Evening star., 1945-03-27
king Sees Nazi Defeat
Paving Way for Naval
Stab al Japan Itself !.

King, commander In Chief OF TIT
United States Fleet and chief O.
naval operations, told Secretar,
of the Navy Forrestal in his an
nual report, made public today
Even with the defeat of Germany
mo quick and easy victory can b.
taken for granted" Admiral King
warned. "We must never forget,
he declared, that there is a long
tough and laborious road ahead"
The United States forces in thu
Pacific, he asserted, "ate only nov
gaining a position from which w
can assault the heart of the Japa.
nese strength"
While he reported there is M
such thing as the much-discussee
schedule of operations, except tt
go as far and as fast as the mean:
in hand would permit" he added
1T can be said that the war today
is ahead of our expectations of last
year."
The speed which has been made
has created new production prob.
lens, he continued. 1t has placed
heavy strain, he went on, on the
reserves of certain vital items while
production of certain necessities /;
falling behind mounting require.
mentS.
In Europe, Admiral King said, the
Navy's task became secondary with
the successful completion of the
battle of the beaches" in Nor
mandy. while in the Pacific "the
problem that we have had to solve
is how to project a fleet through
out vast ocean area initially DOM
mated by the enemy.
I'VE are solving this problem by
rapidly establishing repair and sup
ply bases in enemy islands as we
capture them and by pushing ou1
supplies forward in ships of the
train to supply our task forces at
sea.
Critical Need in Personnel.
The Navy, Admiral King said, still
has critical need for combat and
seagoing officers and enlisted per-
sonnet"
AS for the postwar f1eet-its size
still to be determined-the admiral
said "it is assumed in all plans now
under consideration that many
more officers and men will be needed
than can be provided by personnel
now in the regular Navy" This
regular Navy personnel comprises
only Is per cent of the wartime
Navy, he said.
Stressing that there can be nc
demobilization of personnel until
the defeat of Japan "is at hand,
the five-star admiral said:
However, for more than a year
We. have worked on rehabilitation
methods and have completed tenta-
tive plans. We are considering
priority of severance to give
due consideration to length of serv-
ice, service outside the continental
limits, combat service and parent
hood"
The fleet commander took oc-
casion to lay down a general picture
of the changing conditions confront
ing the Navy in the current conflict
While saying it is impossible for a
feet to operate effectively withou,
air power of its own, he added that
the use of combatant naval craft
designed primarily for engagement
of enemy surface vessels in the
bombardment of shore installations
in preparation for landings, have
demonstrated that the battleship is
essential"
Large assault transports now tor
the list in the shipbuilding program
Manpower shortage is furnishing
critical problem in the home navy
yards. where battle damage repair
has kept some combatant ships Out
of the fighting line for too long a
time
Discussing the value of naval gun
fire in amphibious landings, Ad-
miral King said:
"Battleship fire provides the only
gun (or weapon, for that matter
which is sufficiently powerful and
accurate to knock out reinforced
concrete pillboxes to 10 feet thick
and other similarly strong gun en-
placements. The new applica
tions of naval gunfire in amphibious
operations, as well as in fleet ac-
tions, have demonstrated that the
battleship is a versatile and essen
tial vessel, far from obsolete"
Speaking of the "ceaseless anc
unrelenting depredations of the
United States submarines in tht
Pacific" Admiral King said that "ir
the earlier phases of the war they
operated by themselves far beyond
the range of any of our surface
ships or aircraft. Their constant
presence in the westernmost
reaches of the Pacific limited the
freedom of the enemy's operations,
their frequent and effective attacks
depleted his shipping and dimin'
ished his logistic as well as his com.
batant strength. The rapid advancs
of our other forces, both sea ane
air, has been due in no small meas.
ure to the outstanding success with
which our submarine activities hav'
been carried on in waters wher,
nothing but submarines could go.
Air Problem Increasing.
The leap frog" strategy in the
Pacific, carried out through by.
passing enemy strongholds. the flee
commander said, was made possible
by the gradually increasing dispar.
ity between our own naval power
and that Of the enemy so that the
enemy was and still is unable to sup.
port the garrisons on the by-passed
atolls."
But, he continued, this strategy
has involved some risks and consid-
cradle difficulty, which, however
have now been overcome. How.
ever" he continued, "as we near the
enemy's homeland, the problem be-
comes more and more difficult. Dur
ing the first landing in the Philip
pines, for example, it was necessary
to deal with the hundred or more
Japanese airf1elds that were within
flying range of Leyte. This i'm
posed on our carrier forces heavy
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