Based on past experience, John knows that a "big coffee" social event like today's is definitely the best place to give birth to all kinds of insider trading. The small exchange of interests between him and Somerville is only the tip of the iceberg, and it is not worth mentioning.

Although he was slaughtered fiercely and felt a little unhappy, John still forced a tacit understanding with Somerville to "act". However, in addition to the performance, most of his attention has shifted to President Roosevelt, who is 50 yards away from him. At the moment, the former assistant secretary of the Navy is making a bigger deal with Henry Kaiser, who is smiling unusually brightly next to him.

As one of the leading manufacturing tycoons in the United States, Kaiser will never be satisfied with a small fight since he has chosen to enter the shipbuilding industry. A mere hundred or so freighters are just stepping stones, and they will definitely not satisfy Kaiser's appetite. The ambitious Kaiser, long before the completion of the main body of the "Patrick Henry", set his sights on the new business of escorting aircraft carriers.

Historically, the first escort aircraft carrier (CVE1) "Long Island" was born on June 2, 1941. In this life, due to John's intervention, the British launched the first escort aircraft carrier converted from a freighter at the end of 1940, and began to try to provide anti-submarine early warning for ocean-going transport fleets with aircraft.

It's just that when the escort aircraft carrier was first launched, the technology was not very mature, and it happened to encounter frequent Atlantic storms in winter, so the escort effect was not very obvious. After entering the spring, with the improvement of meteorological conditions at sea, the escort aircraft carriers have gradually begun to exert their due power.

In March and April, the rate of material losses on the North Atlantic route was 17 percent and 21 percent, respectively, compared to last year's average. While there are many factors that contributed to this welcome change, the credit of escorting aircraft carriers cannot be overcredited. This new aircraft carrier, which was not very optimistic, has therefore become an "escort artifact" in the eyes of the British. And this was soon most directly reflected in the order of the British Purchasing Committee.

Thanks to the efforts of the British, the conversion plan of 48 escort aircraft carriers was successfully squeezed into the Admiralty's 1942 shipbuilding plan, which had just been approved by Congress. And most of these escort aircraft carriers (Borg-class) converted from the hull of C3 standard cargo ships have already been booked by the British. Once completed, they will be delivered to the Royal Navy via the Hire Price Act.

Currently, the Admiralty is conducting a public tender for this project. Keiser Shipyard and the Puget Sound Naval Yard, Portland's Oregon S.B. and Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard are among the strong contenders.

John chatted with Somerville while observing Kaiser and Roosevelt, still wondering how much he would get a slice of the pie. In John's view, although it is difficult for Kaiser to win this batch of orders (the last bid in history was Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard), the hope is still quite large. Because real warship manufacturers such as the New York Shipyard, the Philadelphia Shipyard, and the Newport News Shipyard will not attach much importance to this "small business".

Compared to the $125 million Iowa-class battleship, the $74 million Alaska-class large cruiser, and the $38 million Essex-class aircraft carrier, the construction of an escort carrier is not very profitable (historically, a Casablanca-class escort carrier was not much more expensive than a Fletcher-class destroyer). Major warship manufacturers are reluctant to waste valuable slipways and skilled workers on such oil-and-water, low-tech merchant ship conversion projects.

In turn, for Kaiser Shipyard, this is a good opportunity to enter the warship manufacturing industry from the field of civilian shipbuilding. After all, the requirements for the manufacturing process of such things as warships are still very high, and military standards and civilian standards are completely different things. With Kaiser Shipbuilding's current technical capabilities and technological level, it is suitable for the project of escorting aircraft carriers, which is "turning people into troops".

Not really, Kaiser Shipbuilding could also learn from the Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard and give some of the profits to the Phuket Sound Naval Yard for military technology and Admiralty support. I believe that with Kaiser's economic strength and John's relationship with Secretary of the Navy Knox, it should not be difficult to win this business.

John was silently thinking in his heart whether to squeeze out another amount of money and invest it in the new shipyard that Kaiser was preparing. That shipyard was specially prepared by Kaiser for the launch of the escort aircraft carrier project, and is currently in the process of financing and site selection. According to Kaiser, he has already landed a plot of land in Washington State and is negotiating a price.

But as far as John knows, the project has met with considerable resistance within the company. The main resistance came from Kaiser's two major partners, the Todd shipyard and Bath Steel (so named because it was originally a cast iron factory, but was converted from a steel mill to a shipyard in 1888).

Both companies are long-established military shipyards in the United States, and even in later generations, they can be ranked among the top 10 warship manufacturers in the United States. For example, the famous Perry-class frigates and Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyers are their products.

John can also understand the frustration of these two "pig teammates". Originally, both shipyards were big customers of Kaiser Steel, and they had many years of cooperation with Kaiser. When Kaiser wanted to enter the civil shipbuilding industry, they did not mind mixing a hand in it, exchanging part of the capital and technology for the shares of Kaiser Shipbuilding, forming a relatively stable partnership with each other.

But when Kaiser came out of his mind to enter the field of military ship manufacturing, they could not help but be alert. In case Kaiser puts his hand into their rice bowl in the future, won't that lead the wolf into the house? You know, in terms of economic size, these two companies can't compare with Kaiser's huge group of companies.

John pondered that Kaiser, although not necessarily lacking the funds to build a new shipyard, should not refuse to inject capital into himself. Because what he needs more than money is John's support within the company.

As for how much to invest, John has not yet made up his mind, and he has to seek the advice of a professional accountant in return. Anyway, no matter how much, he can't lose. John is not as short-sighted as ordinary people, and only limits his attention to the 48 Borg-class escort aircraft carrier renovation projects (historically, the United States only built 44 Borg-class escort aircraft carriers, because the number of C3 cargo ships is insufficient, and the last 4 can only be modified with tanker hulls, which are named Sangamon-class).

In his eyes, the Borg class was nothing more than an appetizer. In the future, the Casablanc-class escort aircraft carrier will be the main thing. Unlike the Borg-class, which was modified with an off-the-shelf C3 hull, the Casablanca class was designed based on the hull of the "Liberty Wheel". The Kaiser shipyard is fully capable of mass-producing the new Casablanca-class escort carriers. This is completely different from the transformation of a ready-made C3 freighter.

Historically, John recalls, a Liberty ship cost less than $2 million. And a Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier is $12 million. And Kaiser built more than 50 in one go, and the profit in it thrilled John so much that he almost missed President Roosevelt's speech.