Evening star., 1942-08-12
Promotions Merifed
By Men Who Face
Hazards on Subs
Problem Confronts Navy
With Advancement
Slotted for Its Flyers
BY JAY G. HAYDEN.

The Navy is moving to hasten
promotion Of It's aviator officers to
meet the need Of rapidly expanding
air operations, but the problem Is
difacult. And the most ticklish
question Of all, members OF the
High Command say, is how to give
the flying branch its just desert
without gross discrimination against
men in the submarine service whose
claim from the standpoints Of per-
sonal risk and accomplishment Ger
tAinly is second to none.
The point of the matter Is that
there is only one line OF naval Of
ficer rating, and when aviators are
advanced out of turn 1t must be ut
the expense Of men engaged in
other services.
Calculated from Navy communi-
ques, more than = quarter Of Japan's
pre-war tonnage has gone to the
bottom since December Z, and sub
marines are credited with more than
Is per cent Of these sinking. Sub
marines have sunk II destroyers
and damaged 2. sunk cruisers and
damaged Z, destroyed aircraft
| carrier, tankers, sunk 36 auxiliary
and cargo ships and damaged IL,
and put one big Japanese submarine
out Of commission.
Act As Eyes Of Fleet.
The actual submarine bag Is be-
lieved to be greater than indicated
by these figures, derived from COM
muniques during = period Of six
months ending in mid-July. Un-
dersea vessels frequently stay out
for two months with no opportun-
ity to report accomplishments.
Damage" to an enemy ship Is
credited when the submarine crew
sees its torpedoes strike home, but
sinking Is chalked up on the
score only when the vessel attacked
actually is seen to go down. Ere
quently the submarines are forced
to duck to save themselves before
witnessing the full result Of their
shots.
Submarines operate continuously
In enemy waters. They have pene-
trated literally into Toxic Bay, they
proM In the Java Sea, the Bay Of
Bengal and along the Indo-Chinese
and Philippine coasts. The effect
Of their operations, aside from di-
rect damage inflicted, Is to force the
Japanese to keep many warships en-
gagged in convoy duty on their far
flung supply lines.
Also submarines, at least equally
with airplanes, constitute the eyes
Of the fleet. For days at time they
lie outside Japan's main harbors,
watching the ships moving in and
out. In this way they provided the
vital advance Information as to the
japanese fleet movements In the d.
rection Of both the Coral Sea and
Midway.
Face = thousand Hazards.
Submarine service not only Is
frausht with = thousand hASarda,
but 1t Is physically stnpleaaen 1
the secrecy which shrouds II evok1s
phase allows little opportunity for
creation Of popular heroes. When
the worst happens there Is no res.S
cued log to report the details. The
loss Of . submarine usually y told
In the 1aconic communique:
Long overdue and presumed lost.
The next Of kin have been notified" !"
Submarine men return from their
long cruises white and dehydrated,
weighing eight to 20 pounds less
than when they went out. During
periods on the surface, usually at
night, they live more or less norm-
ally, with well cooked food and
plenty OF air. Beneath the sea
cooking Is forbidden to avoid odors
/ and heat. Cold food out Of cans IL
the diet while the ship Is sub
merged.
Whereas aviators reckon their
time in battle by minutes, sub
marine crews count days and weeks
There is no relaxation while pig
boat" is on cruise. It takes two
years OF training together to make
q first class Conan crew for one OF
our larger submarines. The duties
of all must be co-ordinated like the
parts OF = watch. Let one unit Of
the human mechanism slip coz
and the whole ship may be lost. Nc
candidate for the flying service hal
to pass q more rigorous physical and