What was the purpose of the shipbuilding program mandated by Second Vinson Act ?
In March 1938 , the General Board followed the recommendations of the Battleship Design Advisory Board , which was composed of the naval architect William Francis Gibbs , William Hovgaard ( then president of New York Shipbuilding ) , John Metten , Joseph W. Powell , and the long - retired Admiral and former Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance Joseph Strauss .