COLOSSAL TONNAGE

Evening Star, Issue 24916, 14 July 1943, Page 3

COLOSSAL TONNAGE

WAR'S CONSUMPTION OF PETROL AND OIL - ■ i The tremendous part that petrol is playing in the war .is emphasised by the 'figures recently reported from America. So staggering is the consumption of this vital product in th» war effort of the United Nations that the rate at which petrol and fuel oil are being used up is almost beyond comprehension. The statement that during the first year of the war £,OOO per cent, mora petrol and oil was shipped abroad by America than during the first year of the 1914-18 conflict serves to brm» hometo one the huge'volume of liquid fuel being consumed. The statement bv the commanding officer of the TJ.S.A. 12th Air Force which was operating in Tunisia, that the gallonage of petrol used by hU equipment in 15 days would empty every storage tank in the eastern States of America, and keep them empty for one month, is in itself a revelation of how fighter and bomber aircraft swallow petrol, [n the bomber raids over Germany and Italy the bi<» bombers are stated to each use 250 to 400 gallons of petrol an hour, while lO.OOOcral of petrol are used when the tanks of one mechanised division travel 100 miles.

It is not only on the land and ia the air that vast quantities of petrol- • eum products are being consumed. • The tonnage of oil being burnt by the ships of the United Nations, naval and mercantile marine, must reach huge figures. For instance, each of the ' numerous destroyers guarding convoys and tankers are stated to burn 3.000 gallons of oil an hour. The facts quoted .serve to convey what a colossal tonnage of liquid fuel must be annually produced and transported to supply the motive power of the vast number of motor vehicles, mechanised units, aircraft, and shins that the United Nations have jn opera- - tion. ' ■ '