Evening star., 1942-10-23

the other hand, 80,
have trernen- David Lawrence.
dous significance in the war as be-
tween the United States and Japan.
1t is we'll known to all observers,
for instance, that the United States
has been fighting two-ocean war
with a one-ocean Navy and that this
condition cannot be remedied so far
as new ships are concerned till 1943
and 1914. 1t was never contem-
plated by our statesmen that the
United States Navy should be COM
PEELED to fight Japan, while at the
same time engaging in war opera
tions in the Atlantic. The SUPPOSE
tion always was that the British
would take care Of the Atlantic and
we would be free to concentrate
in the Pacific.
If, as now announced, the British
have. two new battleships, doesn't
this release from Atlantic Ocean
duty two of our own big battleships?
The japanese naval experts will be
quick to make that inference, and
the odd part of it is that the British
American naval staffs probably
want them to make that very
surmise.
The question then arises as to the
timing of the announcement. Why
was it made now while the battle
for supremacy in the seas around
the Solomon Islands is in process?
Is it possible that if American bat
tleships were released from Atlantic
duty, they may have gone to the
Pacific long ago and that the Brit
lsh announcement was withheld till
our battleships arrived in the Pa
ciflc? Or was it so that the Ger
mans might or might not select this
occasion to release the Tirpitz, their
giant dreadnaught, for raiding in
the vicinity of Murmansk?
Are the Americans, along with the
British, adding to their own battle
strength more battleships than al
ready announced-that is, are the
replacements being commissioned in
the Atlantic only those already
publicized? .-..
Eases Atlantic Situation.
These are questions which cannot
be answered or deduced from any,
thing said hereabouts, because no
secrets are more closely guarded
than the whereabouts of units of
our feet. All that the public can
infer is that if the British commits
sion two new battleships, that
makes two less of the American
battleships needed in Atlantic Wa
ters.
1t is in the Pacific Ocean, more
over, that the United States has
needed battleships ever since the
disastrous attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Importance of the battleShips
as a backstop, not only for naval
action of smaller vessels but as a
protection against commerce raid
ers, is emphasized by Rear Admiral
Joseph K Taussig, retired, who
wrote recently in the United States
News that it was dangerous to cross
of battleship construction and rely
entirely on other types Of vessels or
airplanes. He said:
I'VE now read of huge conveys
reaching ports in Great Britain and
Russia and in the Persian Sea. These
conveys are escorted by surface YES
sells and aircraft. Whether or not
battleships are performing active
escort duty is never divulged. But
we may rest assured that the bat
tleships are lurking in the back
ground somewhere within striking
distance, which is we'll known to
the enemy and prevents the use of
their bsttleships and of other large
surface craft in raiding operations
because the risk involved is too
great. If we did not have battle
ships in greater number than the
enemy, these conveys would never
reach their destinations.
Battleships Were Key Factor.
IF the japanese did not recognize
the great potential value of the
battleships, they would not have
made the raid on Pearl Harbor. The
Japanese knew that the only way
we could save the Philippines was
for our feet to arrive there in
greater strength than their own
before the fall of Manila. They
knew this would be impossible if
they could sink or disable number
of our battleships. Accordingly, they
undertook the great risk of the raid
on Pearl Harbor simply because
they knew our battleships were
based there.
And their objectives were the
battleships and not the shore eStab-
lishments. When the truth finally
comes to light I am confident it will
show that it was the damage done
our battleships which prevented
sending relief to Gen. Macarthur
and resulted in the loss of the
Philippines ,
''In the Battle of Midway, which
has been proclaimed as great vic
tory, we were acting on the Of,
fensive- e-defensive. That is. we were
taking offensive action against the
enemy for the purpose of defending
one, of our bases. We did defend
the base, but, as the greater part
Of the Japanese feet escaped to
fight another day, 1t is surprising
that this should be considered a
great victory.
However, If our battleships had
been stationed within striking dis
A. l. - =.