"Push Button" Freighter (Wilmington), 1951

Supplementary material reads: "Gershon. City desk. Illus. 1951-08-28. 'Push Button' new ship. Ameican President Lines' new combination 12-passenger and cargo ship Schuyler Otis Bland arrives at company berths in Wilmington on maiden voyage around the world. She is known as the first 'push button' ship because of her revolutionary cargo boom rigging. Note the steel cables attached to booms, running through blocks. By manning electric winches, longshoremen can raise and lower booms into place for cargo handling operations within fifteen minutes. Nos. 1 and 2 show detail of how booms are rigged to king-posts (two husky bridge-like stanchions) by steel rope which leads through various blocks by which booms are hauled into place by electric winches. Photos show Mrs. Frank Roebuck who met her husband here, looking into wonders of radar screen while Captain Frank Roebuck explains what tiz. Mrs. Roebuck and Captain Frank Roebuck, skipper of the new Schuyler Otis Bland 'push button ship' look through ports of wheelhouse. Wheelhouse is novel on freighter class ship for its roominess, completely equipped with all modern instruments, and its rounded streamlining. 21 ships of this type are building for US Merchant Marine, but Schuyler Otis Bland is first one in commission for American President Lines. Other shots show 'push button ship' Schuyler Otis Bland at Wilmington docks on maiden voyage. No. 3: Arthur Eldridge, general manager of Los Angeles Harbor emphasizes point in discussing merits of port to Charles McGuire while Eloi Amar, Long Beach port manager listens".

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