FIVE WARSHIPS SUNK

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23801, 21 November 1942, Page 5

FIVE WARSHIPS SUNK

Enemy Losses In Solomons FURTHER REPORT OF BATTLE (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright.) (Rec. 8 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Nov. 19. The United States Navy has announced that a Japanese battleship or heavy cruiser, three large cruisers, and one destroyer, were sunk, and another battleship, one cruiser, and one destroyer were damaged by an American battleship task force in a naval battle off the Solomons on Saturday night and early on Sunday. “It is possible,” states the Navy Department, “that this report may include some damage already reported in the previous Navy communique. Clarification of this point must await receipt of a complete summary of the action from the commander of the naval forces in that area.” The text of the, Navy communique is as follows: “Reports just received from the south Pacific reveal that United States battleships participated in an action on Saturday night and early on Sunday mocning. RearAdmiral Lee commanded a task force which engaged a Japanese surface force in the Guadalcanar area dur- , mg Saturday night, and inflicted the following damage on the enemy: unc , battleship or heavy cruiser sunk, three large cruisers sunk, one destroyer sunk, one battleship damaged. : one cruiser damaged, and one destroyer damaged.” The Washington correspondent n : "The Times” states that commenting 1 on the communique a naval spokesman said: “We hope and believe the five sinkings are all new ones, but we do not know.” He expressed -confidence that any duplications of sinkings announced in Communique 194 had occurred only in two or three instances. “It is believed certain that the battleship or heavy cruiser named to-day does not duplicate the battleship claimed previov.ciy,” added the spokesman. ( The communique supnsed naval authorities since the previous sketchy reports from the Solomons indicated that only light forces were engaged in the action. It, now appears that ( Rear-Admiral Lee’s command de- j stroyed and damaged most of the remnants of the formidable Japan- , ese fleet sent against Guadalcanar. ( Major Engagements ' A composite picture drawn from • both communiques shows that the 1 battle consisted of two major engage- 1 ments, one on Friday night and the c other on Saturday night. Rear-Admiral : Daniel Callaghan led the attack whicn destroyed a battleship, five cruisers, j and five destroyers on Friday. The : Japanese battleship damaged in this , action is believed to have been over- ‘ taken by Rear-Admiral Lee’s forces and sunk on Saturday. • ; The spokesman said nothing or , consequence had happened on Guadal- > canar since the Japanese fleet was : driven off. Furthermore, Japanese , aeroplanes had not appeared over i Guadalcanar. The Secretary for War (Mr H. L. ] Stimson) said that United States i Army aircraft based on Australia and 1 New Caledonia had played an active i and effective role in last week’s air ' and naval battle in the Solomons. < Aeroplanes from Australia had not : only bombed Japanese forces north- j west of Guadalcanar before and dur- - ing the battle, but they also participated in an important reconnaissance. Army bombers from New Caledonia had been assigned to the Navy, and details of their action would soon be forthcoming. From an analysis of Japan’s crippling losses in the Solomons, United States naval experts deduce that the enemy will require at least three weeks to organise a further expedition against Guadalcanar, states the , special Australian correspondent of the New Zealand Press Association. This delay is held to be sufficient to give the United States ample time to replace its own relatively small losses and be ready for the third round of the battle. Meanwhile the main part of the battered Japanese forces is believed to 1 have left the south-west Pacific and ■ withdrawn to the shelter of enemy bases in the mandated islands. This i places the Japanese vessels out of ; range of Allied bombers. Neither Aus- ; tralian nor American experts attach any special naval significance to the appearance of eight Japanese destroyers off Buna since light task forces of the opposing fleets must be continually in operation throughout the south Pacific. It is expected that the next , 24 hours will reveal the purpose of this force. Invasion of Japan 1 Discussing the war against Japan with correspondents on Guadalcanar, Vice-Admiral William F. Halsey said he considered that the eventual victory would not be won without au invasion of Japanese home islands. “And I want to be there," he added. This interview was given on November 9, two days before the opening of fhe battle in which Vice-Admiral Halsey routed the enemy fleet in tho Solomons. Vice-Admiral Halsey then predicted that the United States Navy, in the near future, would be able to prevent the Japanese reinforcing their troops on Guadalcanar. “Control of the seas is the key to the Pacific situation,” he said, and he described the then existing naval situation as “fine from our point of view. But you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs—and you can’t fight a naval war without losing ships.” Vice-Admiral Halsey declined to relegate battleships to the category of obsolete weapons. “The carrier is a great offensive weapon, but the battleship still retains its role, and it will continue to play a decisive part in Pacific warfare—and I am an airman," he said. Vice-Admiral Halsey is regarded as America’s most air-minded admiral. He learned to pilot an aeroplane eight years ago at the age of 52, and he has long expressed the belief that victory in the Pacific will be won by the combined efforts of warships and warplanes. As an alternative to risking more ships in a sixth effort to recapture Guadalcanar. the Japanese must wait for the Allies to move against their main base at Rabaul, it is suggested from Washington. The columnist, Raymond Clapper, comments: “The Japanese will come again at Guadalcanar, but probably we will never again be nervous about it as we were last week.” The Tokyo official radio quotes the newspaper “Nichi Nichi” which admits that Japanese losses in the Solomons naval battle were “by no means slight.” It adds “we must reconstruct our losses and push on to victory.” The newspaper “Asahi” says the Americans, seeking to decide the issue of the Pacific war in this campaign, have hurled their entire naval strength into the Solomons.

WAR SERVICE FOR U.S. WOMEN

(Rec. 9.45 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Nov. 19. After a conference between Mr Roosevelt, the American Federation of Labour, the Committee of Industrial Organisations, and the Labour War Board, Mr William Green, president of the A.F.L., predicted that steps towards the national registration of women for war work would be taken before the end of the year, covering between 40.000,000 and 50,000,000 women. Vichy Officials Interned.—The former Vichy Governor-General of Madagascar <M. Annet) with his wife and other officials.has arrived at Durban for internment.—B.O.W. Rugby, Nov. 19.