Evening star., 1943-11-12
Nimitz Sees Time Ripe
10 Attack Jap Fleet
With Stronger Navy
BY the Associated Press.


PEARL HARBOR, Nov. 12.-
Uncle Sam is prepared, to slice him.
Self Thanksgiving feast from the
Japanese defense perimeter.
Z. That Is the definite conclusion
drawn here from the Armistice Day
address Of Admiral Chester w
Nimitz, commander in chief of the
Pacific Fleet, who last, night told q
Nationwide radio audience:
Our time has come to attack
Henceforth we propose to give the
Jap no rest. All hands in the Pa
cific share this resolve. We have no
illusions about the opposition we
Will encounter or the losses we must
endure. We see beginnings of a
new victory"
The admiral, in his boldest decla-
ration OF the war, almost called his
next shot. Said he:
Our northern flank In the Aleu-
tlans has been secured. In the
South and Southwest Pacific, inten-
sified attacks by all forces have
placed the Jap in a precarious posi-
ton. In other areas he has been rel
@tlvely unmolsted but henceforth we
propose to give him no rest"
Draws Clear Picture.
That draws clear picture. There
IRE two other areas"-the Central
Pacific and Japan proper. This con-
1lusion. therefore, is logical:
The Pacific Command is planning
tn early invasion of one or more of
2apan's well-defended Pacific bases,
Admiral Nimitz strengthened this
inference with his concluding re-
marks:
I'VE know that our ships and our
planes alone cannot destroy the
Fnemy. The Jap has dug himself in.
We must land and dig him out"
The United States does not yet
Seem ready to. attempt to dig the
Japanese out of their homeland
where, presumably, they still have
fhe bulk of their naval strength.
! The United States does, however
pave the greatest fleet in history in
the Pacific, as evidenced by the
nultlcarrier raids on Marcus, Nauru.
9arawa and Wake Islands within
eeven weeks in September and Oc-
tober.
Dream Is Realized.
The combined fleet units are so
great that one naval officer, who saw
fellow officers men fighting desper-
Ately against great odds in the Solo
mons a year ago, exclaims repeat
edly:
This is what we dreamed Of! Re-
member when we were down to our
last carrier? (That isn't quite true,
but almostD Remember how out
numbered we were in the battle of
Santa Cruz? Remember the great
odds against us in all those night
surface battles off Guadalcanal
November 13, Is and 30? This is
what we dreamed of-but I still
can't believe my eyes!"
That the United States now is
ready to throw great feet units
against the japanese is evidenced
clearly in Admiral Nimitz's succinct
statement:
"Our time has come to attack"
Cautioned by Memory:
The admiral is conservative. For
months he sat silently in his Office
overlooking Pearl Harbor and its
evidence of growing fleet strength
while high officials in Washington
issued optimistic statement after
statement-and only diversionary
nuisance raids were carried out in
the Central Pacific.
If ever he was tempted to join
such statements the admiral opened
the center drawer of his desk to
sheaf of pictures-pictures of bat
tleships lying on their sides in Pearl
Harbor, battleships with great bomb
and torpedo holes in their hulls and
decks-pictures of the wreckage Of
December 7.
Then he silently returned the pic
lures, closed the desk and awaited |
the day he would have a great fleet.
That he now believes he has such a
fleet is clearly evidenced in this bold
declaration of conservative man:
Our time has come to attack. We
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