Rush plans for new U.S. Battleships. Washington, D.C., June 23. Scene in Construction and Repair Division of the U.S. Navy Department where plans for the two new 35,000 ton battleships are being rushed to completion. Work on the ships will get underway in four to six months, Charles Edison, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, announced. One will be built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the other at Philadelphia, 6/23/37