U.S. SUBMARINE WARFARE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 128, 15 March 1950, Page 3

U.S. SUBMARINE WARFARE

Sir Hubert Wilkins’s Forecast . WASHINGTON, March 13. The Australian explorer, Sir Hubert Wilkins, to-night predicted that submarines as big as aircraft-carriers would travel under the Arctic ice to attack Russia if war broke out. They would carry guided missiles and aeroplanes. Sir Hubert Wilkins said that the Soviet’s industrial centres now were situated east of the Ural mountains. Her Arctic coast was protected by radar and air stations, and United States bomber attacks from Alaska would be difficult and dangerous. Warships would be opposed by Russian submarines, but the huge submarines he had in t mind could lie secretly under the ice of the Arctic Ocean. The crews 1 could cut holes with electrjcally-heated drills to get air and discharge missiles or aeroplanes. There were no waves under ice, so the submarines could be as large as aircraft-carriers if that were desired. Sir Hubert Wilkins, who is an adviser to the United States Army Department, said that America before long hoped to send submarines into the centre of the'Arctic Ocean. “We are making some progress,” ho added.