AMERICAN FLEET TO SAO. FOR PACIFIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 89, 17 April 1939, Page 7

AMERICAN FLEET TO SAO. FOR PACIFIC.

LEAVING ATLANTIC.

140 Ships Expected To Leave In 36 Hours.

FEARS IN FAR EAST.

United Press Association.— Copyright.

(Received 10.30 a.m.) WASHINGTON*, April 16. The United States Pacific Fleet, which is at present in the Atlantic, has been ordered to return to the Pacific and to begin high-speed refuelling, states an Independent Cable Service message from New York. Thousands of officers and ratings had shore leave cancelled. There will be 140 vessels ready to leave in 36 hours, while r>o will remain in the Atlantic. This move is seen to have a bearing on the position in the Far East, where important developments are believed to be pending. The United Press Association states tint the order is not explained, but it is believed to be due to the European tension. It affects the whole of the sea force except the newly-created Atlantic Squadron. The sudden transfer of ships to the Pacific is believed to be of the highest significance. It is reported that it was the result at least in part of Intelligence Service reports that any new military developments in Europe might be coupled with action by Japan in the East Indies area. President Approves the Order. President Roosevelt personally approved the order, which affects all but the Atlantic Squadron, that is to be reinforced by five cruisers, six submarines and an aircraft carrier. Several units sailed to-night. The main Battle Fleet is lying in Hampton Roads and is hastily refuelling. The fleet had been engaged in manoeuvres in the Caribbean Sea and was due to sail for New York for the World's Fair after a review by the Secretary of the Xavy, Mr. C. A. Swanson, off Virginia Capes on April 27.

An official explanation of the abrupt sailing orders was refused. Three possible purposes are unofficially advanced: (1) Readiness for any eventuality in the Pacific in the event of war; (2) an effort to offset the position of the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis in the event of Mr. Roosevelt's peace move being unsuccessful, and at the same time partly allaying British and French fears regarding the Far East; (3) a gesture toward relieving the European tension, since the dispatch of the fleet to the Atlantic was regarded as a warning to Germany and Italy.

Seizures by Japan. Xaval subscribers to the second belief consider that with the British and French fleets concentrated in the Mediterranean, the Japanese would be likely to feel free in the Pacific, where they recently seized the strategic Spratley Islands. If Japan has designs upon the East Indies' petroleum and rubber, as Washington is reported to have been advised, the United States would be directly affected owing to the proximity of the Philippine Islands to Japan.

It is recalled that in 1937 Mr. Anthony Eden, then British Foreign Secretary, asked Mr. Norman Davis, American representative at the Brussels Conference, whether the United States Fleet would police tho Pacific if Britain were occupied in a European war. Mr. Davis declined to make a commitment.

Other quarters consider the order was timed to accompany Mr. Roosevelt's appeals to the dictators as a peaceful gesture, indicating that the United States has no hostile intentions.

A State Department spokesman specifically denied this interpretation, saying the fleet is merely "returning to station."

"READY FOR SEA."

SCENES OF GREAT ACTIVITY.

NEW YORK, April 16.

Norfolk, Virginia, was transformed from carnival gaiety to feverish preparation when 47,000 men, their leave cancelled, began making over 100 warships }\ ing in Hampton Roads ready for sea "with the utmost despatch,"' ae ordered from Washington.

Repairs on docked vessels were ordered to be cut short and the loading of ammunition and fuel commenced immediatelv.

Patrols at New York combed the streets, rounding up ratings and enabling three ships to clear the port before nightfall.

The newspapers and Navy Offices are ewamped with inquiries from relatives, many of whom had travelled from' the Pacific Coast, ae the fleet wae scheduled to remain in the Atlantic until June.

Officers were startled at the change in the plans. A peace-time fleet movement of such magnitude and. at such short notice is unprecedented.