OPPOSING NAVIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 106, 31 October 1942, Page 7

OPPOSING NAVIES

JAPS STILL LEAD IN

carriers:

NEW YORK, October 29

"Till American naval superiority is established a further offensive in the Solomon Islands is unlikely and the defence of Guadalcanal will be irrij perilled," says the military and naval correspondent of the "New York Times," Hanson Baldwin. "Japan started the war with a clearcut numerical superiority in warships in the Pacific, and in spite of her losses in the Coral Sea and Midway battles she still holds superiority in carriers and is at least equal to our Pacific Fleet in battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, and perhaps in submarines. "Japan's carrier strength has been considerably reduced, but she still musters a minimum of five and a maximum of nine carriers. She also has 12 to 14 battleships and 20 to 30 cruisers. "Japan's Pacific superiority is being slowly whittled down by the losses and the growing output of the American shipyards, which have replaced outdated carriers by new . vessels and built the new battleships North Carolina and Washington. NEW BATTLESHIPS. Four vessels of the 35,000 tons South Dakota class (22 knots, nine 16-inch guns) have already been commissioned this year. "Furthermore, a new type of antiaircraft cruiser has been commissioned, and scores of submarines with a very great radius are under construction. "The prospects of growing American air superiority are even more favourable. Japan's reserves of planes and pilots are limited} and therefore ' the continuity of her air effort is impaired. "Informed circles estimate the capacity of Japanese production at 800 planes a month or a maximum of 1200, of which 900 are combat aircraft, while the American production is 6000 a month, and is still mounting. "In the first months of 1943 Japan should begin to feel the weight of our numbers by air and sea."