The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-03-01


 of possibility.
 Rocking-chair admirals and anna teur strategists have frequently stated as gospel the maxim that maximum distance at which fleet could fight was 2500 miles from its base, Sound naval tacticians have never considered themselves bound by this 2500-mile range limitation, , insisting that 1t has been a miscon- ception and too tight a radius of operation. Nevertheless, 1t is admit ted that today combat zones have anything may and probably will happen in extreme range warfare at sea.
 FUEL OIL INCREASES RANGE
 Exr. nsion of task force and naval combat range of operation has been due to number of factors. Of primary importance Is the increased efficiency of ship propulsion which has increased the range of some ships by as much as 1000 miles It has given the U. s. Navy decided edge over the Japs. It has been ef- fected generally in the U. s. Navy over the past 10 years, first through the substitution of fuel oil for coal, permitting the carrying of more en- ergy in a given space; second, through the use of high-pressure boilers and turbines developing and using high-temperature steam, Q combination that In some cases has resulted in fuel savings and increas- cd efficiency of 35 per cent.
 On top of this 1000 mile gain in radius, airpower has increased the range of fleet operation by as much as 800 miles. This has led to the de- velopment of the aircraft carrier as the central figure of Q task force. Car riers, needing speed to give their stubby- winged planes the extra lift which will get them into the air and back on the comparatively short landing decks, have had to sacrifice armament to get the speed. But that has meant that the carriers protect ing forces of cruisers and destroyers have had to be built to keep up with the range and speed of the carrier.
 All down the line, supply ships tankers, ammunition ships, repair ships, tenders-haVe had to be built so they could keep up with this new pace and range of naval warfare. Battleships now do 30 knots an hour instead of 20. Carriers do 32, cruis- CTS and destroyers do 35, for longer ranges. Conveys do i2 and will do IS in place of eight or 10. Refuelling at sea. replenishing supplies of both ammunition and food at sea, are no longer occasional tricks but estab- liShed routines.
 While submarines cannot keep Up with these speedy movements, they have range that permits them to operate out of Pearl Harbor for at- tacks on shipping lanes near the Jap coast, the full $500 miles, cover- ing perhaps 10000 miles on one tour of duty. staying at sea for weeks. 1 NEW BASES BIG FACTOR
 Increased operating ranges of U. s. naval forces in the Pacific have not, of course, been entirely depend. dent on this greater efficiency of ships and planes. Pearl Harbor is supplemented by the new and known bases at Samoa, Auckland in New Zealand, Noumea in New Gale donia, Brisbane, Sydney and Port Darwin in AuStralia-all from 5000 to 5000 miles from Tokyo, but only 1000 to 2000 miles from newer auXil- iary bases in the Solomons and the dilberts. The job of Vice Admiral William L. Calhoun, commander of the Pacific Fleet Service Force, Is now one of keeping ample supplies at these most advanced positions, well over 25o0 miles west of Pearl Harbor over 5000 miles west of San Francisco,
 As the war moves into these eX- treme range operations, all point- Ing towards the Jap base at Truk, the Pacific campaign centers on q new and highly important triangle of Truk- -Tokyo-Manila. Truk Is $500 miles from Pearl Harbor, but from Truk to Tokyo or from Truk tc Manila is onl little over 2000 miles and that's getting the war back un- der the old 2500-nile radius of oper- ation. even though Manila is 7600 miles from San Francisco, 5000 miles beyond Pearl Harbor.