ABSTRACT
America, from the earliest years of its colonial existence down to the present time, has been tied to the sea. America's links to the oceans and to the vessels which ply them have been crucial to her security and to her economic, social, and even her political strength and well-being. A fundamental problem is that many American companies have continued to have their ships constructed in foreign shipyards. The progressive, even accelerating, decline of the US shipbuilding industry is an unmistakable result of deficient maritime policies and the absence of appropriate governmental response to the realities of foreign competition. Both history and economics indicate that American shipbuilding declined in the middle decades of the nineteenth century with the transition from wood and wind to steel and steam. George Washington direction and support have become the sine qua non of the continued existence of both the merchant marine and shipbuilding and will, undoubtedly, continue to be so in the years ahead.
