J. F. Hodgkins Company (1), Kingman Marine Construction, Inc. (2), and Palmer & Parker Co. (3) v. The United States

JONES, Chief Judge.

This is an action for “just compensation” under the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution. It is brought before us by three subcontractors of the Rice Shipbuilding Corporation of East Boothbay, Maine, to recover the value of certain statutory liens which the plaintiffs claim were acquired under Maine law and subsequently rendered worthless by the actions of defendant.

On March 26, 1954, the Department of the Navy awarded contract number NObs-3572 to the Rice Shipbuilding Corporation for the construction of 11 40-foot personnel boats, Mark II, to be manufactured…