EASING OFF

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 180, 1 August 1944, Page 6

EASING OFF

BUILDING U.S. "SUBS" Fast Pacific Advances Limit Operating Area N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 2.30 WASHINGTON, July 31. The Navy Department has announced a reduction in submarine building, partly because fewer submarines have been lost than was expected and partly because other types of ships, as well as weapons, are more urgently needed- The reduction, will be accomplished by not beginning the construction of certain submarines which had been scheduled.

The Navy Department said the fast prospective advances in the Pacific limit the area in which Japanese shipping can operate. This correspondingly limits the hunting grounds for our submarines. Reduced submarine building does not mean that total Navy shipbuilding' is declining. On the contrary, it will increase in size, at least until the first quarter of 1945. The Navy urgently needs aircraftcarriers and cruisers, new types of assault ships, such as fast armed cargo carriers and transports, also tankers and bombardment ammunition, such as rockets for planes and ships, 40mm. guns, machinery for advanced bases and high octane gas.