NAVAL AVIATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24275, 16 May 1942, Page 7

NAVAL AVIATION

CARRIER IN SPOTLIGHT CORAL SEA BATTLE LESSONS VARIED OPINIONS EXPRESSED (Reed. 7.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, May 15 Writing in the New York Times, Mr. Hanson Baldwin says changes which are taking place in the organisation of the American Navy Department and commands afloat will result in greater emphasis on naval aviation. He explains that experiences in the Coral Sea Battle emphasised the eminent importance of the aircraft-carrier. While the battleship is in no way abandoned, the carrier definitely has been brought under the spotlight and

American production and conversion of ships into carriers, which already is unmatched anywhere, will soon be considerably increased, following predicted changes in organisation. A widely-published article by Sir Keith Murdoch, managing director of the Melbourne Herald and the Weekly Times, and formerly Director-General of Information in Australia, says: "The best that can be said of the scattered fighting on a wide circle over sea and island centred in the Louisiade Archipelago, is that we have blunted, and in part broken, the vanguard of the Japanese expeditionary forces. To say we have smashed a great invasion fleet is sheer folly." An interesting contrast between the Australian and American views of the Battle of the Coral Sea. as interpreted by correspondents in Melbourne and Washington, is published in the Christian Science Monitor. Prelude of Things to Come Mr. Joseph Harsch, in a despatch from Melbourne, says: "Australian opinion is uncertain what has been the cost to the Allies, and whether this constitutes anything more than merely a temporary reverse for the enemy." The Washington correspondent, Mr. h'oscoe Drummond, apparently reflecting the official viewpoint, says: "The battle was more significant for what it portends than for what it accomplished, and it accomplished much. It was a prelude and precursor of things to come. It may—and this can he put down as more than a layman's judgment —be a sign that the United Nations and the Axis have entered a decisive phase of the war." "Decisive Winner" Calling the engagement a "salutary battle," Mr, Drummond savs: "It disclosed that a powerful and aggressive striking force has heen placed at General Mac Arthur's disposal. It inflicted sufficiently heavy losses on Japan to give a tidy down-payment for Pearl Harbour. It indicated admirable working technique between Allied sea and air power. It understood the tremendous value of a single, co-ordinated command in the South-west Pacific. "From this battle the United States Navy emerges a decisive winner, and the tide of Pacific sea power may well he beginning to run in our direction. There is room for debate whether that was an offensive or defensive action." RETURN TO WASHINGTON (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, May 15 The State Department announced that Colonel Louis Johnson, President Roosevelt's personal representative in India, will soon return to Washington, owing to ill health. He recently had an operation in New Delhi.