The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-12-11

- nave peoA greatly extended. PEeviously, it was thought that no fleet could operate more than 2bO0. miles from It's base. Yet the distance from Japan to the Hawaiian Islands Is $500 miles, From San Francisco to Yokohama is b2O0 miles. And the Japanese bombed Honolulu and torpedoed Q tFasisport off the California coast.
 The whole strategy of c naval war n the Pacific has for years been talked of in terms of this theoretls cal safe 2600snliie radius ct which fleets might operate, and of c FnaXls mum i000-mlie radius ct which bombing aircraft might operate from their air bases. Even the Ger. man bombing attacks, while deadly up to 700 and 900 miles from their channel ports, have done little daFl- age at 1000 miles.
 HERE THEY ARE
 From Manila to Yokohama is 2,. 900 iniies-a difficult if not iFnpossis ble distance by air, unless the new naval aircraft can navigate it and return,
 From Canton (now held by the JapS) to Manila is 900 miles, on easy distance for bombers.
 From VladivoStok to Tokyo and Yokohama, q mere 700 miles,
 From Yokohama to Singapore, the British Gibraltar Of the Orient, Is $500 miles, ID to now thought too faF for air or seq attack,
 From Yokohama to Batavia. Netherlands East Indies, is 3G00 miles, making the Dutch reasonably safe.
 From the Alaskan mainland to Yokohama s 9000 miles and from the tip Of the Aieutian Islands t0 Yokohama b less than IB00,
 From Fof1n0Ba, southeFflinost main Island Of the Japanese aFchis p0iago 70 the northernmost Of the Philippine Islands is c mere 7B miles, And Foffnosa is fortified As Q Gibraltar Of Japan far stronger perhaps than the defenses of the Philippines,
 UNCE WERE GERMAN
 Lpsettlng factor in ali thesO cal- eulations are the Japanese inaf- dated islands -- more than 600 Of them ~ forming the Marshall and Caroline and LadF0ne groups, eXs tending ever an area 2b00 miles from east to west and 1900 miles north and south. They lie roughly lfl the 4e00sHlile stretch Of ocean between HaWaii afd the Philippines. Until the World War they belonged tO Germany.
 They were assigned to Japan by c League Of Nations pFoteetoFate as c reward for japan's participation iD the waf as aii ally, but today they gre the most dangerous trouble spots in this Pacific war. At least six Of the islands -- papua, Yap, ] fsruk, POnaDe, Jaiult and Balpan ~- 1 have been fortified by Japan and they serve as the advance vases srcin which submarines and aerial 1 patrols can De dispatched to harasg the operations Of ouF fleet west Of HaWali. Only Japanese vessels have been permitted to cruise iii the Wat- CTS Of these TIlandated islands and only Japan knows what threats they hold to the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, to Singapore and even t0 Australia and other British possessions isl the south Pacific, which they threaten at distances Of less than 1000 miles,
 h c stoFt naval war, f c knock out blow could Do struck against Japan proper, then the importance Of these islands Is not so great, But in a long war, the fee( jsity Of cleaning out the Japanese naval bases in these islands is obvious, And 1t is here that oil the highest gtFategy Of the two great nayies al- most evenly matched, must DC brought into use.
 Navigation is unknown and tFeacheFous, rehlled channels, aerial patrol over vast expanseg Of tiny Island and atoisdotted ocean, subs marine operations under the most hazardous conditions, landing ex' petitions on unknown territory - these are but q few Of the prospects Of this new bliN warfare at seq.