Center for Maritime Security – There is a time to pose questions, and there is a time to propose answers. Today requires that we do both in order that America’s non-military maritime industries flourish, for there can be no doubt that American shipbuilding has declined catastrophically since the end of the Korean War. Total output for this period, in terms of tonnage per year, has dropped by more than 85 percent. The reduction in American shipyards capable of building large vessels matches this decay. Without an adequate shipyard base and the maintenance of the myriad of correlated domestic industries, American naval supremacy is certain to be challenged.