Laurel outlook., 1944-07-05
Rebuilt Navy
More Effective
Plans to Give Emphasis to
Aircraft Carrier as
Battle Nucleus.

WASHINGTON. - The United
States navy has now perfected one
OF the greatest tactical reorganiza-
tons in its history in order to bring
massive air striking power against
Japanese sea forces and air defend
ed island positions in the Pacific.
1t is completion of this reorgani-
cation, as well as the launching of
II battle type aircraft carriers and
hundreds of other ships in the last
two years, which enabled Admiral
Chester w. Nimitz, Pacific fleet
chief, to say this week with full con-
fidence of victory that "our time
has come to attack"
A ranking naval leader said that
"just about all our ships in the Pa
cifc, except the submarines, have
been grouped around aircraft car
riers, and the organization makes
such a formidable force that when l
saw it, and the fighting spirit of the
men in it, l almost felt sorry for
the Japs."
Began Before Pearl HarbOr.
The initial problem of this massed
force is twofold:
To clear the Japanese out of key
island positions, and, if possible, to
create an opportunity to engage and
destroy the enemy fleet. How soon
the latter stroke can be delivered
depends, of course, on when the Jap
anese are willing to come out and
fight.
Reorganization of the Pacific fleet
around carriers began tentatively be-
fore the enemy attack on Pearl Har-
Dor. At that time the United States
had seven carriers and several in
dividual carrier task forces. The
~battleShip remained the backbone of
the fleet, and the tactical concept
was hat in any engagement 1t would
deliver the knockout punch.
Paralysis of the battle line result
ing from the Pearl Harbor bombing
automatically forced the carriers
into the fighting role of paramount
Importance.
Subsequently, Rear Admiral John
H. Towers, then chief of the bureau
of aeronautics, was assigned to Ad-
miral Nimitz' staff with the rank of
vice admiral and later his success
sor, Rear Admiral John S. Mccain,
was elevated to the new post of dep
uty chief of naval operations for
air, with the rank of vice admiral.
ALI down the line battle-tested
naval airmen have been promoted.
Successful task force leaders have
been given important new assign
ments. The concept of naval action
has been reworked to fit the strate-
gic requirements of Pacific fighting
and the role of shipborne airplanes.
Carrier Is Capital Ship.
Now, at least for the time being,
the aircraft carrier has usurped the
role of capital ship, both because of
the job to be done against enemy
island air bases and the fact that
whereas the battleship can destroy
a target 20 miles away, the carriers
planes can reach out 200 miles.
The basic principle, however, re-
the same: that is, to use
striking power in masses against ma
jor detectives rather than fritter it
away in driblets.
This is what posed the technical
problems in the reorganization. The
task force of 10 big carriers, for
example, with its attendant battle
cruisers, and ~destroyers, COW
ers many square miles of ocean. 1t
can put into the air at n time 300
DR. more planes.
The task Of controlling these
olanes-fighters, dive bombers, and
bombers - is enormously
complex, and many months of work
and experiment we're required to
perfect the methods now in use.
These methods were tried out fully
the big raid on Marcus Island in
They were later used
n the assault on Wake Island and
n the attacks on Nauru and Tarawa.
Currently they are credited with pro-
the successful results OBJ
aimed by carrier planes during the
asst two weeks in the Rabaul-Bou-
,ainville area, where heavy damage
las been inflicted on the Japs with
mall cost to American forces.