How the US Built 5k Ships in WWII | Hacker News Reader

How the US Built 5k Ships in WWII

construction-physics.com

21 pointschmaynard14 comments

Check out Crane Cove Park in SF, they still have a lot of the hardware on display around the new park

San Francisco's motto on the seal is "Oro en paz, fierro en guerra", or "Gold in peace, iron in war". Which doesn't suck as far as mottos go.

And we're still paying the environmental price for that. Fortunately, in a future war we will be able to ensure the environment stays safe and we can protect the community character of our neighborhoods rather than just give them up for war.

How will future war be better?

It will look cooler[1] because of all the lasers.

[1] Briefly, before your retinas burn out, because of all the lasers.

We won't produce that many ships and therefore won't pollute the environment. Ideally we won't damage local communities trying to build weapons.

Why and how?

We have NEPA now to protect the environment and historic protections. e.g. https://apnews.com/article/us-army-ukraine-russia-ammunition...

> The obstacles the U.S. faces in ramping up production can be seen at the Scranton plant.

> The factory — built for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad just after 1900, when the city was a rising coal and railroad powerhouse — has produced large-caliber ammunition for the military going back to the Korean War.

> But the buildings are on the National Historic Registry of Historic Places, limiting how the Army can alter the structures.

I highly recommend the Rosie-the-riveter museum at the old Richmond shipyard. What happened there is amazing to this day.

Was it by setting import tariff taxes really high, and then poof the ships just magically blinked into existence?

Top marginal income tax rate in 1944 was 94%

During war some tariffs essential go to infinity.

Sure, the point is that the key ingredient was a lot of active hard work in response to the adversity, including constructive direction and coordination by government. Merely turning up the pain and assuming hardship itself will somehow create economic activity is supremely entitled thinking, dementia-level even.

Wow. Very extensive and fact rich article. Worth a read.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com