The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1943-09-21
Observations
L. S. Navy Well
Ahead of That
of Nipponese
BY Helen Essary
BY John r. Renry


ADVANCE BASE IN THE
SOUTH MISUNDERSTANDING a
Navy officer today who will admit
ever subscribni 90 the pre-War
theory that Japan'S fleet could be
polished. of in jig time Is like look
ing To- a needle in a haystack, hut
the men who have met the enemy
n combat agree that Uncle Sans
Na,y is superior to Japan's by a
De margin
This consensus Of thought, gath
cred rom more than score OF on
GERS VINO have passed the test OF
battle, can be summed up in the
idea once expressed by Admiral
William r. Halsey, Jr
The commander of the South Pa
cihc fG,ce said. in effect that while
il is foolish 10 underestimate ia
pans naval power, it is equally rldl-
culous TO oyereStimate IT,
Positive Proof
Nita their opinions based upon
personal experience and frst-hand
observations warsh.p captains be-
lieye il has been proved. thus far,
that the weapons and tactics OF tn
American Navy surpaSs those =
the japanese.
Statistics seem TO furnish two
INSTRUMENTATION yerifiCation.
Figures based upon comparative
losses during The year ending July
81 show a marked advantage for
the United States ships in the
South Pacific ...
There are no naval officers who
will-sSv Japan feet is pushover.
Most al the qualified leaders, dis
cussing the relative merits OF the
enemy. begin much in the manner
OF Coinmdr. William Killian RomoS.
er. skipper OF battle-tired de
stroyer
Commander Romoser OF Balt-
more and Middletown, R. l., said.
TO begin with, I've never sub
scribed 10 the idea that We could
beat the laps Just any old after
noon with the least Bit OF training
or experience, ever believed any
such barney"
Superior Tactics
CommdT Romoser who recent
Iy. received the Navy Cross and
was among those We interviewed
on the comparative merits OF the
American and Japanese fleets. was
positi 2 that United States forces
are superior.
One OF the important elements
in our besting the .JapS." he said.
is the fact that our tactics have
been better than theirs Time and
again. we've managed 10 NOV them
down even when they were numsr-
icslly superior in many cases
The destroyer captain was inclin-
ed 10 discount the alleged door
die spirit OF the enemy.
They have CUTS. all right" he
said, but / think they'll throw in
the towel when they're licked II
they Rave a chance"
He recalled how his ship had res
cued number OF Japanese surviv-
ors after one engagement They
didn't break their necks getting in
10 our ship he said. but on the
other hand they didn't swim away
and refuse rescue. either. They
were quite willing to be rescued.
as natter OF fact. when we sent
a couple OF bluejackers over the
side into their lifeboat. All they
wanted was TO save face. which
seems to be a big item in Japa-
nese pride"
Better Gunnery
1t Commdr Floyd 3 T. Mhyer
OF So Paul. MINI. and Chevy
Chase Nd. expressed this thought.
We can't say the Jap Navy isn't
good But ! think we've proved
and are proving each day that our
Navy is considerably better. The
Japs IRE good seamen and they
certainly aren't afraid to come in
and night when they see an op-
portunity But our gunnery is far
better than theirs and so are our
tactics
A ses battle, in some respects.
IL much like street fght-the fel-
low who lands the first punch. and
keeps following it up usually wins.
Well. we've done that rather well
and that's all there IS to con.
cluded Mhver. who commands de-
stroyer. the bull ship OF the
South Pacific because OF its long
service in these waters