Merrill-Stevens Dry Dock & Repair Co. v. United States

By contract dated September 17,1942, plaintiff undertook to fabricate for the Charleston Navy Yard bow and stem sections for 43 destroyer-escort vessels. The contract was negotiated; there was no competitive bidding. It was a fixed-price contract providing for payment at a unit price of 9 cents per pound for the finished product. The contract recited an estimated total weight of 9,000,000 pounds, more or less, or about 209,300 pounds, or 105 tons, for each bow and stern section.

*321Difficulties and delays were encountered from the beginning. The defendant failed in its obligation to supply…