Evening star., 1943-07-20
Planning
War Until '49,
Horne Declares
Knox Says Fleet
Will Be Increased
SevenfoId by 1947

war against Japan to last at
least to 1949, Vice Admiral Fred
erick Horne, vice chief of naval
operations, disclosed today as
Secretary of the Navy Knox de-
clared that the projected ship
building program would result in
a seven-fold expansion of the
present fleet by 1947.
Admiral Horne, appearing at a
press conference at which Mr.. Knox
strongly deplored current optimism
over winning of the war in hurry,
declared We still have tremendous
distances to go in the Pacific and
we have to build bases from the
ground up as we advance"
Questioned about the time re-
quiTed to win victory in Europe,
Admiral Horne said that his opin-
ion was entirely guess" and he
gave no date. He declared, however,
there is a good deal of wishful
thinking in expectation of a COL
Lapse of Germany"
Expects No Collapse.
He predicted there will be no such
morale collapse in the army" as
there was in 1918, because, he said.
German soldiers have been trained
IN Hitlerism and have been sep
arated from the family connections
through which spirit of defeat was
transmitted in the last war.
| Mr.. Knox said there was an
awful lot of very foolish optimistic
talk" over the recent victories of
The American forces, which he said
was having a serious affect on
| production lines. There could be
nothing worse for ultimate victory,
ne declared, than the belief that
because we have scored minor
successes that the war is over.
Also attending the conference
was Charles E. Wilson, executive
vice chairman of War Production
Board, who said that as a result
OF the complaceny built up by the
minor successes, the plane produc-
ton program for this month will
not be met, despite the fact that
the materials, the facilities and the
manpower are in place
Falling Behind Goal.
I'VE ought to have produced
$500 planes this month, but it
seems now that we won't get any,
thing like that" the WPB official
said.
Mr.. Wilson was asked why there
should be any failure to meet
schedules. Mr.. Knox interrupted to
say that Its the spirit-it's the
difference between complacency and
the will to produce
Mr.. Wilson also reported that
steel production had suffered by
about 100000 tons in the last 80
days as a result of the coal strike
and we've got to make it up or
lose ships" Navy and maritime pro-
ductlon schedules, he said, were
based on an additional million tons
OF steel in the third quarter of this
year and another million tons addi-
tional in the fourth quarter.
Mr.. Knox observed "A ship lost
due to lack of steel is exactly the
same as ship sunk"
| Ihe Secretary said the program
now projected would find the NAVY
doubling the number of ships in
l943 that it had in 1912 While he
would not discuss ship volume. he
dld say that this would provide a
90 per cent increase in tonnage and
ADDED that the planned tonnage.
which carries the program to 1947.
would be seven times the fleet now
af1oat.
Planned Through 1947.
Admiral Horne, questioned how
this tied in with his statement that
the Navy was planning for a war
with Japan to last until 1949, re-
Piled:
We have planned our ship con-
struction program through 1947
with repairs and replacements. but
no further expansion of the fleet
planned to 1949"
Mr.. Knox cited submarine war
1are as one example of dangerous
overoptimism. He said the U-boat
is not licked and "if we slow down
in shipbuilding it will never be
licked"
Mr.. Knox said he has not found
a single, well-informed military man
who has any idea that the war is
nearly over. They uniformity de-
clare, he said, that we have made
a good start, that we have broken
down the enemy's outer defenses,
but have not started to dig into his
main fortresses.
1T is silly to say that we have
won, with Hitler still in complete
possession of the European conti-
nent," the Secretary said. He has
the best trained army in the world,
and his reserves of manpower and
material are far from exhausted.
1t is true that things look better
than they have. But take one good
look at the Pacific area. You will
see the amount taken and the
amount that must be taken, and it
(See KNOX pape A-1o)