Evening star., 1953-08-16

SSAS
mouth of the Danube. That
path leads around the noun
tain barrier that stretches
from Bulgaria westward
through Yugoslavia to the
Alps"
He saw possibilities of leap
frog landings progressively far
ther north along the Black Sea
coast. with supply ships steam
ing steadily through the Dar-
danelleS, which would be held
firmly, Of course, by Turkish
troops and guarded by allied
airpower. Each leap would
bring allied forces nearer to
the tender Southern Russian
flank.
Allied officers are confident
they can protect the Mediter-
ranean, barring all-out catas-
trophe in Europe. The Turks
say they can virtually seal
the Bosporus. and Dardanelles
against passage of Russian
submarines from the Black
Sea. But it is deep, swift water.
hard to mine, and SOME might
get through.
These narrow straits carry
all the waters poured into the
Black Sea from such big Rus
sian rivers as the Don and the
Dnieper and East Europe's
great D anube. Submarines
sneaking under water among
the mines and nets in such
swift currents would have
tough going.
The same conditions govern
the Straits of Gibraltar, the
other main entrance to the
Mediterranean. (There is, of
course, the SueZ, but its shall
low depth rules it out for
enemy Submarines.) Many
German submarines managed
to slip through the Straits of
Gibraltar during the early part
OF. the last war. In the late
stages, nearly all which tried
it were sunk.
The water runs hundreds of
fathoms deep in the 111a-mile
channel, between the Rock and
the African coast, but sonar
devices, carried in dirigibles
which cruised lazily up and
down the straits, spotted sub
marines readily and pointed
them out to, surface craft
armed with depth charges.
Problem of Bases
Last war, German subma-
rines could base in Greece,
Italy or Crete. Only Albania
offers Russia a friendly shore
on the North Mediterranean,
and it is cut off from Soviet
contact by Yugoslavia on the
east and north and by Greece
on the south.
Albania has a harbor at
Valona. So far as is known,
no Russian submarines are
there now. The Turks say
none have passed through the
DardanelleS from the Black
Sea. Legally they can come
through--on the surface-but
such a movement would Gre
ate a lot Of international ex-
citement. AS Americans see it,
it would be tipof of wild days
ahead.
Nor have any Russian sub
marines been seen in the Medi-
terranean that might have
passed through Gibraltar. The
other possibility is that pocket
submarines may have been
flown, chunk by chunk, from
Russia to Albania, or carried
in ships. But NATO people
doubt 1t.
The Mediterranean is one of
the busiest bodies of water in
the world and now has become
critically important to Europe
as an oil supply line. An av-
erage of 600 ea-going ships
move along its channels each
day. Wherever you may stand
: along it's shore, ships can be
seen at almost any hour.
American Influence
Only a few years ago Amer
ican influence here was scarcely
thought about. Now it is tre-
mendous. Since the formation
of NATO, this correspondent
has been in Mediterranean
ports from France to the
Turkish Bosporus. The i'm
pact Of American sea and
air power is felt everywhere.
Italy, Greece and Turkey,
particularly the last two, are
in the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization principally be-
cause they have been assured
that the American 9Th Fleet
is there to stay.
With it's cruisers and air
craft carriers, it is the strong
est striking fleet now in the
Mediterranean. It's base is Ma
pies, but its ships can be seen
at anchor in a dozen ports
along the European or African
shores and in the Turkish Sea
of Marora. This is inside the
Dardanelles, only an hours
flight from Communist air
dromeS.
Never in peacetime has an
American feet been based so
far from home in a wholly for
eign port.
But Navy power is only part
Of American military strength