The end result of the noon "steakhouse meeting" was that John had to call Bradley and take two more days off. In order to convince Philip Hayes and others that John was indeed interested in competing for www.biquge.info the position of director of logistics of the Third Army, Stimson and the others specially arranged a meeting for John with General Somerville, the head of army logistics.

Of course, this meeting opportunity the day after tomorrow was not so much arranged by Stimson as John himself. On Friday, at Kaiser Shipbuilding's Richmond shipyard, the first freeship "Patrick Henry" will be officially launched. At that time, President Roosevelt himself will personally go to the shipyard to preside over the launching ceremony, which will be attended by the Washington government, Congress, and the top officials of the Army and Navy.

As one of the majority shareholders of the Richmond shipyard, John received an offer from Henry Kaiser a week ago. Originally, he didn't want to join in the excitement, and planned to let Ponyk attend on his behalf. But now, it was his best chance to make contact with General Somerville. When the time comes, as long as he shows up at the launching ceremony and chats with Somerville, it is easy for Philip Hayes and others to misunderstand him as a potential competitor.

In fact, the main reason why John had to go so much trouble and would rather go to Richmond than meet with Somerville in Washington was because he was afraid that Bradley and others would think too much. McNair: Now that they've let the news out, I'm sure Marshall's side will soon reveal the news to Bradley. If John were to visit Somerville again at this time, it would be easy for Bradley to misunderstand.

Going to Richmond for the launching of the Patrick Henry was a different story. Bradley, as a shareholder in Brothers in Arms Shipyards, is well aware of his relationship with Henry Kaiser and is bound not to think much about it. Sure enough, when John called to ask for leave, Bradley readily agreed.

After taking a leave of absence from Bradley, John called Henry Kaiser, the big fat man, again. Since I have decided to attend the launching ceremony, I have to say hello to the master. Although strictly speaking, he himself is one of the owners of the shipyard, but he is a shareholder who never participates in the specific operation, and is a master who is in charge of the division of money and never cares about things.

"Hello, Henry! I'm John. John made several phone calls before finally finding Kaiser in Houston. Since the passage of the Defense Assistance Supplementary Appropriations Act in March, Kaiser's shipbuilding business has been booming. The number of "free ships" ordered by the British increased by another 60 on the basis of the original 117 ships. In order to be able to fulfill the order in a timely manner, Kaiser purchased two new shipyards in California and Houston. At this moment, he was in Houston urging the progress of the dockyard renovation project.

"Hello, John!" Kaiser's deep and slightly hoarse voice came from the phone, "You busy man, why did you remember to call me?" ”

"No matter how busy I am, I can't compare to you." John smiled, this fat man is quite "grudgeful", didn't he go to California last month to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the new shipyard, as for the fact that he has been haunting it until now. "The Patrick Henry was launched on Friday, I happened to be free that day, so we'll meet in Richmond and I'd like to talk to you about something."

"Okay, it's rare for you to care about the shipyard. I happen to be looking for you, too. Kaiser certainly wouldn't refuse John's request to meet.

"Is it about the logistics plan of the new shipyard? Don't worry, I'll already give Walter an account. "The biggest reason why the first freeship at Kaiser Shipyard was launched more than two months earlier than in history was that FedEx had developed a complete logistics solution tailored to it. The program ensures that 500,000 parts from 128 subcontractors in six states arrive at the shipyard as soon as possible. As a result, Kaiser's modular shipbuilding method was able to complete the construction of a 10,000-ton freighter ship in 179 days (historically 244 days).

"No, it's the naming of the new ship. The Maritime Commission wants to set up a special naming body, and I have a few places on my side, are you interested in joining? Even on the phone, John could hear the excitement and joy in Kaiser's heart.

Traditionally, naming a newly-built vessel is generally done by the shipowner, as long as it is approved by the CMC (mainly to avoid duplicate names and conflicts with communication call signs). Because the "Liberty Ships" were leased to the British and nominally owned by the U.S. government, the naming rights were directly owned by the Maritime Commission.

Initially, the CMI decided to name the "free ships" after the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. For example, the first ship to be launched, the Patrick Henry, was named after Patrick Henry, the first governor of Virginia, a representative of the Continental Congress.

But the problem is that only 56 people signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and only about 40 have been used by other ships before they are removed. And now, the Kaiser shipyard alone has already signed an order of close to 200 ships, and the name prepared by the Maritime Commission is clearly not enough.

It's not a big deal if the name isn't enough, so it's just a matter of re-taking it. The point is that Kaiser shipbuilding is too fast and too scary. It takes two years for someone to build a 10,000-ton cargo ship, and you can complete it in more than 100 days. In the current form of warfare, a fool can see that the number of "Liberty Wheels" produced in the next few years will be extremely large (Kaiser has built a total of 2,751 Liberty Wheels in history).

If this continues, the CMI will not be able to do anything else. Therefore, it is imperative to set up an organization specifically named "Liberty Wheel". As the manufacturer of the "free wheel", Kaiser naturally had to get a kick in this new institution.

John knew in his heart that Kaiser had invited him to join out of kindness. After all, in traditional Western values, naming rights are very sacred, as can be seen from the Book of Genesis. He also thinks it's an honor to be able to name the "Liberty Wheel". But the thought of naming more than 2,000 ships in the future made John feel Alexander.

It seems that historically, the so-called "Freedom Wheel" naming committee ended up annoying itself. Initially, they were able to choose the name of the "Liberty Wheel" from among the famous people in American history, but later it was expanded to include foreign celebrities who had lived in or had connections in the United States, and later simply announced that any organization that purchased up to $2 million in war debt could name a "Liberty Wheel" after its organization. By the end of World War II, the names were so insufficient that they did not even let go of the list of the dead, and the names of a large number of American seamen who died in World War II became the name of the "Liberty Ship".

"Forget it, Henry. I'm not involved in that. In the end, John decisively rejected Kaiser's offer. Just remember to report the name of our old Cornelius when the time comes. ”

"Haha, no problem." Kaiser readily agreed. Anyway, with the old Cornelius' place in American history, no one can say anything about naming the "Liberty Wheel" after him. Not to mention that his descendants are still shareholders of the shipyard, so there is no problem. Kaiser was just a little sorry that his ancestors were just ordinary farmers and couldn't enjoy this glory.