Henry J. Kaiser

"Henry J. Kaiser was an important part to the building of the Liberty Ships. Even though when he started out he had no workers, shipyards, or even the knowledge of ships, he turned his lack of preparation to a remarkable advantage. He rearranged work so he didn't need well-rounded people. He broke shipbuilding into prefabricated components so each worker had to learn only one peice of the job. He used oxyacetylene torches, replaced rivets with welding, and even cut time it took to train novices to tightrope across steel structures by hiring ballet dancers as fitters." (http://www.msc.navy.mil/mpstwo/kaiser.htm)           "Welding has been the standard way to join metal in shipbuilding ever since Kaiser introduced it. Pre-fabrication of large parts that are then joined to the ship is also standard practice today." (Dr. Arthur Donovan)           Kaiser redefined shipbuilding to match his resources. He introduced assembly-line techinques. Ford had tried that in WW-I and failed, but Ford had tried to build a torpedo boat. There was nothing new about Kaiser's product, the Liberty Ship. It was only 440 feet long and carried about 10,000 tons of cargo.           Soon the Kaiser yards were building Liberty Ships in a month, then in 10 days. Finally they finished on in just 5 days. "Kaiser ate steel so fast he had to set up his own mill."-John H. Lienhard           "The liberty Ships show what happens when war drives technology. When Kaiser held shipbuildig up to the clear light of his amateur scrutiny, it wasn't ship design that profited. His work, rooted in a powerful common purpose, redefined shipbuilding." (http://www.msc.navy.mil/mpstwo/kaiser.htm)

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