functions the development of the great port of Hampton Roads, of which Norfolk Harbor is an integral part. The projects under discussion here today not only embrace Norfolk Harbor but also the approaches to Norfolk Harbor from the sea.

It may be unnecessary to encumber this narrative with details of the value of the tonnage which has been handled through Hampton Roads in the past few years. Suffice it to say that in recent years more than 10,000 ships enter and clear the Virginia Capes annually, which represents a tremendous tonnage. Also suffice it to say that the great port of Hampton Roads in recent years has led the United States in export tonnage, a position it maintained through the year 1953. In a recent year, according to figures supplied by the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, the total waterborne commerce of the Hampton Roads ports aggregated 50 million net tons. Of this, approximately 50 percent was handled in the foreign trade.

Returning to the coal trade, the anchorage grounds requested off Craney Island-Lambert Point-are designed to care for the vessels awaiting their turn at the great Norfolk & Western coal piers at Lambert Point or awaiting passage to the sea after having loaded at these piers. In recent years approximately 5 million tons of coal are handled over these piers annually, which is not exceeded at any seaport of the United States except possibly at Newport News, Va., just across Hampton Roads.

At a public hearing on this matter, conducted by the district engineer at Norfolk in 1949, a representative of the Norfolk & Western Railway Co. stated that the piers work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and that vessels must now be anchored in lower Hampton Roads waiting their turn, and it would greatly facilitate and expedite movement of a large number of vessels using these terminals if the anchorage grounds were furnished.

At the hearing above referred to the commandant of the Fifth Naval District testified as to the necessity for these improvements from a standpoint of the Navy, especially in respect to widening Thimble Shoal Channel and providing auxiliary channels there, and also widening the main ship channel in Hampton Roads. He said in part:

Unlike the situation existing in other major ports of our country, the movement of naval ships in the Hampton Roads area has not decreased, but has increased from the peak established in World War II.

It will be recalled that since that time the headquarters of the supreme allied commander, Atlantic, has been established here and is located within the boundaries of the Norfolk Naval District, and because of this naval activities in the area have increased rather than decreased. Full and complete information as to naval tonnage utilizing this port has been supplied by the Navy Department.

At this hearing a representative of the Virginia Pilot Association concurred in the statement furnished by the Hampton Roads Maritime Association, as well as the excellent testimony which had been given by practical men who handle ships. He expressed special interest in the anchorages and the widening of the Norfolk Ship Channel. He also expressed his recommendation for the deepening and widening of the Thimble Shoal Approach Channel. He pointed to the difficulty of turning a ship around off Lambert Point, especially with

heavy winds and without some assistance, which is not always available. He expressed the belief that the installation of additional anchorage areas at that point would greatly facilitate the movement of cargoes.

In reverting to discussion of Thimble Shoal Channel, it was pointed out that since World War I restrictions have been in effect prohibiting the use of that channel by vessels drawing less than 20 feet, and attention was called to the fact that most vessels have been replaced by ships of greater draft, so that building auxiliary channels would simply be restoring the channel to its previous status.

It may be added that a portion of these projects will require the support of the State of Virginia and to accomplish this its State legislature will be requested to extinguish public and private oyster rights in the area to be occupied by the recommended anchorages.

These projects were placed on the approved list of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress when that body met in Washington on May 24, 1954.

We attach a statement showing tonnage of exports for the Hampton Roads ports for the year 1952 and 1953, and also a statement of the vessel movement in and out bound, coal dumpings, and customs receipts for these years.

We, therefore, strongly urge this committee's approval of the project in question and its inclusion in the pending bill.

Are there any questions you gentlemen would like to ask me? Mr. ANGELL. Why has this improvement been delayed so long? Mr. MEREDITH. I believe Representative Hardy could answer that. Mr. HARDY. As you know, all projects of this nature take a lot of time to be sure they are thoroughly supported. Actually, the hearing on this began in 1949, but the district engineer did not complete his report until last summer, and you know what a problem it is to see that the report gets through the Board of Engineers and over to the Secretary and to the Bureau of the Budget and back down all those channels. That is where it has been all this time.

There is another aspect to it. There are certain items in this particular project that can best be performed after the Craney Island disposal area is finished. Funds have just been appropriated this year for the disposal area at Craney Island. The contract proposal is out and I think the contract will be let in the next few days. It is anticipated that some of the projects we are discussing today should be done immediately and some should be deferred until that disposal area has been completed so that the dredged material will have a nearby place to be put. So there is an interlocking relationship of these projects which is partially responsible for the delay.

Mr. ANGELL. Any questions?

Mr. MACK. Mr. Meredith, did I understand you to say the port of Norfolk has a larger export business than any port in the United States?

Mr. MEREDITH. In tonnage, yes.

Mr. MACK. Larger than New York?

Mr. MEREDITH. Yes.

Mr. MACK. And larger than Baltimore?

Mr. MEREDITH. The figures in 1952 and 1953 and for several years prior to that indicate we did lead in export tonnage.

Mr. MACK. Does a great deal of the tonnage of coal handled go foreign or domestic?

Mr. MEREDITH. I would say 90 percent goes foreign and it goes under the various aid programs in aiding Europe. A great deal is being purchased by European countries.

Mr. MACK. This coal that is shipped, where does it originate?

Mr. MEREDITH. It comes out of West Virginia but is served by the railroads that operate between Norfolk and West Virginia. We have direct connections as far as Chicago in serving all Midwestern States in our export trade, which, for the past 50 years, has been primarily coal, but the big drive now is to make it more diversified.

Mr. MACK. You show the customs collections were about $10 million a year, which would indicate a great amount of imports.

Mr. MEREDITH. Yes, sir. That has been an encouraging thing. We have always had the coal business, and our attention has been directed to exporting general cargo and importing anything anybody wants imported.

Mr. MACK. Do you export tobacco?

Mr. MEREDITH. Yes, it is probably the largest tobacco-export port and also cotton, although New Orleans exports a great deal of cotton as well.

Mr. ANGELL. If we should be involved in another war, would this project be an emergency one essential to the carrying on of such a war? Mr. MEREDITH. I believe it would. The reason for that is pointed out in the minutes of this 1949 hearing which I read coming up here this morning, and that is that in the event of any national emergency, let us assume there were an attack on the port of Norfolk, the naval ships would have to get out in a hurry. That means your destroyers and other screening vessels would have to get out ahead of your capital ships. Your capital ships would be proceeding down the deep channels and the screening vessels would have to use the auxiliary channels shown in green on this map on either side of the deep Thimble Shoal Channel. If we have these improvements we will not have what happened at Pearl Harbor. That is from the military point of view. In the event of another war undoubtedly, as in the past, Norfolk would be a very busy port as far as exporting military cargoes is concerned. As the colonel has pointed out, we have an Army port of embarkation, and during the Korean war in 1952 the shipping was a good 50 percent more than in the pre-Korean war year. Because of that we need all the anchorage space we can have. Convoys used to use anchorages near Port Henry. There is a submarine net in the vicinity of Old Point Comfort, which is just north of the naval base.

(The following statistics were submitted by Mr. Meredith :)