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Famous Engineers
> Engineer Proves Mussolini Wrong
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Sometimes it takes a challenge to make a person perform at his best. And this challenge was a big one. |
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It took until World War II for
this 1922 Oregon State University engineering graduate to really make a mark. It was at this time that he became a Chief Engineer for Henry Kaisers newly formed ship building operation and later general manager of Oregon Ship, one of Kaisers three shipyards on the Willamette River in the Pacific Northwest. |
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Prior to this time, the Northwest had not been known for shipbuilding activities, but the newly appointed general manager and his boastful boss were about to change all of that. His shipyard was located near St. Johns Bridge, and he built the Liberty Ships the 10,500-ton cargo ships that carried supplies, equipment and troops to the front lines of battle. |
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America sorely needed a fast supply of the Liberty Ships. Without the supplies, equipment, and manpower delivered by the Liberty Ships, certainly the Axis would have a real advantage over the Allied forces. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini unknowingly provided the stimulus that moved this engineer to fast action. |
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Who was the famous ship-building engineer who some say contributed to the Allied victory? |
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You might think that Al Bauer, the OSU graduate working in the ship building industry, had been the personal target of Benito Mussolini when he declared that there was no way America could build the Liberty Ship in under three weeks. Mussolini knew the Allied Forces needed the ships, but he also knew the scope of the work. At least he thought he did.
Always one to enjoy a challenge, Bauer took the anti-American rhetoric personally. Then, he and his crew proved Mussolini wrong. In fact, no one has yet to match the speed and efficiency of Bauer and his team.
Thousands of laborers working in a tightly choreographed fashioned each had specific duties in the manufacture of the big ships. In fact, it is said that the tightening of every single bolt had been specifically assigned to someone. This division of duty and individual accountability for a specific section of a project was a radical concept at a time when individual craftsmen painstakingly worked a project from start to finish.
Small parts of the Liberty Ships soon became large segments of a ship and were moved through the shipyard by 11 strategically placed mechanical cranes. It was a whirlwind operation with American pride and the Bauers bravado providing the incentive to push the limits.
Not only did the team beat the three week challenge, but during the month of December 1942, fifteen ships were launched from this facility alone. Bauer was completing ships at the rate of one every 10 days, giving
America the ability to keep troops en route to the battlefield and to keep those troops properly supplied.
Mussolini said it couldnt be done, but Al Bauer proved him wrong.
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