Evening star., 1941-12-22

security of the North Atlantic
routes.
IS. In the Pacific our naval forces
have aleady effectively dealt with
several japanese submarines"
About the time of the Knox an
nouncement, the Navy was investi-
eating reports of burning ship at
sea of San Diego and later re-
ported "all clear"
Naval officials at San Diego would
make no other comment.
A towering column of smoke was
visible about IL miles offshore yes
terday, leading observers to believe
a ship was aflre.
Army observers at Camp Callan,
however. said they believed the ship
was not burning. but probably was
an American tanker under forced
draft.
Probably Made Port.
Army officers added the vessel
probably made port shortly after
dark.
Despite Army and Navy silence,
it is known that the Navy long ago
anticipated the possibility OF sub
marine attacks off the continental
coasts and has been building up
special forces to cope with such
raids.
Great reliance is believed to have
been put on sub chasers similar 10
those which proved so enectve dur
ing the World War. The Navy has
built, or is building, hundreds Of
these small, speedy craft
A number of blimps also are in
service. Exponents of these sausage
shaped craft contend that their
ability to hover virtually motionless
In the air makes them far superior
to airplanes for submarine-spotting
purposes.
Apparently covering three months
Of shoot -on- sight patrol in the At
lantic and two weeks Of declared
warfare in both oceans. the an
nouncement Of damage to possibly
II or l8 submarines compared with
World War records crediting United
States naval forces with "a success
full attacks German U-boats in
10 months of hostilities.
256 World War Attacks.
From April. 1917. to the armistice
United States vessels made 256 at
tacks on German submarines. OF
the "A successful" attacks, only
three were known to have sunk
undersea craft and two were listed
as possibly sunk"
Prime Minister Churchill said on
December II that Allied shipping
losses in the Atlantic had dropped
to one-fifth the previous rate in
the five months ending in Novem-
ber. but Mr.. Knox's statement gave
first Official word of successful
submarines since the shoot sight
order became effective September
l6.
Previous unoficial estimates had
placed German submarine losses
since the war started as totaling
about 40. Before reverting to the
World War policy of not disclosing
destruction of enemy submarines,
the British claimed to have sunk
so up to April, 1910.
Available information indicates
Japan has about 40 submarines with
a range permitting operations off
the United States West Coast. Some
are believed to be as large as 2,70O
tons, including big undersea mine
layers able to travel $4,000 miles
without refueling and SOW as many
as go mines.
May Be Using Smaller Subs.
Smaller japanese submarines
might raid Pacific coastal shipping
lanes from bases in the Caroline or
Marshall Islands or with the aid of
supply ships such as the fishing YES
sci Alert which was seized at Costa
Rica December II with seven
japanese and 10000 gallons of fuel
oil aboard.
The Germans are known to have
several submarines of 1000 tons or
more but there is no information
that they have constructed 1900
ton cruiser submarines such as the