Evening star., 1943-03-07
Huge Carrier Fleet
Urged 10 Spearhead
Invasion Of Japan
'FIot Tops Definitely
Are Not Finished
Navy Officers Declare
BY CLARK LEE,

Associated Press stan Writer.
NEW YORK, March 6.-High-
ranking American naval aviators
and surface officers are begin
ming to talk in terms of a mighty
deet Of several hundred aircraft
carriers to spesrhead our even
tual invasion Of Japan.
In answer to those who contend
that the aircraft carrier has had its
day, that 1t is too costly to build and
too easy to sink. the Navy officers
will tell you: Flat tops definitely
are not finished"
That's another way Of saying we
are not going anywhere In the
Pacific without airplanes; and that
certain types Of Airplanes-in their
present stages Of development-can-
not cross the vast distances Of the
Pacific without carriers.
But carriers are vulnerable to ali
and submarine attacks. Certainly
they are" the Navy flyers admit.
so is any other ship. All types Of
surface craft. from PIT boats to
battleships. can be and have been
sunk by airplanes.
The argument is no longer over
whether we should build one type of
ship to the exclusion Of others. All
types are needed in modern task
forces. But in the Pacific, only
carriers can do the job of getting
hkhters, dive bombers and torpedo
planes close to the enemy.
80 we are decreasing their vul-
nerability by improved construction.
and We must build them in such
large numbers that We can lose a
great many and still keep going"
Must Span Hundreds Of Miles.
With the exception OF the Solo
mons Or New Guinea, where rela-
lively short distances separate the
bases We now hold from the islands
occupied by the Japs, our future
attacks must Jump across many
hundreds Of miles Of ocean.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. COM
mander in chief of the Pacific Fleet.
has stated that we are getting ready
for 1.-The task Of driving the enemy
from prepared positions he has been
building in the conquered areas
to destroy his ships and planes and
neutralize his island strong points
.. as we drive toward positions
from where we can reach with our
shells and bombs his industrial
nerve centers."
How will we get there?
The captain Of one Of our big, new
aircraft carriers, now about ready
to 70 into action against the Japs,
discussed our problem:
wherever we land we will have
70 have local air control" he said.
THAT means airplanes in continue
Gus, direct support OF our landing
forces and Of the ships Of our con-
voys, fighter planes to knock out
the enemy dive bombers, torpedo
planes and heavy bombers before
they can sink our ships.
"Sur1oeX sake Of argu-
ment. At - lnch an attack di-
rectly Aeatnst Japan from Hawaii.
During the last ! so miles Of the
$500 -nile trip opr forces will be
subjeek .tR k by long-range
bombelos.S doubtedly to- sut-
cidal Assaults BY torpedo plares and
dive bombers. The Japs Vill throw
everything they have at us.
Must Keep Going.
Supported by our own fighters
and anti-aircraft, we should be able
70 knock out most Of the attacking
planes and keep going.
when We get close enough to
land, the attacks will undoubtedly
be intensified from the air and by
torpedo boats, submarines and what
ever warships the Japs have left by
that time. Meanwhile. our own
long range planes from China.
Alaska and other bases will be
pounding at Japanese airf1elds and
cities to soften them up.
Our first job on getting ashore
will be to set up air bases. To have
any hope Of success we must have
superior eir power over the area
where we are operating.
Because Of the limited range OF
present-day fighters it would not
be possible for planes to fly from
Alaska, say, or even from China,
TO support our landing forces. So
there Is no other answer but car
riers, both to supply protection be-
fore, during and after the landings
and to ferry over the planes that
will be put ashore once we seize
bases"
The captain paused and added
There S no disagreement about that
In the Navy. There Is no such thing
As q battleship admiral any more. .
Place for Battleships.
That is not to say that carrier
admirals" don't want battleships
with their task forces. They say
there is a definite place for the new,
thick-skinned. hard-hitting battle
ships with their tremendous anti
AIRCRAFT flre power. Inc new oat-
tleships. in contrast to the olde.
types damaged or sunk at Pearl
Harbor, are fast enough to keep
pace with a carrier task force.
The Nays complete carrier.
building program has not. naturally
been made public. but some Is car.
riers are known to have beer
launched since the war and some o!
them may already be In action.
The new fiat tops include the 25..
00o-tonners Essex, Lexington, Bunk.
er Hill and Yorktown, and foul
converted ships which were orig
inAlly planned as l0000-ton cruisers
Seven more of the Essex class ane
many more converted carriers ar,
being built.
Thus the Navy already has re-
placed the four carriers lost in tn,
Pacific-the Lexington, Yorktown
Hornet and Wasp.
Some of our Navy aviators favo
building huge carriers of the Esse,
class. while others urge construction