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We suggest you save this map and tack it up on a wall so that you can follow readily further war moves in the Pacific Ocean Area
TUE 04,000,000 square miles of the Pacific ocean now constitute the
biggest war front in the world conflict.
The largest expanses of open water in the world lie In the Pacific.
Tiny dots ot coral reef and sand assure strategic import out of all pro
portion to size and ocean vastness where solid ground is at a premium.
This is true because even the mightiest navy is dependent on shore
establishments for refueling, supplies and refitting. Naval action in the
Japanese-American war will be largely governed by the fortified step
ping stones across the Pacific, the bases controlled by the opposing
powers.
Every admiral knows that capital ship sunk cannot be replaced
for three or four years. A capital ship damaged in action, which makes
haven at its base, can be ready for sea duty again in three or four
months.
This impels fleet commanders to maneuver for decisive action as
close as possible to home bases.
The Japanese have no bases in the eastern Pacific. The U. S. has
its major bases on the continental coast plus Hawaii and the new Alaskan
bases. It is unlikely the Japanese fleet commander would accept a full
fleet action 3,000 miles off base and close to American bases.
The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was in no sense a
fleet action, but a daring thrust by carriers and light craft in a hit-and-run
raid.
Japan's major bases are in the western Pacific. They give her naval
dominance in the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the north portion of
the China sea. She has an important string of advance bases in the man
dated islands.
Somewhere between the areas of dominance created by the bases
will be the site of any sea battle between the massed fleets.
Japan enjoys no monopoly of major bases in the western Pacific,
as does the U. S. in the eastern half of the ocean. Singapore and Manila
are vital bulwarks of the Allied fleets. It is significant that Japan di
rected opening attacks against these two naval strongholds.
Vladivostok is also of potential importance. Russia has not yet
signified her part in the Pacific struggle. Vladivostok is a key point,
almost in the center of a ring drawn around the Japanese empire. It
could be a potent factor in the war.
The Pacific war, Judged by standards set up in the world' library
of naval strategy, will probably resolve into major fleet maneuvers in
the western theater, between fleets based on Singuimre and Manila and
the Japanese fleet based on its home ports.
In addition, the huge area involved makes a repetition of surprise
raids by both sides likely. With luck, light craft can appronrh an ob
jective for hit-and-run action without detection, from vast areas hard to
patrol adequately. .
There's one factor, though, that runs against Jaian. Even the defeat
of the U. S. fleet would not guarantee defeat of the U. S. as a nation.
Defeat of the Japanese fleet, however, carries the fate of the country
with it. Japan is an island empire, utterly dependent on the sea routes
for sustenance. JOHN CKOVEK.
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