Our Main Object In The Mediterranean
people who obeyed the In Italy the
of course, enjoys anti-aircraft fire of at least four, Submarines, navy
are a the four angles of which rest on laws of Britain's Parlia-a finer reputation than the ships, and frequently of seven, menace; but our methods of de-Southern Italy, the Dodecanese, This area Its ment-if they happened trained
army.
officers
the tection have curtailed their powers Tripoli and Tobruk. are well will be
on concentrated and zealous, so bombers, and the discouragement, in Northern waters. This should must be treated with respect, and to like them. As a person-that we shall meet foes with finer will be intensified.
be more easy to accomplish when in it any operation that we may al possession of Britain's than hitherto we have encounter-of having
sea instincts in the Mediterranean The Italians have made boast working in conjunction with the attempt must be carried out with a skull-and-crossbone air force in waters which, in calm the maximum force both on sea the Aegean King, because he is also ed in the North Sea.
squadron whose pilots have sworn weather, are clear enough for the and in the air. In Duke of Normandy, they recognises the stranglehold
The Italian Government fully that, if necessary, they will wreck bottom of the sea to he visible in much depends on the action of Turkey. Our blockade of Suez that their acroplanes on an objective. 25 to 30 fathoms.
Strategically the Italians enjoyed exemptions from our Navy can exert on their home Such an action is more easily talk-
are must be carried out with extreme taxation and
and colonial imports. other res-
ed about than executed; for not strong within the irregular area vigilance. They have (with the exception only is nerve liable to jitter at the ponsibilities. A world that of four of the latest battleships), crucial moment sufficiently to de- likes islands never envied devoted their money to construct-feat the execution of the difficult ing 1 navy of less expensive manoeuvre, but it should be a them these privileges. It classes of vessels: cruisers, des fairly easy matter to attack and saw in them tokens that boats, which they intend to use as rives at a position of danger tu troyers, submarines, and motor-destroy the aircraft before it ar- human tolerance could a raiding force.
the ship. Moreover; a ship can transcend-at times with do? What will be their function
What, then, will the Italian fleet manoeuvre to defeat the attempt. One of the most unexpected a light grace the pro-
lessons learned from the Battle of Jutland was that battleships were
saic practical.
Are there any islands
By
now? The Briton prepares Admiral Sir
to prove he is still an is-
lander.
And the world
knows that while Britain stands an island, all
other wave-lapped shores still can hope for a return of the island spell.
IN THE BALKANS
Reginald Bacon
in the war, and fight?,
What Nominated Wendell Willkie?
nor
able to defeat destroyer attacks by The Republican Party's unex-¡ended by being in the firm grip of. means of their own gunfire, both pected and unorthodox choice of a powerful though intangible by night as well as by day.
Wendell Willkie as its 1940 Pre- master which the convention could The majority of Naval officers sidential nominec is already hav-not resist and finally proved itself expected that a far greater sucing its effects in Washington. The eager to accept-public sentiment. cess would have been achieved fact is that when newspaper cor- Neither the party leaders during night attack than was the respondents first began their co-the backroom politicians wanted case. It was, however, proved that verage of the Philadelphia con-to nominate a, recently reclaimed the disturbing factors of speed, vention recently, they had Democrat who voted for Franklin surprise, glare of gunfire and the feeling that they Roosevelt in 1932, nor did they searchlights, all of which cannot
were writing little inside-page want to run the hazard of a ticket be calculated or accurately fore-pieces to be tacked on at the end that could, however superficially, cast, frustrated even the most of a dynamic flow of events from be labeled with a "Wall Street" how will they gallant attacks. There is no reason the White House. In news-room and utility stigma when the cam- why this experience should not be parlance these would be labeled paign got under way. These ob- repeated.
"Convention-folo Washington.” Jections seemed empty and insin- We may expect to find that,
In the twinkling of an eye that cere. They didn't ring true and should the itallan navy attempt has been changed and with it the they didn't persuade. Mr. Willkie to fight a fleet action, neither the whole political outlook is chang-couldn't be turned aside, and I aircraft nor the destroyer will make up for their considerable Inferiority in numbers of capital ships.
These questions are difficult to answer, so much depends on the initiative and ideals of the Italian
Britain can
With regard to the submarine, it
By J. Roscoe Drummond
For Italy, Russia's pene-navy. In the first place they may try to combine air attack with a tration into the Balkans battlefleet action. Although num- takes a
more ominous erically inferior to the capital ship
strength that shape than that of the bring up against their battleships, is only necessary to point out that hammer and sickle over they may hope to reduce this in the low speed of these vessels be- equality by intensive air attack. low water is a fatal handicap to northern areas of Rum- The results of the Norwegian their use in conjunction with a
the quasi- ania. For there are signs campaign confirm
20-knot battle fleet, provided al-ling too. immunity of our men-of-war
hends and do not hesitate to use
of
the
that Russia will sponsor from bombs. We lost in the major ways that the Admirals keep their Wendell Willkic dominates the in-
terest
from this cause. It is true that the
and
pro-
doubt if to-day many delegates can really explain why and how they suddenly cast aside tradi- tional political molds and made way for new leadership for the party and possibly new leadership for the Nation.
*
✡
To-day the name of
From the moment the nominat- capital, ing speeches got under way it was for recent dispatches from plain that the convention hall Bulgarian claims against operations only three destroyers safety tactics.
Philadelphia moved. from afgalleries, holding some 15,000 peo- Rumania in the not dis-deck area of n destroyer is about It is more likely that the Italian
for Wendell Willkic, tant future and that this one-sixth of a battleship the size nuvy will use their cruisers and two-column head on page 5 tople, were almost solidly and thun-
of the Nelson, but the anti-aircraft smaller vessels to raid our block-box-car streamers on page 1, Now, derously
wherever politics is discussed whether he was a Republican or a sponsorship will be repaid fire of the latter is far more in-ading squadrons, and to
tect their own. convoys to and and in this city that means every-Democrat, a utilities executive or by Bulgaria in the highly tensive than that of the former from Libya and the Dodecanese, where the nonpolitical nomina- a labour organiser. Their cheers
be attack, therefore, will useful currency of air made
They possess some excellent heavy tion of this nonpolitician who two and their applause continuously correspondingly more cruisers, extremely fast light months ago had only the faintest slowed up the proceedings and bases south of the Dan-hazardous. In line of battle the cruisers, a fine destroyer fleet, and chance of becoming the Republi- when they clapped and cried in "We want Willkie, we beyond these they have a con-can nominee, opens the conversa-unison, ube.
do on the question of Bri-siderable number of very fast 10tion and closes It.
want Willkie," the convention just had to stop business until order Even this apparently tish prestige in the Near to perhaps 45 knot motor-boats, does not mark the limit of East. Thus a new and well balanced, clastic and essen-
was restored." called by them motoscafo. This
And now that this convention Chairman Joseph Martin of at least a Massachusetts was pounding with present Russian designs highly complicated chap-tially mobile force, acting in con- can be viewed from which already bring the ter in European history is Junction with their air force, might week-end of detachment, what his heavy gavel every few min- well bring off successful raids really took place to turn those fivejutes, and once when he sternly coveted Dardanelles into being written east of Ger-against our light forces unless they days of groping indecision. into reminded the galleries that they five hours of decisive ballotting must realise that they were at- the shifting picture. Re- many while its mechanis-are well supported.
The increasing speed of all ships during which Mr. Willkie rose tending as guests of the conven-
✡
...
ill
ported bids to Turkey for ed forces have brought is limiting the, striking power of compellingly on every ballot until tlon and must control their cheer-
one spectator, exclaimed:· the torpedo. A torpedo-armed his momentum became irresistibleing, a Russian share in the de-some brutal simplifica-motoscafo travels at 45 knots; but and his nomination inevitable? |"Guests, nothing. We're the peo- fence of these strike at tions west..
a cruiser steaming at 34 knots re- The self-evident fact is that an ple!”-
of public! The most significant fact for traditional German am- Hitler, it is plain, has duces its rate of approach, to 10 overwhelming tide
knots. At this speed the boat opinion took the decision out of the future. of American democracy bitions and touch on the been winning some. bat-should be an easy target for a well the hands of the delegates and is not that Mr. Willkle himself controlled secondary. armament. the delegates took the decision out was nominated but that public question of Italian secur-tles, but may be far as The speed of the torpedo, more of the hands of the party leaders, opinion in this country proved it- ity in the Mediterranean ever from winning his ob- over, is only some 30 knots, so a This convention began by being self the master of the instruments ship can outdistance the torpedo the most unbossed nominating as-of government. That is dynamic quite as obviously as theyijectives.
lin a stern chase;
Isembly in Republican history and democracy at work.
.
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