LIBERTY SHIPS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24346, 7 August 1942, Page 3

LIBERTY SHIPS

CANCELLED CONTRACTS SENATOR CRITICISES BUREAU WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 Senator Harry S. Truman, chairman of the Senate Committee investigating the war, in a letter to i Colonel Knox, Secretary of the Navy, charged the Navy's Bureau of ] Ships with biased, prejudiced action 1 in connection with the cancellation ■ ot' the contract for 200 liberty ships ; by the Higgins shipbuilding firm in ; IS ew Orleans. Mr. Truman's letter asserted that Mr. Frank Higgins possessed skill and energy in both design and construction, which was now admitted by the Bureau of Ships, and ought not to have received the treatment accorded. Although the Maritime Commission cancelled the Higgins contract, Mr. Truman placed the blame on the Navy's Bureau of Ships. In his letter to Colonel Knox, Mr. Truman also presented the committee's report on a vehicle important to the success of any invasion attempt. He declined to reveal the details, but intimated that it was essential to tank landings. He said the committee would postpone publication if Colonel Knox so desired, but told Colonel Knox: "I cannot condemn too strongly the negligence and wilful misconduct on the part of officers of the Bureau of Ships." To the press Mr. Truman said that tens of millions of dollars were wasted by the Navy in developing a certain military vehicle. Afterward, Mr. Hig--1 gins submitted a successful design. In i his letter Mr. Truman said that if the | war effort had not suffered irreparable j injury, it was due largely to the ability | and energy of Higgins Industries, Incor- | porated, and to its repeated criticism of ; the shortcomings of the designs prei j)a red by the Bureau of Ships, j The Navy insisted on using models of its own design, in spite of their repeated failures. The Bureau of Ships should have accepted with gratitude the proved accomplishments of a private concern, said Mr. Truman. JAPANESE CLAIMS | MORE ISLANDS OCCUPIED NORTH OF AUSTRALIA LONDON, Aug. 6 The Japanese are ' lg to-day that just north of Australia they have seized strategic points on a chain of islands stretching from New Guirua to Timor, and claim to have occupied the Aroe Islands, west of New Guinea, the Kai Islands further west, and the Tanimbar group, only 200 miles from northern Australia. The Japanese were already known to be in the Kai Islands. A Japanese military spokesman in Tokio yesterday delivered a savage verbal attack aimed at both India and Australia. "If Australia does not break off political relations with Great Britain and America," he said, "it will be necessary for Japan to intervene with her armed forces." SINGLE BOMBER'S FEAT FOUR PLANES SHOT DOWN NEW YORK, Aug. 0 The United States War Department announces that an American heavy bomber sent out to take photographs and attack near Wake Island on Friday shot down four out of six Japanese fighters. AGGRESSIVE SPIRIT PACIFIC DOMINIONS (Reod. 9.30 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 6 | The New Zealand Minister to Washj ington, the Hon. W. Nash, speaking in London, confirmed the recent statement of the New Zealand Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, that there is an aggressive spirit in New Zealand and Australia by expressing the opinion that the United Nations should not permit the Japanese to " dig in " too long before hitting back. Mr. Nash, in a statement made to the Associated Press, emphasised the admirable working relations between Britain and America. " New Zealand and Australia had never been closer," he said. "New Zealand knows and the Australian readiness to throw in her all against the enemy, and the Australians know they can rely similarly on the New Zealanders. If Australia should be attacked both countries would closely co-operate." Mr. Nash indicated that his discussions in the United Kingdom were most satisfactory. He said he had found a general awareness in most responsible quarters that a new procedure would bo necessarv for trading after the war. He added that the United Nations had first to win the %var, but that the procedure for post-war trade was already being discussed unofficially because it was realised that the dislocation after this war would be infinitely greater than it was after the last war. AVOIDING SUBMARINES DIVERSION OF CARGOES (Eecd. 9.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, Aug. 5 The Wall Street Journal says that in order to avoid the submarine menace as much as possible the Board of Economic Warfare and the War Shipping Administration have worked out a plan for the clearing of as many cargoes as possible from the Pacific Coast instead of from the Atlantic. Exporters have been warned to count on many shipments being diverted to the Pacific ports, which are less congested than the eastern ports. Exporters have been advised to make arrangements with their buyers to cover additional costs of trans-Contin-ental haulage. Shipments to South America, the Red Sea area and India are likely to be sent in future from the Pacific ports. NAVAL APPOINTMENT ADMIRAL KENNEDY-PURVIS (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 5 The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. A. V. Alexander, announced in the House of Commons that Vice-Admiral Charles Kennedy-Purvis had been appointed deputy-First Sea Lord. Vice-Admiral Kennedy-Purvis, who joined the Navy in 1900 at the age of 10, took part in many of the chief naval engagements of the Great War and received his captaincy in 1921. Later he commanded the cruisers Diomede in Chinese waters, and the Concord in Australia and also the aircraft-carrier Glorious in the Mediterranean. In 1932 ho was made A.D.C. to the King. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, America and the West Indies in 1940. He is the President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. CHANNEL ACTIVITIES (Rerd. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 5 Engagements between German. Eboats and trawlers and British light coastal forces have increased considerably in the past few weeks, says the British official wireless. With the increased supply of British light craft, it is now possible to turn them to offensive uses as well as convoying, and they are keeping enemy craft further away from British waters.