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Show Bigger Battleships Admiral Joseph P. Taussig, wiu describes himself as "one of those coiucmptuously called 'brass hats' " still believes that the ureadnaughl "is one of the most important factors in naval warfare." The Hear Admiral, who served as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, Op-erations, points out that it was our battleships at Berehaven in Southwest Ireland and the battleships battle-ships of the British Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow that "permitted the destroyers and cruisers of the Allies to escort the convoys which carried millions of troops together with their huge quantities quan-tities of stores fuel, ammunition and suplies across the Atlantic." lie adds that "if it were not for those battleship s even though they did not fire a shot the enemy surface raiders would have annihilated those convoys . . . and we would have lost the war." The huge convoys now reaching reach-ing Great Britian and Russia are escorted by surface vessels and aircraft but "the battleships are lurking in the background within striKing distance which is known to the enemy and pevents the use of their battleships and other large surface craft in raiding operations op-erations because the risk is too great. . . ." Admiral Taussig points to the enormous transportation problem in the war against Japan and says that our expeditionary force can only be successfully supported support-ed "if our battleships are so disposed dis-posed and in sufficient strength to make it impracticable for the Japanese to raia these convoys with their battleships battle cruisers and other heavy surface craft." He warns that "if we and our allies do not get our battleship force to the Far East in greater strength than that of the Japanese, Japan-ese, we will never be able to reconquer re-conquer our lost possessions" and concludes "this is why I am so perturbed by the ballyhoo concerning con-cerning the obsolescence of these big ships." |