Evening star., 1941-12-11

Sunday was that Jay q. Hayden.
not a single British battleship had
been sunk by air attack, and this
statement has been echoed over and
over again by American adnlirals.
arguing that events all had con-
firmed the impregnability of bat
tleships to air assault.
So far as has been reported no
German capital ship has been sunk
by air attack. The Bismarck was
crippled and slowed down by tor
pedo planes, but it was the big guns
Of the Prince of Wales and other
British naval vessels that finally
sent her to the bottom.
1t was officially announced from
London yesterday that the Prince
of Wales, newest and largest Of
British naval vessels, and the bat-
tie cruiser Repulse, almost az large.
but completed during the World
War, had been sunk by japanese
bombs, fired from the air.
U. S. Losses Severe.
Details as to American naval
losses in the bombing of the feet
at Pearl Harbor still are officially
withheld, but information given to
Senators from an authoritative
naval source has left no doubt that
the damage done to our battleships
substantially exceeds the British
loss OF the Prince of Wales and the
Repulse.
The strict secrecy respecting their
armed forces, which the Japanese
long have maintained, has prevented
foreigners from obtaining much in
formation about them from within
Japan, but American and British
intelligence officers have kept close
track of Japanese air operations
over China. The conclusion from
reports so derived had been that
Japan's air equipment OF all sorts
was obsolete as compared with Ger
| man, British and American types:
/ that Japan had few heavy bombers
and none that could fly at great
| heights; that Japanese marksman-
ship from the air was decidedly bad:
and that their pilots, although dar-
ing to the last degree, were in
sufficiently trained.
All of these deductions have been
completely swept out of the window
by this weeks engagements. Re-
ports from Hawaii, the Philippine
Islands and Singapore all declare
that the Japanese not only are using
heavy bombing planes, flying so high
that they are not discernible with
the naked eye, but their marks
manship, particularly against sur
face warships, has been phenom-
enally good.
1t is said to have been definitely
established that the planes attacking
Pearl Harbor we're of the four motor
type, which it is not possible to
launch from an aircraft carrier.
This leads to the conclusion that
they must have flown from land
bases, the nearest of which in jap
anese territory are in the inundated
Marshall Islands, approximately
1000 miles from Honolulu. This
means that the Japanese planes
must have flown nonstop, coming
and going, about 1000 miles, an ex-
tremely long distance for any pre-
viously known bombing aircraft.
Use Of German Planes Doubted.
One frequently heard conjecture
is that the planes the japanese are
using were supplied from Germany
and that they also may be manned
in whole or in part by German
pilots and gunners. A degree Of
support for this idea was supplied
by a dispatch from Singapore. We'd
nesday, saying that it was reported,
without official conformation, that
German pilots had been found in
Japanese planes shot down there.
unable to figure how German planes
In formidable numbers could have
been delivered to Japan since the
European war began in September,
1899. Since that date all overseas
connection between Germany and
Japan has been cut on by the
British blockade. This leaves the
possibility that German planes
might have been flown TO Japan.
but that also would seem to be an
extremely difficult feat.
The distance from the most east
erly point in Germany to Japan il
about $500 miles-too far for non
stop fight. Approximately half OF
the route is over Russia and the
other half over Russia and Man.
chukuo or China.
That the Chungking government
of China would have supplied such
bases for planes destined for It's
enemy. Japan, is out Of the question,
ana JapaneSe-oCCupieu scS1ioio "a
China are too far eastward to serve
this purpose.
It is conceivable that in the period
between the invasion of Poland and
June, 1s4l, while Russia was moro
or less allied with Germany. the
Soviet might have permitted use OF
its Siberian bases for German plansA
bound for Japan.
The one thing that Is undisputed
Is that the Japanese supposedly
weak in the air, have turned up
with an ample supply of bombers,
50 based as to play havoc with ths
naval and air forces which Great
Britain and the United States 50