Evening star., 1942-01-04

It was not, as they had boasted. the
paper and bamboo habitations of Toxic
upon which explosive and incendiary
bombs began to fall. but the civilian
quarters of Manila. Instead OF the
leisurely. long-range blockade of Nippon
which had been mapped, the United
States found itself cut of in week from
tin and rubber. The American Fleet. 1t
appeared, was on the verge of being
thrust back on its second Pacific ram
part, the far-hung line Of Alaska-
Hawaii Samoa -Panama-with Japan In
possession Of the offensive and with the
free initiative for attack.
Heavy Responsibility.
Such was the crisis confronting tho
new commander In chief. Upon his
shoulders were thrust the consequences
of American craftsmanship IN the Far
East since the Manchurian incident; OF
error and delay In the national defense
program during its first IS months; and
the policy which supplied Japan. Tor
possible employment against the United
States, with steel for ships and guns,
copper for shells and motors, gasoline
and oil for bombers and fighting planes.
AS befltted q seaman, Admiral King
gave way neither to despair nor over
confidence. His sole personal pronounce
ment. issued December "a, was realistic
but also valiant. It contained six brusque.
clipped sentences Of IS words, 43 Of which
were vocables of one curt syllable. The
way to victory is long," 1t read. The
going will be hard. We will do the best
we can with what we've got. We must
have more planes and ships-at once.
Then 1t will be our turn to strike. we
shall win through-in time"
It will be observed that in his fourth
sentence the admiral set planes before
ships. This is in keeping with his unique
position as the first aviator to become
chief of the United States Fleet. In this
respect, his career shows q striking
parallel with that of his redoubtable OPP
ponent, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto,
commander in chief of the Japanese
combined fleets. Both, at mature years,
read the signs of the time and devoted
themselves to mastery of the air arm.
Both have commanded plane carriers,
as well as shore stations or bureaus OF
aeronautics. There is no evidence, how
ever, that Yamamoto ever became an
actual pilot, as did King.
Saw Action in Cuba.
The son of a railway mechanic, the
future "Cincus"-to give his title in Navy
shorthand-was born 63 years ago at
Lorain, Ohio, on November %, 1878. He
was appointed to the Naval Academy in
1897, and took time out while mid
shipman for patrol duty in the Span
ish-American War, during which he saw
enemy shells fall into the sea of Cuba.
Commissioned ensign in 1908, he rose
through the grades until the World War
found him chief of staff to Admiral
Henry T. Mayo, commander in chief Of
| the United States Fleet. For this service
he won the Navy Cross. During two
years he was head of the postgraduate
school at Annapolis.
His experience with undersea boats
| started in 1922, when he was made COM
mander of two submarine divisions. The
next year he was commandant of the
submarine base at New London, Conn.
and in 1925 was in charge of salvaging
the submersible S-51, which sank of
Block Island. with loss of 80 lives. The
Distinguished Service Medal was his
reward for this notable exploit. When
the submarine S-4 was rammed and
sunk in 1927 of Provincetown, Mass.
he was placed in command Of the sal.
wage force, and had the rare Gold Stal
added to his D. S. M.
In the meantime, as commander Of TIN
q. s. S. Wright, he had charge Of ,
squadron of seaplanes, and found then
so fascinating that at the venerable ag
Of 40, when he had held the rank o
captain five years, he betook himself Il
Pensacola for the headlong air trainin,
devised by the Navy for daredevils hal
his age. He qualified as pilot in 1927
Thereafter, for Is years, his career lay il
the skies.
He was successfully commander of air
craft squadrons in the Scouting Fleet
assistant chief of the Bureau OF Aero
nautics, commander of the carrier Lex
ingtm for three years. chief Of tn
Bureau Of Aeronautics and commando
! Of aircraft u turn for the Base Fore