(UNTITLED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600430020-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 26, 1999
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: August 3, 1967
• Content Type: OPEN

FOIAb3b ppEE
A3950 CONG Wo"r Tla RECO,~jR-R 75 43b020 b 1967
Sanitized - ApproveFor Ke ease 9R00060
~-I
This Is Just another example of the "We don't have any more ships. We're near nve to get anywhere In a hurry, the spokes-
crisis in our merchant marine created by
the shortsighted, careless, nonthinking
administration of Johnson-McNamara-
Boyd and company.
Here follows the article from the Hous-
ton Post:
ARE TnisE ENOUGH ADEQUATE RESERVE FLEET
SHIPS FOR VIETNAM SEALirr?-BEAUMONT
HAS A HUGE FLEET or MOTHBALLED FREIGIiT-
ERs BUT ONLY THREE ARE VICTORIES
(By Al Prince)
Opposing views exist in Washington and
elsewhere on whether the United States is
nearing a critical shortage of reserve fleet
ships available for the Vietnam seallft.
The Defense Department says there are
enough ships left in the reserve fleet to
handle the scalift operation. However, peo-
ple outside the Defense Department say the
reserve fleet is running out of available
ships,
Washington officials indicated there are
some 400 ships of all types from various
sources being used to carry supplies to
troops in Vietnam. Of those, 160 ships-
mostly World War II Victory cargo ships-
the reserve fleet ships that have been broken
out of mothballs since December, 1964.
The Maritime Administration In Washing-
ton told The Houston Post that the reserve
fleet has dwindled to only 28 Victory cargo
ships of the type that have already been
reactivated.
There are 22 other Victory cargo ships of
a different type in mothballs, but their po-
tential for the Vietnam scalift is uncertain,
a Maritime Administration spokesman said.
The entire reserve fleet of more than 850
ships of all types not destined for scrap
includes some 150 Victory ships-dry cargo
and troop carriers-that "could" be reacti-
vated for the scalift, the spokesman said.
"I wouldn't say all of these would neces-
sarily be available. Naturally they took out
the ones In best shape first," the spokesman
said.
The reserve fleet also has 56 non-Victory
cargo ships, ranging from small CIA's
.
large C3s.
"I'm not saying all of these are in the
best condition," the spokesman said.
The reserve fleet also has 585 World War
II Liberty ships In mothballs, although 387
Liberties are scheduled for scrap, the Mari-
time Administration said.
"Nobody officially talks about using, the
Liberties," the spokesman said. Their use
is possible, he said.
However, he added, "if you get to that
point you're in something major."
A larger U.S. troop commitment In Viet-
nam' seems inevitable as the war o; attri-
tion wears on. There are 480,000 U.B. troops
already In Vietnam, plus 54,000 from Allied
countries.
The current ceiling of 480,000 U.S. forces
is expected to be reached in three months.
President Johnson has recently given a ten-
tative promise for 100,000 more American
troops for Vietnam within two and a halt
years.
More troops mean more supplies.
Yet, the Department of Defense told The
Post that an Increase in American troops
in Vietnam in the near future would "not
necessarily" require taking more ships out
of mothballs.
Even if more ships were needed, there are
still enough vessels in the reserve fleet to
handle an increased seallft operation, the
Department of Defense said.
However, there are persons outside the Do-
partment of Defense who have a different
idea about the ,reserve fleet's potential for
providing many more ships for the seallft.-
Capt. Garth Read, chief of the Merchant
Vessel Division at the Coast Guard's Wash-
ington Headquarters, said of the reserve
fleet's potential:
the bitter end."
Another person with a similar opinion is
Capt. E. B. Hendrix, marina division man-
ager for Lykes Brothers Steamship Co., Inc.,
the second largest subsidlrcrf U.S.-flag line.
"There's not a lot left In the way of ships
to bring out," he said.
A spokesman for the Military Sea Trans-
portation Service (MSTS) in Washington said
of the reserve fleet's potential:
"We have enough to handle the present
situation If It doesn't escalate too much."
MSTS has the job of deciding how many
ships will be needed to carry supplies to
Vietnam, based on the Department of De-
fense's troop needs. The Maritime Admin-
istration then determines where the ships
will come from,
The majority of the reserve fleet vessels are
either Victory or Liberty ships. Both types
are of World War II vintage, giving them an
ago of 20 or more years. The average life
span of a ship is 25 years.
Since the Victory ships were built near
the end of World War II, they generally had
been used less when they were put in moth-
balls. The slower Liberty ships generally saw
far more service before they joined the "bone
pile,"
The MSTS spokesman was asked the length
of service left for the ships that already have
been brought out of the reserve fleet.
"That's anybody's guess. They're getting
old now. If something wears out, there's a
scramble to get new parts," he said.
The Defense Department said there were
no immediate plans for adding any more
ships to the Vietnam scalift. The sealift's
capabilities have greatly Improved In the last
year, several Washington sources said,
Improved port facilities and handling pro-
cedures in Vietnam and a recent appearance
of container ships in the scalift have elimi-
nated a lot of delays in the sealift operation,
the sources said.
The total number of ships operating in the
Vietnam sealift appears to he somewhat of an
elusive figure to obtain. A conservative esti-
mate would put the figure at more than 400
ships.'
There are 106 or 165 GAA ships in the sea-
lift, depending on whether the Maritime Ad-
ministration or MSTS is giving out the figure.
GAA stands for General Agency Agreement.
These are government-owned ships that have
been assigned to various U.S. shipping lines
for operation to Vietnam.
Of the 160 or 165 GAA ships, 160 have been
taken out of the reserve fleet.
In 1965, 59 OAA ships were added to the
two put In operation to Vietnam in Decem-
ber, 1964. Another 08 GAA ships went Into
operation in 1968, and 17 have been added so
far this year. That is a total of 186 since 1964.
MSTS has a nuclear fleet of 165 ships in
operation today throughout the world.
Ninety-one are cargo ships, which the MSTS
spokesman said probably half-about 45-
"get to Vietnam at one time or another."
Then there are 107 time-charter ships in
operation to Vietnam. These are ships owned
by subsidized and unsubsidized U.S. shipping
lines that are chartered by the government
for specified lengths Of time.
The 160 ships being used in the scalift
from the reserve fleet is small when compared
with previous reactivations. During the Ko-
rean war, more than 500 ships were taken
out of mothballs, the Maritime Administra-
tion spokesman said.
The cost of reactivating aVictory ship that
has been in mothballs 1s about $500,000 to-
day, the Maritime Administration spokesman
said.
Some sources indicated that reactivating
it Liberty ship could cost more, depending on
Its prior use and how well it has been pre-
served In mothballs.
Most of the Liberty ships that have been
preserved fairly well while laid up would be
suitable only for carrying cargo that does not
FOIAb3b
Sanitized - Approved For. Re
knots, compared to an average 15 knots for
Victory ships.
The reserve fleet In Beaumont has 131
ships In mothballs, the Maritime Adminla-
tration spokesman said. Three of the ships
are Victory cargo ships. The rest are mostly
Liberty ships, he said.
What happens if the supply of adequate
reserve fleet ships is depleted some time in
the future?
An Increase in the number of time-charters
would probably be the initial step, one source
said. If the situation got real tight, the
Maritime Administration, at the request of
the Defense Department, could requisition
all U.S.-flog commercial ships for the Viet-
nam scalift, the source said.
That wouldn't take a national emergency,
he said, because "we're In a national emer-
gency now. 'rhis is what we're operating
under now."
Ullman Resolution To Set a National
Housing Goal and Establish Stability
in Homebuilding
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. AL ULLMAN
OF OREGON
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, August 3, 1967
Mr. ULLMAN. Mr. Speaker, on Tues-
day, I Joined my able colleague the gen-
tleman from New York [Mr. OTTINGERI
In introducing a resolution (H.J. Res.
762) to establish a national housing goal.
The resolution directs the President to
discuss In his annual Economic Report
the minimum number of new starts re-
quired for stability in the homebuilding
industry and the economic conditions
required to meet this objective.
A close interrelationship exists be-
tween Government monetary and fiscal
planning, the credit markets, the hous-
ing industry, and the general economic
health of the Nation. To illustrate this
relationship, let me trace briefly the
tight money crisis of 1966 and its im-
pact on the general economy.
TIGHT MONEY AND rlS EFFECTS
Last year, inaction and indecision by
both the Federal Reserve Board and the
administration permitted the money
markets to reach the brink of a financial
panic. The Federal Reserve Board shut
off the money supply at the same time
that money demands from the corporate
economy reached an alltime high. Treas-
ury borrowings were also high. In Sep-
tember, the President finally moved to
restore a semblance of balance by adopt-
ing many of the ingredients of a mone-
tary-fiscal mix which I and others in the
Congress had recommended some
months earlier. By suspending the in-
vestment credit, postponing some Fed-
eral spending, and coordinating Gov-
,ernment borrowing, the administration
and the Congress stopped further de-
terioration of the economic situation.
By then, the mortgage market had
dried up, and the housing and lumber
industries were taking the punishment
for our economic excesses.