Evening star., 1939-12-24
Scutt|ing Of Spec
Alters Sea Warfare
Map for Allies
Course Of Americas
In Avoiding War
May Be Made Eosier
By the Associated Press.

The scuttling of the Nazi pocket
battleship Admiral Graf Spec in
Uruguayan waters has changed the
sea warfare map for the Franco
British allies. 1t may serve, too, to
make easier the course Of pam
American diplomats who are seeking
to safeguard all the New World but
Canada from being drawn into the
European war.
Short of appearance in the South
or Middle Atlantic of one of the
Specs sisterships, or some other
fast and heavily armed ship, there
remains no vessel flying the German
swastika in pan-American waters
which could be of sufficient impor-
tance to the allies to risk pan
American i'll will The also scuttled
32.000-ton Columbus, German luxury
liner, was the only prize of sufficient
value as cargo carrier or a poten-
tial commerce raider to warrant a
wordy diplomatic dispute across the
Atlantic over the pan-American
security zone declaration.
No Hint of Replacement.
In the week since the Spec was
scuttled on orders from Berlin. there
has been no hint that Germany has
replaced her. as menace to allied
sea supply lines in the South Allan
tic. Also, there has been nothing to
suggest that her sistership, the
Deutschland, last noted far up in
the North Atlantic, lowering on the
edge of the Arctic Ocean, has been
able to match the Specs feats in
destruction of allied shipping.
There has been no adequate ex-
PLANTATION of the failure of the
Deutschland to take any hand in the
war since she sunk a British freight
er, seized the American steamer
City of Flint (only to have her later
released by Norwegian intervention
and sent down the British auxiliary
cruiser Rawalpindi. The Deutsch-
land may be short on fuel or she
may have stolen home to some Ger
man port, as one rumor has had it.
Whatever the reason and wher-
ever she is. as the single German
surface naval vessel actually known
to have been at sea since the de-
struction of the Spec, the Deutsch-
land has failed as yet, so far as the
world knows, to strike any blow in
retaliation for the British defeat of
the Spec. If she is still at sea and
not virtually out of action for lack
of fuel, it is possible that the
Deutschland is making her way
southwark to take over the more
fruitful hunting field where the Spec
operated.
May Know Location.
London naval and shipping au-
thorities may have some intimation
of where the Deutschland is, but
are keeping it secret as they devise
ways to trap her as the Spec was
trapped. If not, every passing day
without word of her will serve to
lessen tension both at the British
admiralty and on the allied-pan-
American diplomatic front.
Once assured there is no Nazi
commerce raider in or near the
prescribed waters. there can be nc
pressing reason for close allied pa
troll of pan-American ports. British
and French naval craft could be
more useful on convoy work against
Nazi submarines or on guard duty
at the bottlenecks about Britain o1
allied essential sea traffic
Hitler's order to scuttle rather
than surrender makes it obviou.
now, in the light of the Spec anc
Columbus cases, that allied nava
commanders can hope to get neither
ships nor cargoes by maintaining 6
3-mile-line watch off pan-Americar
ports.