Evening star., 1937-02-17
Preparations Under Way for
Testing Navy Strength
Under Battle Conditions.
PLANS FOR EXERCISES
KEPT CLOSE SECRET
Defense" of Hawaii, However,
Certain to Be Included
in Program.
BY WILLIAM A. MILLEN.

About two months hence upwards
of $50 warships will steam out Of
Southern California ports in the
Navy's big war games, in which op-
posing fleets will play -and-seek
in the vast triangle bounded by Cali
fornia Alaska and Hawaii. Already
the vessels are preparing for the big
job, with innumerable drills and ship
exercises, as well as aviation maneu-
vers. The war games will be held from
April '16 to June l, six weeks steady
grind that will test the mettle of men
and ships.
Right now Army, Navy and Marine
Corps units are cooperating in land
ing operations. turning San Clemente
Island, off the California coast, into
a theater of war. This is but prepa-
ration for the big war games that will
be in full swing shortly.
Admiral Arthur j. Hepburn, COM
mander in chief of the United States
Fleet. will have leading part in the
mimic battle Secret orders will pre-
vail and radio communication will be
taboo. lest the opposition get a line
on the whereabouts of the enemy fleet
Officers in Charge.
Admiral Claude C. Bloch. former
judge advocate general of the Navy
and former commandant of the Wash
ington Navy Yard, will be one of the
big three" as he is now commander
of the Battle Force, aboard his flag
shin tho IT G c NaGfor,,io U;oa
Admiral William T. Tarrant, COM
mander of the Scouting Force, aboard
the U. S. S. Indianapolis, cruiser that
has been used by President Roosevelt.
is another of the trio that will aid in
directing the maneuvers.
Out of the California ports, the war
ships will sail north and west to their
appointed places. Already the Bureau
Of Supplies and Accounts, Navy De-
partment, is making extensive prepa-
rations for provisioning the mighty
array.
While Washington officials are Sc
cretive about the whole business, it is
known that Hawaii will be defended"
from the attack of the hostile force"
The Fleet will be divided into two
forces Of nearly equal strength, and
whether the naval authorities will call
the contending fleets the red and the
pink, or the maroon and the ceriSe,
has not been learned.
San Clemente Island Maneuvers.
San Clemente Island maneuvers,
now going forward, are being conduct
ed in the utmost secrecy. Admiral
Hepburn is directing the various ex-
erciseS and it is expected that he
will be continued for another year as
commander in chief of the United
States Fleet.
Playing a leading part in the
forthcoming war games will be air
craft carriers U. S. S. Lexington,
Ranger and Saratoga, as well as the
tender Wright. The war birds are
taking an increasingly important role
in the maneuvers, which until few
years back were confined solely to
submarines and surface vessels.
While there is "huSh-hush"
policy on about the whole affair, it is
believed that the Army forces, sta
toned in Hawaii, will be asked to join
with the Navy in testing the vulnera-
bility of Uncle Sans mid-Pacific
possessions.
The Aleutian Islands, of the tip
of Alaska will play an important role
in the war drama, for there Uncle
Sam proposes to establish a naval
base and surveys in the area have been
under way for some time.
To preclude possible objections by
Japan that Uncle Sans dreadnaughts
may approach too near her shores, the
Navy Department is expected to insist
again, as it did in previous years, that
the war games be held eastward OF
the 180th meridian, a bit west OF
Hawaii. Dutch Harbor in UnalaSka in
the Aleutians, which is favored as a
naval base in the almost-Far East, Is
not west of the 180th meridian.
First Workout for Many.
New destroyers and cruisers that
have joined the fleet recently will have
their first workout under service con-
ditions, Stimulating wartime, in the
forthcoming maneuvers. Smoke e
screens, radio silence and all the tricks
of the sea-hghting man will be
brought into play once more in order
to confuse or conquer the "foe."
Fleet Problem 49, is the euphemis-
tic way the Navy Department deSig.
mates the war games, which are ex-
pected to bring out many vital les
sons of real importance to U Ie Sam.
New ships and the newer personnel
of the service will be put through
their PAGES for the first time.
All lights will be put out while the
fleets are at sea, crews will be re-
stricted as to shore liberty and mall
ing letters, secret orders will be known
only to the senior officers md watches
are expected to be -four hours on and
four off," instead of the regular peace
time routine of longer rest -'eriods.
There are indications more planes
will participate in the war games
than ever before, although the exact
number has not been made public.
Scouting, torpedo, fighting, bombing
and patrol types will be utilized by
the commanders of the opposing
fleets for tactical and strategical ad.
vantage and to gain information,
Even now, the aviators are hard at it
preparing for the forthcoming fray
The General Board, which advisei
Secretary Swanson on matters OF
policy, and the Naval War College al
Newport, r. l., will be directly inter-
ested in the outcome Of the wal
games. The reports made on them
will be studied for many months in
Washington and efforts made to re-
pair any weak spots in Uncle Sama
naval armor.
In recent war games the fleets have
been operating in the Pacific, of the
coast of Panama and South America,
This year the center Of interest will
shift westward, with Alaska and
Hawaii being very much in the fore