Through the 1940s the hulls of ocean-going freighters were constructed by riveting plates of steel together. When the defense efforts of World War II demanded accelerated production of freighters to supply U.S. troops overseas, construction of the hulls was converted to welding. The resulting Liberty Ships proved quite successful but also drew considerable attention when minor or moderate impacts (usually under low-temperature conditions) produced cracks of lengths sufficient to scuttle the ship, often up to 50 feet or more. Since the material was essentially the same and the only significant process change had been the conversion from riveting to welding, the welding process was blamed for the failures. Is this a fair assessment? What do you think may have contributed to the problem? What evidence might you want to gather to support your beliefs?