Evening star., 1943-03-30
Aleutiun Front


the headlines. A corner of the veil
has been lifted, however by the Navy
communique announcing the first
surface e-to-surface" action reported
from that region. According to the
admittedly incomplete details re-
leased to the public, 1t was a brush
between light detachment of Amer
ican warships and a more powerful
japanese force.
The strength and composition of
the enemy squadron invests the ac-
ton with its chief interest. There
seem to have been two Japanese
heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and
four destroyers, conveying a couple
OF merchant ships. The unusual
strength of that naval escort sug-
gests one Of two hypothesis. The
first OF these Is that the merchant
men carried a precious cargo, prob
ably troops and supplies for the
japanese garrisons on the outermost
Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska,
which have been reported in the
Japanese press as having suffered
great hardships during the storm
lashed winter months. Their priva-
tions have been intensified by pc
riodic visitations from American air.
craft and some shellings by our
surface craft. 1t was perhaps fear
OF our air arm that caused the Japa-
nese squadron to change course and
veer off to the westward instead of
continuing east toward its probable
destination. But it is also likely that,
once it had evaded contact with our
ships in the North Pacific murk, the
japanese squadron resumed its
course toward Attu and Kiska.
Even assuming that reinforcement
of those islands was the primary
japanese objective, a possible second
hypothesis is that the cruisers medi-
tated a raid on our advance bases
established during the past year on
the Adreanof Islands, a group inter-
mediate between Kiska and our main
Aleutian base at Dutch Harbor, near
the Alaskan mainland. Whatever the
Japanese purpose, this demonstration
of naval strength suggests that Toxic
intends to defend it's Aleutian foot
holds with the same tenacity as in
the Solomons and on New Guinea.
Continued possession of the outer
Aleutians is important to Japan in
several ways. They are the tip of an
island chain that stretches from
Alaska more than 1000 miles, like a
gigantic spear pointed at the Japa-
nese Kuriles. That similar chain of
islands runs from the tip of Japan
proper to the corresponding tip of
Russian Kamchatka The northern
most of the Kuriles, Paramushiro
Island, is within sight of Kamchatka
and is only 765 miles from Kiska,
whereas KiSka is 845 miles from
Dutch Harbor. So long as the Japa-
nese can hang onto Kiska and Attu,
our way is blocked for an attack on
the Kuriles by sea. Conversely, once
we regained the outer Aleutians,
Paramushiro would be within easy
range of our bombers, to say nothing
of an expeditionary force.
Incidentally. it should be noted
that the Japanese air arm has the
edge on ours throughout this region,
because Aleutian weather comes
chiefly from the west. The meteorol-
ogy of the North Pacific Is perhaps
the most extraordinary in the world.
Tremendous high pressures are built
up over Siberia and sweep across the
Behring Sea, whose cold waters are
separated by the Aleutian land bar
rier from the warmer waters of the
main Pacific Ocean. The result is a
swirling cauldron of fogs and vio-
lent winds. However, Japanese
weather experts can predict changes
much better than ours, especially
through their fishing stations off
Kamchatka, which they have been
allowed to retain by the treaty with
Soviet Russia signed last week at
Moscow. All in all, the election of
Japan from the outer Aleutians is
likely to be tough job, though one
eminently worth while.