UNITED STATES NAVY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 11 September 1945, Page 5

UNITED STATES NAVY

PEACETIME STRENGTH New York, Sept. 9 i . Senator Walsh and Representative • Vinson, chairmen of the Senate and j the House Naval Affairs Committees respectively, are introducing to-mor-i row a concurrent resolution providing for a peacetime navy of 1079 combat vessels, only 229 fewer than the present fleet. It is the first disclosure that officials have concluded that neither the atomic bomb nor any other new secret weapon has displaced or materially affected naval might. The warships proposed include three 42.000-ton, 24 27-000-ton and 10 11,000-ton carriers, 79 escort carriers. 18 battleships, three large, 31 heavy and 48 light cruisers, 367 destroyers, 296 destroyer escorts, and 200 submarines. About one-third c * this force would I be kept fully manned and ready for | any emergency, one-third would be ! kept as a reserve fleet, partially manned, and the remaining one-third would be kept available for recommissioning. The Navy Department is planning for a total complement of 550,000 officers and men. ‘Ships will be replaced as they become obsolete. The object is to have a fleet superior to any that could be ranged against America in either ocean bv any likely combination of Powers.