Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-11-23

est belief OF -
commanders on ~ $50
the spot as to David Lawrence.
what they destroyed, the smoke of
battle and the difficulties of obser-
walton in night fighting do not
permit any such thing as COM
pletely accurate score OF what ships
actually have been lost on either
side.
Worse than this from the stand
point OF appraisal of naval strength
Is the fact that nobody here knows
absolutely what the Japanese navy
really consisted of when war broke
out or what has been built since.
Our clear-cut victory in the Solo,
mon Islands battle is gratifying In
every respect but an objective ap-
praisal of the situation must be
given, namely that the United
States Navy faces a grim struggle
for the supremacy OF the Pacific
and, despite the optimistic inference
that can be drawn from the facts as
already given out, the United States
Is by no means assured Of victory
rs yet.
Substantial Navy Left.
To put it another way, the Japa-
nese have a substantial navy left
which can impede our further prog
ress from the Solomons and is still
capable of a serious attack on Mid
way and Hawaii. If the enemy
should by chance inf1ict a severe
loss on what ships we have In the
Pacific in any future battle, our
strength in that ocean may be
badly impaired and our efforts to
maintain our supply lines crippled.
The Navy Department itself ex-
udes neither optimism nor pes
simism. 1t isn't trying to influence
morale either way. 1t has been
called cautious" and conservative"
but neither Of these terms really
describes its deep-seated concern.
Its attitude Is based upon a knowl-
edge that mammoth Job has been
given our commanders in the Pacific
with inadequate weapons and made
ouate bases and that at the same
time the United States Navy IL to
. large extent also responsible for
protecting the Atlantic.
Few can realize the anxiety which
has been felt here these last few
months while the Navy was en-
gagged in preparing to convoy the
huge Atlantic armada destined to
North Africa and at the same time
watching the Solomons area in the
Pacific. Few will know till the war
Is over what risks were involved in
dispensing our ships from ocean to
ocean or how badly we needed that
two-ocean navy which isn't to be
ready till 1914 or 1945.
The japanese have been quick to
follow up each engagement because
they believed time was on their side.
We handed them on a silver platter
the information that the Quincy,
Vincennes and Astoria were sunk in
night action. They might never
have discovered the exact nature of
the damage done and thus been
able to estimate the amount of time
required for requirements or substi-
buttons. The President with credit
able frankness has revealed how he
overruled the Nays request for
secrecy and yielded to newspaper
clamor for information. 1t is de-
voutly to be hoped such a grievous
mistake will not be permitted to
happen again. The lives of our
marines on Guadalcanal depended
on how powerful a fleet we could
assemble to save them, and Ad-
miral Halsey got together the best
he could and fought his way to
victory. 1t was close call and
the Japanese were considerably sur
prised at the powerful force we did
mobilize as we'll as at the fury of
our offensive spirit.
Interrelated Jobs.
Everybody here is breathing easier,
however, not so much over what hap
pened in the Solomons but because
the convoy task the Navy had to
do in connection with the North
African expedition is largely over
The American people hardly realize
how interrelated the Atlantic and
Pacific jobs are for the United
States Navy.
Thus 1t would be wonderful If
the British would please persuade
the Raj, which knows how to make
such long bombing raids into Italy,
to do the same up in those Nor
wegian fjords where the German
battleship Tirpitz and the two battle
cruisers, Scharnhorst and Gneise-
nau, are hiding, ready to prey on
our transports. This would relieve
many Of our naval vessels that are
tied up in the North Atlantic, which
we have always thought would be
amply policed by the British navy.
If air power could only blast the
German submarine bases and the
ports where Germany's potential
surface raiders are hidden, the skep-
tics in the ranks of the battleship
advocates would doff their hats in
fulsome praise and the Japanese
American war would be over sooner
than anybody now expects.
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