Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-12-17

United States forces will be able to
repel another Japanese attack on
the Solomons. Capt. Leland p.
Lovette. director of public relations
of the Navy, indicated in a talk last
night at meeting of the Wash
ington Board of Trade In the Willard
Hotel.
He made the prediction in response
to a question from the floor about
what position we are In to repel
the next attack"
Declaring that the United States
had brought to bear all the force it
could in view of commitments else
where in the world, Capt. Lovette
said simply:
I'VE think we can do as we'll as
before"
Capt, Lovette. who spoke on
Naval Operations In Two Oceans"
told the meeting that the aircraft
carrier was still the key weapon In
the Battle of the Pacific" Asked
for his opinion on the usefulness of
the battleship. the speaker said that
there will always be a ship with
heavy guns, whether you call 1t a
battleship or not"
Tribute to British NAVY.
"As long as the other fellow has
them, we will have them" he added.
Paying tribute to the role of the
British Navy in the war. Can't
Lovette told OF the losses It's fleets
had inflicted on the enemy and re-
marked that we would have been in
3 bad way" II they had not con-
trolled the seas before we entered
the war.
Capt Lovette warned that the
American people must steel them
selves to losses, pointing out that the
Navy has already lost twice as manv
men as it had lost since the Reyolu-
t1onary War. The blows are coming
all the time. he went on. but the
men will do the best they can with
what they've got"
II we can give them what they
need. there is just one answer
ultimate victory" he declared.
Fleet WAS Preparing"
Capt. Lovette. whose last active
DUTY was in command OF the de-
suoyer division which participated
In the action at Pearl Harbor. de-
clared that it was a Instrumentation
that the fleet didn't expect war"
The surface feet had been working
Ike dogs to get ready for over a
year" he said.
The morning Of Pearl Harbor. he
said, came as no great surprise to
the surface man" He said. how
ever. that the feet had no "air UNI
brella" when the air force was de-
stroyed, but that a number of the
ships had their anti-aircraft guns
blazing away in five or six minutes.
and put up a great fight"
II the Japanese had followed up
their FIRST attack. we would have
had practically nothing left in the
Pacific Capt. Lovette continued.
Pointing out that the Japanese
might have come back had thew
known the full losses Of our feet,
Capt. Lovette said. Il think you will
agree that Secretary of the NAVY
Knox made the only report possible
At the time"
Capt. Lovette described the Aleu-
tians "as the greatest rat trap in
history" He said that in view of
the fact that submarines can operate
with great effectiveness in fog, it.
would have been inadvisable to send
cruisers and destroyerS to the Aleu-
tians. Our submarines and planes
that have been sent there. Capt
Lovette said have made a favorable
box score"
While the United States has lost
no ships In that area" the speaker
said that the Japanese losses have
Included 2 destroyers and damage
to cruisers, 9 destroyers and 10
Transports.
Asked about the policy Of with
holding ormation-sometimes for
. month-about American naval
losses, Capt. Lovette replied that a
football coach does not tell about
his plays before game" He ex-
planned that the enemy may not
know exactly what ship it has sunk
or whether a ship has managed to
get away in the smoke of battle.
When he was asked. How does
Japanese strength compare with our
f1eet?" Capt. Lovette replied briefly:
u wish I knew"
Frederick P. H. Siddons. who has
Just been named treasurer of the
Board of Trade and who has assumed
direction Of the final effort to bring
the Community War Fund campaign