FEVERISH NAVAL ACTIVITY

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 172, 18 April 1939, Page 9

FEVERISH NAVAL ACTIVITY

Making 100 Warships Ready For Sea UNPRECEDENTED U.S. FLEET MOVEMENT By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. NEW YORK, April 16. Following the abrupt order yesterday to transfer the United States fleet from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Port of Norfolk (Virginia) was transformed today from carnival gaiety to feverish preparations when 47,000 men, whose leave was cancelled, began making more than 100 warships lying in Hampton Roads ready for sea with “the utmost dispatch,” as’ ordered by Washington. Repairs on docked vessels have been ordered to be cut short. The loading of ammunition and fuel started immediately. Patrols in New York combed the streets, rounding up the ratings, thus enabling three ships Jo clear port before nightfall. Newspapers and naval officers have been swamped with inquiries from relatives, many of whom travelled from the Pacific Coast, as the fleet was scheduled to remain in the Atlantic till June. Officers were startled by the changed plans. A peacetime fleer movement of such magnitude and at such short notice is unprecedented.