Evening star., 1943-03-07
credence Is Placed
Ii Reports Of nazi
Fleet Concentration
Foe Believed Planning
Surface Attacks on
Allied Supply Lines
4y the Associated Press.

3y tne ASSoclakd Press.
London reports of powerful Ger
man warship concentration in the
vicinity OF Trondheim, Norway were
given considerable credence in
American naval quarters yesterday
Speculation centered on the possi-
bility that the Nazi high command
plans a surface campaign as we'll
as an undersea offensive against
supply lines to Britain and Russia
this spring.
Allied sea power might have to
be realigned, should the Germans
succeed in making even the prelim-
mary moves for such a campaign
by getting their battleships and 9TH
er surface units out of the Norwe-
gian fjords and into the fog-shroud-
ed waters of the Greenland and
Barents Seas.
Even If they do not move out but
merely remain as direct threat to
conveys to Russia by holding their
stations in Norwegian waters, the
German heavy units will tie up a
substantial number of Allied war
ships by compelling them always
to stand In readiness to counter any
move.
Object Of Strategy.
Naval men. .traditionally speak OF
this as fleet In being" strategy.
The basic theory OF the fleet in
being" operation is that a small
number of warships can contain
or tie up larger number OF enemy
ships merely by threat to strike
which may never actually be car
ried out.
The counter stroke against the
fieet pursuing such a strategy is to
strike at its bases, and it would
not be surprising If the British,
IN order to free their home fleet
for other duties, should attack the
German ships heavily by air.
London reports OF the latest Nazi
naval activities stem from accounts
In the Evening Standard and Daily
Telegraph, which did not give the
source OF their information. Even
without ofncial confirmation, how
ever, authorities here said the time
was ripe for the German admiralty
to attempt to make some use of its
big warships.
The concentration, according to
the British papers, included the
35,O00-ton battleship Tirpitz, the
26;oo0-ton .battleship Scharnhorst,
tho aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin,
at least two 10,000-ton Hipper class
cruisers and = number OF fast de-
stfeyen.
Ceunterforce Adequate.
AZ - counterforces the British
home fleet should be adequate to
stand guard over the northern seas
20 long Is the Germans do not
break out. It also should be ade-
quate to deal with the German force
should the Maxi admifals try to use
that force ~ : fleet instead of
breaking It up into task groups for
raider operations.
As i deet It could be engaged by
the British with Overwhelming
strength and permanently crippled
II not actually destroyed. But in
the opinion OF qualified observers
here the last thing the Germans
want is pitched hettle;; the rdds
against success III foo great.
Thus thu. belief In Warrington is
that the Germans Will tfy to en-
ploy raidEi III effective
assaults on Allied conveys they could
orsan1xe ~ 1e1st three task forces
CAPABLE Of doing tremendous dam
sge. The schwarnhorst could lead
one. the Tirpttz another and the
carrier Graf Zeppelin third.
Assuming they could get all these
forces out of their Norwegian lairs,
authorities said they might send
one to hide in the fogs Of Green
land and the others to prowl the
wastes Of the Greenland and Ba-
rents Seas between there and Rus
STA. From those remote places they
could dash out to attack conveys
carrying precious munitions from
the United States to England and
Russia or from England to Russia.
Search Would Take Weeks.
Ocean distances being as great as
they are, 1t might take weeks to
hunt down and engage these forces,
and meanwhile every convoy to Eng
land and Russia would have to be
given capital ship protection against
the threat Of the enemy's warships
as well as destroyer protection
against submarines.
The need for convoy protection
could become so great, in fact, as to
upset the distribution of British
American naval forces in other parts
. OF the world. including the Medit-
erranean and Pacific.
Set against such extreme possi-
bilities Is the probability, if not the
actual certainty, that the British
have taken every precaution to
counter any German move with
powerful units Of their home fleet
and are ready to attack the enemy
with crushing force whenever and
wherever he shows himself in open
water.
svv Altman Cote OEc