This 1963 military film introduces civilians and sailors alike to the role of the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Ships and the role it plays in building and maintaining the nation’s fleet of ships and submarines. It also showcases the emerging technology, including computers, used in this mission. Congress established the Bureau of Ships (also known as BuShips) in 1940 – consolidating the Bureau of Construction and Repair and the Bureau of Engineering into one single bureau. In 1966, the Bureau was abolished as part of a general overhaul of the Navy’s structure.
During this time, the Bureau of Ships was in charge of ship design and construction, from its initial engineering stages to the final stages of construction. In addition it serviced the ships for maintenance and repair as well as de-commissioning and scrapping vessels that had reached the end of their service life. It also undertook research and development efforts to improve the technology used in constructing naval vessels.
(00:24) The USS Long Beach, the U.S. Navy’s first nuclear-powered surface vessel
(01:20) Weapons are fired from the ship
(01:46) The USS Lafayette, a nuclear-powered submarine carrying 16 missiles, was launched in 1962 by First Lady Jackie Kennedy
(02:08) Footage of a Polaris missile launch
(02:32) The USS Enterprise, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier
(02:43) The flight deck is shown with planes landing and taking off
(03:41) “To Build and Maintain” presented by the U.S. Navy
(04:18) The East River is seen in the background of a Navy shipyard
(05:06) Footage of Navy shipyards in New York, San Francisco, Norfolk (Va.), and Bahrain
(05:45) A Navy engineer works at the drafting board in the Bureau of Ships’ office
(07:21) Tools such as an optical projection system and a computer-made tape control system, allowing automatic fabricating, are modern developments in ship-building
(8:20) Innovative new welding equipment and weld results shown in an x-ray. Cold steel and cold pipe bending machine.
(09:43) A quarter-scale model of a submarine and an actual “drawing board”.
(10:35) A full-scale mockup of a submarine is used to assemble pipes
(11:14) The Portsmouth Shipyard is shown
(11:55) Ships receive repairs at the Norfolk base
(12:36) The reserve fleet of inactivated ships that could be activated if the need arises
(13:47) A man uses a computerized microfilm reader to quickly search through microfilm of project files, and print out the one he needs
(14:45) A testing laboratory for evaluating ships at high speeds
(15:12) The LAR computer is used for mathematical computations
(15:48) Comptrollers or accountants work on the budget
(16:00) A ship’s contract is signed
(16:25) Private yards are also used for naval ship-building
(19:40) The ship launch ceremony
(22:04) A hydrofoil catamaran tested in Puget Sound
(22:26) A hydrofoil patrol craft
(22:41) Hydroskimmer ground effect vehicle, precursor to the LCAC
The film ends with a montage of launches of ships and submarines including USS Permit at Mare island Naval Shipyard at (23:54).
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