Show ECONOMIC highlights industrial news review history shows that th at the decisive factoring fac torin all great wars invariably has been sea power wrote rear admiral dark clark H woodward US N recently think back over the major conflicts of history and you will vill realize the truth of that when drakes birakes fleet destroyed the spanish armada he eliminated one of the greatest threats to english carity and safety when nelson jefson broke the back of french sea power 1 at trafalgar Tra falger he h assured na napoleons pol ultimate defeat japan under the brillian admiral togo made herself a world power to be reckoned with when her fleet poutoa the russian i f part 11 t arthur and in world war no 1 it was the british fleet under jellicoe which forced the german navy to bottle itself up in port after the battle of jutland and so made it possible to tighten the blockade which proved to be one of the decisive factors in that sanguinary conflict sea power has always made world Iti history story and it is for that reason that a number of military authorities tend to the belief that germ anys great successes on land important as they are cannot win the war for herno henno ri matter tatter how far they may be carried germanys germanas Germ anys air power today is the best in europe and it will be for at least a year before british american production can rival hers her armies are supreme in size in equipment L quip ment and in generalship but germany has no fleet in any way comparable to britaina Brit ains the submarine is a dangerous weapon but it is extremely limited wd nd it has been proven time and agrain that sufficient surface power s superior to undersea power italy had a large fleet at the start of the war but it proved sadly deficient in fighting quality and a large part of it has been destroyed es troyed german shipyards have been work ng overtime but it seems certain that hat their production has been held to a minimum by british air air raids raid s r en n keil hambie Hamb hamburg ii and other ports british sea power is tremendously strained her ships must police police every ocean in the world they must attempt to bring her mer hant ships horne home with the supplies that are needed to feed her population and arm her fighting forces that is why british hopes are toj day pinned to a considerable extent on the american navy british strategists are confident that the full participation of our navy would assure ultimate german defeat I 1 the american navy is the largest L st and most powerful in the world according to such authorities as ad miral woodward five years from now if plans go according to schedule it will also be the fastest navy and will be infinitely more pow erful and it is the one branch of our fighting services which is ready to go to war now if the call is made admiral woodward believes that if we went to war the job of our navy in the atlantic would be fourfold first we would wo 1 uld occupy and defend all atlantic islands on the other side both to forestall their seizure by the axis and to strike at invaders moving out from europe second we would blockade ports on the spanish and french west african coast third we would cooperate fully with the brit ish navy in convoy work fourth we would have to keep large forces about the panama canal to defend i it from attack i in the pacific a fleet wo would uld probably be based at singapore to keep an eye on japan american naval officials think relatively little littie of the japanese navy and are certain we would have little trouble in defending ourselves from hawaii to ta the mainland A number of authorities feel that hitler would have taken a far tough er line with us long ago had it not been for the american anvy that he wants to avoid actual war with us because he f fears ears that the un enli i cited participation of our fleet would turn the scales against him it is certainly true ahat that his blockade of england would be made immeasurably more difficult if our de st and cruisers were used for convoy work our entry into tho war would more than double the sea power which the axis must face there are reports that hitler may shortly take over what is left of the french navy admiral darlan no 2 man at vichy is notorious noto notoriously riou sly pro german and has a deep hatred of england and everything english it 11 that happens hitler will be greatly strengthened the french cruisers would make excellent raiders and could harass britain at many exposed points and in the meantime high british officials are becoming franker and franker in intimating ti that the cause of the democracies moc may be lost unless this country sends it ships in with their guns roaring changes in the conscription law may take place this year the army wants the age minimum dropped to 18 it prefers young men another law may be proposed to give the president authority to defer all men over 27 conscripting Conscript ilig older men has made tor for social and economic dislocations according to officials training is going ahead well and the quality of men is the best in our history basic supply and housing problems have been solved however some experts doubt that a years training is enough to turn a civilian into crack soldier |