Interview with Bob Tompkins and George Schlink

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Elyse: "I'm doing my project on the Liberty Ships and how they were a revolution, reaction, and reform in history. May I ask you some questions?" Bob: "Sure" George: "Sure" Elyse: "What is your name?" Bob: "Bob Tompkins" George: "Geogre Schlick" Elyse: "What time period, dates, did you serve from?" Bob: "June of 1942 to September 1966." George: "1944 to 1945 as a ordinary seamen." Elyse: "Do you think the design of the ship is a revolution?" Bob: "Yes they did very well. If they made one cruise they paid for itself. With 10,000 tons of cargo, and that's worth a million dollars, and it only cost a million to build a Liberty Ship, they did very well. "

Bob, cont.: "They were prefabricated, everything was on the dock. For instance, that house was already welded together on the dock and they put it on the ship and was welded on the ship. Everything was prefabricated. That's why in in Port Richman, California they wanted to set a record of building one of these ships. They built in under 5 day." George: "Yes, because of the prefabricated design and the techniques they used. Kaiser (the builder) did not know what he couldn't do. The design was revolutionary. " Elyse: "Do you think they helped win the war?" Bob: "Without a doubt. They made 2,710 of those Liberty Ships." George: "Yes. They produced faster then the enemy could sink them."

Prefabricated House

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Geoge Schlink

Bob Tompkins

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