Page 14: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 15, 1969)

Against the blast keep your marine rigs working ? j ? Just put your marine electronic equip-ment under the maintenance care of RCA service technicians. At every major U.S. port of call, these special-ists can help retain peak reliability for your electronic navigation and com-munications equipment. Experienced to service fleets or individual craft, they are at your service the year 'round, in fair or foul weather. You'll find these RCA service techni-cians listed locally in your port direc-tory. Additional information available by writing: RCA Service Company A Division of RCA Marine Communications and Navigation Equipment Service, Bldg. CHIC-225, Camden, N.J. 08101 Phone (609) 963-8000, ext. PH-311 Newport News Ship Advances F.C. Davis And R.S. Plummer R. S. Plummer Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Va., has announced the election of Fred C. Davis to the post of vice-president operations. Mr. Davis was for-merly vice-president and general manager. R. S. Plummer has been appointed general manager of the shipyard, a subsidiary of Ten-neco Inc. He served previously as assistant general manager. Mr. Davis, who holds a B.S. degree in me-chanical engineering from North Carolina State University, joined Newport News Shipbuilding in 1927. Appointed assistant foreman of the ship shed department in 1935, he became fore-man in 1944. In 1954 he was named assistant superintendent of the steel hull division, and in 1958 he became head of the division, after serv-ing one year as production engineer of the company. Mr. Davis became assistant general manager in 1962 and general manager in 1964. In 1965 he was elected a vice-president. A past president of the Propeller Club, Port of Newport News, he is also a member of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engi-neers, the Welding Research Council and the American Society of Naval Engineers. He serves on the board of directors of the Virginia Manufacturers Assn., and is a life member of the National Defense Transportation Assn. Mr. Plummer is a graduate of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute with a B.S. degree in me-chanical engineering. He became affiliated with Newport News Shipbuilding in 1935. Appoint-ed assistant superintendent of the machinery division in 1955, he was named superintendent in 1964. He became assistant general manager in 1966. Mr. Plummer is a member of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the American Society of Naval Engineers and the Propeller Club. Oceanic Plans Trade-In For C-l Sampan Hitch Oceanic Expose, Inc. of San Diego, Calif., would like to acquire the government-owned C-l Sampan Hitch, now in the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay. Calif., in a trade-in transaction of its 50-year-old 2,333-gt lumber carrier, Lum-berlady, built in 1919. The company has ad-vised Maritime Administration that should the exchange be approved, it intends to convert the Sampan Hitch to a fishing and oceanographic support ship. Lone Star Building Three River Towboats Lone Star Marine Salvage Co., of Houston, Texas, is constructing three river towboats for stock purposes. Two of these towboats will be powered with a single-screw 275-bhp diesel and will be 37 feet in length; the third one will be powered with 700-total-bhp diesels and have dimensions of 66 feet by 22 feet by 9 feet. Reynolds To Acquire Sea-Land Service, Inc. The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has announced plans to acquire McLean Industries, Inc., in a transaction that could involve the transfer of more than $500-million in cash, ac-cording to a joint announcement by both firms. Alex H. Galloway, president of Reynolds, and Malcolm P. McLean, president of the firm which operates Sea-Land Service, Inc., the na-tion's largest containership fleets, said in New York that they have agreed in principle on a plan to merge the two firms. According to the agreement, Reynolds will pay $50 for each of the 10,589,000 shares of McLean common stock outstanding. Or, the announcement said, McLean share-holders may receive $40 principal amount of 20-year, 7 percent subordinated debentures and ^ of a warrant to purchase one share of Reynolds stock at $47.50. The warrants would be exercisable for 15 years. The debentures could not be called for ten years but could be used in lieu of cash in exercise of the warrants. McLean stock, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has ranged between $23 and $50 during the last 12 months. The tentative agreement is subject to the approval of the directors and stockholders of the two firms and, the two presidents said, leaves certain "important" but unspecified mat-ters yet unresolved. Reynolds, with sales of about $1.2-billion and assets of more than $1.24-billion, is among the nation's 70 largest firms. In 1967, McLean's operating revenue amounted to $180.5-million and its assets $232.5-million. With this announcement, Reynolds becomes the latest of a number of large organizations to move into the maritime field without previ-ous experience in it. Peterson Trawler Bid Acceptable To MarAd A bid by the Peterson Boatbuilding Com-pany of Tacoma, Wash., to build two fishing trawlers, each at a cost of $598,392, has been called "fair and reasonable" by Acting Mari-time Administrator James W. Gulick. It was also estimated that it would cost $333,000 to build the vessels in Japan, and so a $265,392 construction subsidy for each of the two ves-sels was established. The trawlers are to be built for Ann-B Inc., and Ildhuso Fisheries Inc., both of Seattle, Wash. Webb Institute Included In Gulf Oil Grants Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, Glen Cove, Long Island, N.Y., has received a $1,500 grant for unrestricted use from Gulf Oil Cor-poration as part of the company's educational assistance program, which this year will dis-tribute $2,300,000 to students and institutions of higher education. In addition to unrestricted grants, the other phases of Gulf's comprehensive program in-clude scholarships to children of Gulf employ-ees and dealers, matching of employee gifts to colleges, capital grants, departmental assistant grants, fellowships, and various special grants to colleges and universities. Institutions eligible for unrestricted grants are those which are privately operated and controlled, and which obtain a major portion of their support from non-tax sources. The check was presented to Rear Adm. Wil-liam Brockett, USN (ret.), president of Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, by Wessel C. Brodhead, vice-president of the Marine Depart-ment of Gulf. Fred C. Davis 16 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News