Evening star., 1941-03-18
Lord Halifax Reported
Nazi Sub Operating
Off u. s., We||es Says
British Navy Is Source
Of information; No Bottle
Cruisers Mentioned
By the Associated Press.


Sumner Welles, Acting Secretary
of State, said today he had been told
by Viscount Halifax, the British
Ambassador, that the British had
received reports German subma-
r1ne had been reported in North
Atlantic waters
In answer to questions, Mr.. Welles
said that, in view of the considerable
publicity given the question, he
would recite the facts.
Late yesterday, he related, the
British Ambassador told him that
the British Navy had informed the
American Navy it had reports that
a German submarine had reached
waters somewhere off the North At
lantic coast.
Mr.. Welles said he had no infor-
nation that German battle cruisers
were in the Atlantic and again re-
ferred all questioners to the Navy
for such information.
In London today, Prime Minister
Churchill said mot only German u
boats but German battle cruisers
have crossed the Atlantic to the
American side of the Atlantic and
have already sunk some of our in
dependently routed ships not sailing
In convoy"
Berlin Calls 1t "Put-up job"
In Berlin, authorized sources said
reports of German long distance
U-boat being en- route to American
waters were ''put-up job by Amer
lean war inciters.' They called it
an attempt by the munitions indus
try to create war panic.
There were two possibilities seen
by informed persons if the sub
marine report is correct.
The first was that the U-boat was
being sent to the shipping lanes of
the Western Atlantic to prey on
vessels carrying American aid to
Britain and thus make good Adolf
Hitlers thrice-repeated promise of
recent weeks that wherever British
ships cruise we shall set against
them our submarines.
The second-considered more re-
mote because of the mention of Off
shore operations-was that the sub
marine might be a commercial vessel
like the unarmed Deutschland which
made two World War trips to Amer
lean ports in 1916 with cargoes of
dyestuffs and chemicals.
Scare Charged.
Senator Wheeler, Democrat, of
Montana, leading opponent of the
lease-lend program, accused Lord
Halifax of giving out the submarine
report to brighten the State De-
partment and the American people"
Senator Wheeler placed little Gre
dence in the information.
Some sources reported that the
information was obtained from an
intercepted message sent to at least
one German submarine, believed to
be a type capable of long range op-
erations for an extended length of
time.
Would Be in Neutrality Zone.
A submarine operating in the
Western Atlantic shipping lanes
would be inside the pan-American
neutrality zone, now patrolled daily
by air and surface ships Of the
United States Atlantic Fleet. How
ever, the European belligerents have
not recognized the validity Of the
zone in which the American repub-
hes have banned hostilities.
If q U-boat is en- route to Amer
lean waters, qualified persons here
believe that it probably would be a
1,500-tonner, similar to the Squalus
class of the United States Navy.
Such a submarine carries crew of
IS and has a range OF about 10000
miles without refueling.
The distance between New York
and Bordeaux in occupied France is
$500 nautical miles, so a submarine
of this type could cross the Atlantic,
cruise for an additional 5000 miles
fuel for the return trip.
Nazis May Not Have Any Big Subs.
The big question mark to persons
informed on naval matters was
whether Germany possesses any
1,500-ton types. The last official
pre-war information listed nothing
larger than 800-ton classes.
Theoretically, these persons said,
an 800-tonner could make a round
trip to American coastal waters, but
they said operations would be ex-
tremely limited, the crew would take
"a terrible physical beating" and
there would be no margin of safety
in fuel reserves.
Recalling that the Deutschland
displaced 2,400 tons, these sources
did not rule out the possibility that
Germany may have included some
big types in her intensified sub
marine building program. The
United States Fleet has three eX-
perimental 2,740-ton craft now in
service.
Before the submarine report be-
came known last night, Lord Hall
fax, talking to reporters at the State
Department, expressed confidence
that Germany would be unable to
interrupt substantially" the flow of
American alQ 10 Britain.
Says Most Aid Will Arrive.
The envoy indicated that only a
small percentage of supplies from
the United States was failing to get
through the Nazi counter-blockade
and that he anticipated no great
difference in deliveries as the Ger
mans step up their submarine cam
paign.
Hitler has promised pointedly that
the underseas war would be intensi-
fled and that it would thwart ef-
forts to supply Britain.
On January 80 he told rally OF
Nazi party members and govern
ment officials at Berlin that Amer
ican help would be of no avail to
Britain and that "every ship, with
or without convoy, that comes
within range of our torpedo tubes
will be torpedoed."
Again on February "a, announcing
that new U-boats were ready for
action he r,rocIainned "oIIr Strl1pp1eS