The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-09-22


 launched in the west of Europe, 1t | is sea power that will launch 1t. Sea power will transport the men and material needed to the point of attack.
 To keep them flowing in an un- broken stream until the whole Axis ediflce has crashed, America and the other United Nations must have sea power in overwhelming strength far beyond challenge by any force that Berlin, Rome and Tokyo can bring against it.
 Pushing at Top Speed We are now pushing our greatly augmented program of naval con- struction with the utmost speed at our command.
 When it is completed and joins forces with the British and other Allied navies, it will give the United Nations a more nearly global strength at sea than the world has ever seen-and sea power, wielded by ships and aircraft, is the anvil on which the decision in this global was is being hammered out.
 The navy which we in America are now building will give the added escort and patrol craft needed to put an end to the U-boat menace.
 It will enable us to take the of- fensive with superior force in any theater we choose.
 On June 30, 1941, when we were still at peace, we had total of 697 combat, auxiliary, patrol and mine vessels building. On the same date this year and in the same categories, we had 3,230 vessels un- der construction for our own navy, and 218 more building for our AL lies under lend-lease authorization. This does not, of course, include the smaller categories - harbor craft, barges, small auxiliaries and so forth-in which we had @ total of 11,659 vessels under construction.
 The Bureau of Ships is utilizing both naval and private facilities abou 12O yards on the Atlantic coast, 60 on the Pacific coast, 25 on the Gulf of Mexico, 30 on the Great Lakes, and 20 in the Mississippi val- ley region are building ships for the navy.
 Generally deliveries are running we'll ahead of schedule. In letting battleship contract, the Bureau ot Ships used to estimate the overall construction time, from keel to com-
 pletion, at 42 months. It has now
 cut its estimates to 36 months, and
 one of the battleships which the
 navy commissioner last year was ac-
 tually delivered only 29 months af-
 ter its keel was laid.
 The bureau has made similar cuts in scheduling its other categories but even so, actually construction
 is running well in advance of sched- : ule. For example, the battleshlps now building are ahead of schedule by a total of fl months: Aircraft carriers by 215 months; cruisers by 68 months; destroyerS by 20; months; submarines by 318 months
 and auxiliary vessels by 69 months Japans treacherous attack al Hawaii, United States raids on en-
 emy bases in the Pacific with air craft carriers as the striking units and the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway Island have brought home to America and to the worlo
 at large the factt hat the carrier has supplanted the battleship as the . backbone of a modern navy. The combat types of naval aircraf' which we now have in service are
 we believe, unexcelled in perform : ance, striking power and equipment l Our torpedo bomber, of which tht ) latest model saw action at Midway only four months after the flrs ' plane left the manufacturers plant 5 participated in sinking four Japan
 ese carriers, two heavy cruisers, ant
 three destroyers and in damaging
 three battleships in the Midwa!
 battle.
 This new model now represent ' perhaps the most lethal weapon ye |. devised for action against surfac
 vessels.
 While developing carrier-typ'
 planes, we have also improved long
 range aircraft designed to patro {. yeast ocean areas. We are now pro
 ducing them in sufficient number
 to supply our bases from Iceland Y , South America and from Alaska t' v the Indian Ocean. We have pu f multi -engined land planes into anti < submarine patrol in some areas. an' # we shall expand further in thi " category during the coming year. Z The first such squadron whicl Y we commissioned has accounted to 7. a not less than five Axis submarines. !" Tn addition to powered planes, al . . extensive glider program is unde e way, some of its types for marin corps use in amphibious operations We have increased the authorizes s' strength of non-rigid airships, O Ie 'hiimps" from 48 to 200. and durin e the year we have commissioned tn n first three of & series of new coast " al "blimp" bases.
 :. Although their relative vulner ii ability to enemy fighter planes linn e, It's their use to our own skies. th 70 Navy is making effective use c
 blimps in antl-submarlne patrols se eer Harvey took him by th 10 shoulders and sped him from tn <. eonrtroom to the eellhlOck. kATllf