been authorized by the Congress of the United States to carry out the largest

Terms

Subject
Ships