4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL June 29, 2016
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History
The ship that suddenly broke in half
while moored at the dock
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
water in the river was right around 40
degrees. And although these tempera-
tures aren’t exactly extreme by arc-
tic-sea standards, investigators later
fi ngered them as the decisive factor in
what happened next.
With a cracking crash that one by-
stander said actually shook the ground,
the huge ship simply cracked in half.
The bow and stern dropped down into
the water, jackknifi ng into the muddy
bottom of the lagoon; the midline of
the ship was thrust up high above the
water; and the 30 crew members, who
had been preparing the big ship to cast
off and head out to sea, surely thought
they were about to die.
Luckily, the water beneath the dock
was shallow — barely deep enough to
fl oat the ship, which drew up to 30 feet
depending on its load. The crew mem-
bers were easily able to get up on deck
— where the third mate supplied the
only injury when, in a panic, he leaped
down onto the dock and hurt his ankle.
And now, of course, the shipyard and
military offi cials had a whale of a pub-
lic-relations problem on their hands.
Had such an embarrassing failure oc-
curred someplace discreet, it could
have been kept quiet; but this ship was
in the middle of Oregon’s biggest city,
bent like a piece of kindling cracked
over a woodsman’s knee, a three-foot-
wide crack on display for all to see.
The new employees at Kaiser’s new
shipyard tried to keep their chins up,
but it wasn’t easy. As a morale-booster,
having one’s very fi rst ship break in
half a propos of nothing while innocu-
ously tied to the pier leaves something
to be desired.
Thoughts turned immediately to
sabotage. Could this have been a delib-
erate act? It was hard to imagine that
any saboteur could have engineered
this kind of a break, but if one had, he
or she would surely have earned a gold
star for this job.
The F.B.I. moved with lightning
speed to quell that rumor. The very next
day, the bureau released a statement
denying that sabotage was involved.
Then Rear Admiral Howard L. Vickery
arrived to lead the investigation.
The results were rather unsettling.
Faulty welding was the fi rst suspicion
on everyone’s mind — remember, this
was the fi rst ship off a brand-new as-
sembly line, so everyone working on it
was new on the job, and many of the
welders working on the Schenectady
had never welded anything before the
war broke out. And, frankly, faulty
welding was what most people were
hoping the trouble was. After all, that
was a problem that could be easily
fi xed with more training and supervi-
sion of the welders.
But a careful inspection of the hull
didn’t reveal any welds that might
T
he S.S. Schenectady was a very
big deal for Oregon, back when
it was fi rst launched on New Year’s Eve
in 1942.
It was a war year, of course, and it
hadn’t been such a swell year for the
United States. American forces were
hard-pressed on every side, and al-
though the Battle of Midway had given
a ray of hope in the Pacifi c, the Na-
zis were looking just as dangerous as
ever.
But in Portland, Henry Kaiser’s
Liberty Ship-building wonder-plant
was just getting up to speed, and any
home-front Oregonian watching the
operation had to feel a thrill of pride,
a feeling that Hitler and Tojo couldn’t
possibly sink ‘em as fast as we were
building ‘em.
And the Schenectady represented
another leap forward for Oregon ship-
building. It was an oil tanker, an es-
sential sort of ship for a war that was
almost totally motorized. It was the
biggest ship ever built on the West
Coast, and it was followed in a mat-
ter of weeks by another just like it
— and another, and another. In fact,
the Schenectady was the fi rst ship off
a brand-new Henry Kaiser assembly-
line shipyard on Swan Island, just like
the assembly-line shipyards that were
already cranking out thousands of Lib-
erty Ships, only set up to build a bigger
model. The shipyard manager expected
that by early summer, the Swan Island
assembly line would be producing one
new Schenectady-class tanker every
four and a half days.
The Schenectady-class tankers were
523 feet long and 68 feet wide (Liberty
Ships were 441 by 57). A 6,000-horse-
power steam-electric drive system pro-
pelled it at 15 knots, or 28 miles per
hour — a very respectable speed, and a
real lifesaver in an environment where
most German U-boats topped out at 17
knots. It cost $2.7 million to build, and
it took almost twice as much steel to
build as did a Liberty Ship.
More than one spectator, watch-
ing this 16,000-ton behemoth being
launched and knowing another would
be joining it in just a few days, surely
felt reassured that 1943 would be a
much better year.
Then came the night of Jan. 16.
The Schenectady had just fi nished
her sea trials, and everything had gone
smoothly and satisfactorily. Now,
moored at the fi tting dock at Swan Is-
land, she was being prepared to go into
service, carrying fuel to the nation’s
war machines, 7.5 million gallons at a
time.
It was 11 p.m. on a cold night — in
the low 20s or possibly lower; cold
enough that Portlanders in the south-
east quarter of the city were actually
ice-skating on Laurelhurst Lake. The
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 6A
Fireworks — Keep it
legal, keep it safe
T
he Offi ce of State Fire Marshal,
Oregon fi re service, Keep Ore-
gon Green, natural resource agencies,
Oregon fi reworks wholesalers and
safety experts encourage Oregonians
to “Keep it Legal and Keep it Safe”
when using fi reworks. The 2016 Or-
egon fi reworks sales season opened
Thursday, June 23 and runs through
Wednesday, July 6. The OSFM and
their partners want everyone to know
what fi reworks are legal in Oregon,
where they are permitted, and the
important steps to take for fi reworks
safety.
“People often forget that legal fi re-
works can only be purchased from
Oregon permitted fi reworks retailers
and stands,” says Chief Deputy State
Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple.
“And, regulations limit where those
fi reworks may be used. For example,
fi reworks are prohibited on all Oregon
beaches, in parks and campgrounds.”
July 4 holiday forest visitors are ad-
vised to leave all fi reworks at home.
The use of fi reworks is prohibited on
all national forestland, and most other
public lands. “Fireworks compound
the threat to already dry forests,” states
Keep Oregon Green President Kristin
Babbs. “Enjoy fi reworks where they
belong: on the pavement- safely away
from houses, vehicles and fl ammable
vegetation.”
Oregon law bans possession, use, or
sale of fi reworks that fl y, explode, or
travel more than six feet on the ground
or 12 inches into the air. Fireworks
commonly called bottle rockets, Ro-
man Candles and fi recrackers are IL-
LEGAL in Oregon.
There were 227 reported fi reworks-
related fi res in Oregon during 2015,
resulting in 28 injuries and more than
$423,000 in property damage. Over
the past fi ve years, from 2011 through
2015, there were 924 reported fi re-
works-related fi res in Oregon result-
ing in one death, 161 civilian injuries,
and more than $2.7 million in property
damage.
Offi cials may seize illegal fi reworks
and fi ne offenders up to $500 per vio-
lation. Those who misuse fi reworks or
allow fi reworks to cause damage are
liable and may be required to pay fi re
suppression costs or other damage.
Parents are also liable for fi reworks
damage caused by their children.
“All Oregonians share the respon-
sibility to use only legal fi reworks
and use them carefully,” adds Ruiz-
Temple. And we encourage you to be
aware and considerate of neighbors
and their pets, before deciding on
when and where you choose to light
fi reworks.”
The OSFM encourages everyone to
use the four B’s of safe fi reworks use:
Be Prepared before lighting fi re-
works: keep water available by using
a garden hose or bucket.
Be Safe when lighting fi reworks:
keep children and pets away from fi re-
works.
Be Responsible after lighting fi re-
works: never relight a dud. Wait 15 to
20 minutes then soak it in a bucket of
water before disposal.
Be Aware: use only legal fi reworks
and use them only in legal places.
Which is better for my health, a green juice or a green smoothie?
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
V
egetable juices and green
smoothies (also called
blended salads) both have a
place in the Nutritarian diet.
Both are great ways to get more
raw leafy greens into your diet,
in addition
to your usu-
al salads.
A green
smoothie
– a blended
mix of leafy
greens,
fruits and
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nuts and/or seeds – is an excel-
lent, portable morning meal. It
contains all the fi ber from the
greens and fruit, plus fat from
the nuts or seeds to keep you
full and limit the rise in glucose
from the fruit.
A vegetable juice with a small
amount of fruit, depending on
size, may be as calorie-dense as
the smoothie but will not be a
satisfying meal on its own. For
this reason, if you have a sub-
stantial amount of weight to lose,
I wouldn’t recommend juicing
often because it will likely add
too many extra calories (with-
out the feeling of satiety) and
compromise your weight loss
efforts. Also for those with dia-
betes, I do not recommend juic-
ing, since the sugar in the juice
enters the bloodstream rapidly
without fi ber from the original
vegetables and fruits to slow the
process.
Blending and juicing both dis-
rupt the mechanical structure of
plant cells, which increases the
accessibility of many micronu-
trients. Many benefi cial micro-
nutrients – carotenoids, poly-
phenols and folate, for example
– are often bound to structural
components or large molecules
within the plant cell like fi ber,
proteins and starches. Process-
ing, heating and chewing break
down these cellular structures to
increase the availability of the
bound micronutrients; however,
many may not be accessible
for our absorption by chewing
alone. Blending increases our
likelihood of absorbing these
nutrients. Importantly, the mi-
cronutrients that are bound to fi -
ber within the plant cell may be
removed with the fi ber by juic-
ing and therefore be more avail-
able via blending than juicing.
Also, with smoothies, you are
often adding nuts or seeds as a
healthful fat source. Although
blending alone increases the ac-
cessibility of carotenoids, since
the presence of fats is known to
increase carotenoid absorption
from leafy greens, it is possible
that nuts and seeds in a smooth-
ie could increase absorption fur-
ther.
For those who have nutrient
absorption problems, gastro-
intestinal conditions, or other
medical conditions, vegetable
juices (especially cruciferous
vegetables) are often useful as
a supplement to a healthful diet,
providing additional benefi cial
nutrients to promote healing.
Guidelines for juicing and
blending:
By blending, you get ev-
erything that you would get in
juice, so juicing is not a neces-
sary component of a healthful
diet.
Whereas a green smoothie
can be a meal, think of a vegeta-
ble juice as a supplement to add
extra veggie-derived nutrients to
a healthful diet.
If you do juice regularly,
make sure that you are not re-
placing your leafy green salads
and whole raw vegetables with
juices.
Whether you are juicing or
making smoothies, be sure to
put a greater focus on vegeta-
bles than fruit; use only a small
amount of fruit to add fl avor, so
that you maximize nutritional
value and limit glycemic ef-
fects.
Limit smoothies and green
juices to one per day, and re-
member that this does not re-
move the necessity to utilize
your teeth to eat a raw salad
every day.
Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New
York Times best-selling author
and a board certifi ed family
physician specializing in life-
style and nutritional medicine.
Visit his informative website at
DrFuhrman.com. Submit your
questions and comments about
this column directly to news-
questions@drfuhrman.com. The
full reference list for this article
can be found at DrFuhrman.
com.
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