PATROL BY U.S. NAVY

Southland Times, Issue 24421, 29 April 1941, Page 5

PATROL BY U.S. NAVY

WARNING SHIPS OF RAIDERS

WESTERN HEMISPHERE WATERS

(8.0.W.) • ' RUGBY, April 26. “It was with indescribable relief that I learned of the decision taken by the American President and people that the American Fleet should patrol the waters of the Western Hemisphere,” said Mr Churchill in revealing the American decision today. Thus, he said, American naval units would warn peaceful craft of any raiders which lurked above or below the sea to molest them, and so the British units would be freed to concentrate on the seas nearer home.

Discussing the Battle of the Atlantic, Mr Churchill spoke admiringly of the men who build, repair, load and sail the merchant ships. These ships, however, were easy to sink. He stated that there were never fewer than 2000 ships afloat and never fewer than 300 or 400 in the danger zones. “It is with indiscribable relief,” he continued, “that I learned of the tremendous decisions lately taken by President Roosevelt and the people of the United States. The American fleet and flying-boats have been ordered to patrol the wide waters of the Western Hemisphere and warn peaceful shipping of all nations outside the combat zone of the presence of lurking Üboats and of cruisers belonging to the two aggressive nations. We British will therefore begin to concentrate our protecting forces far more upon the routes near home and take a far heavier toll of U-boats there.”

“MERCILESS MURDER” The German U-boat warfare was carried on entirely contrary to the international agreement which she freely subscribed to only a few years ago and formed no effective blockade, but constituted “only merciless murder and marauding over wide, indiscriminate areas utterly beyond the control of German sea-power.” After recalling his request to the United States to “give us the tools and we will finish the job,” Mr Churchill continued: “I meant ‘give them to us’ as ‘put them within our reach’ and that is what it now seems the Americans are going to do and that is why I have a very strong conviction though the Battle of the Atlantic will be long and hard and the issue is by no means determined, it has entered upon a more grim, but it seems to me, a far more favourable phase.” “When you come to think of it the United States is very closely bound up with us now and has engaged itself deeply in giving us material and, within the limits I have mentioned, naval support,” said the Prime Minister. “It is just’worth while, therefore, to take a. look on both sides of the ocean at the' forces which are facing each other I in this awful struggle from which there can be no drawing back. No prudent, far-seeing man can doubt that the eventual total defeat of Hitler and Mussolini is certain in view of the respective declared resolves of the British and American democracies. There are fewer than 70,000,000 malignant Germans, some of whom are curable and some killable and most of whom are now engaged in holding down the Austrians, Czechs, Poles and many other ancient races. The people of the British Empire and the United States number nearly 200,000,000 in their homelands and the British Dominions alone. They possess unchallengable command of the ocean and will soon obtain a decisive superiority in the air. They have more wealth and more technical resources and they make more steel than the whole of the rest of the'.world put together. They are determined that the cause of freedom shall not be trampled down nor the tide of world progress turned back by the criminal dictatorships.”

SCOPE OF EXTENDED PATROL WASHINGTON, April 27. Inquiries by the White House into the Senate’s attitude towards legislation authorizing the convoying of cargoes to Britain revealed, according to well-informed quarters, that 45 of the 96 senators are opposed to such action. Some legislators consider that if President Roosevelt decides that convoys are necessary it might be better for him to order them without seeking congressional authority, with the consequent long and controversial debate. There is still a difference of opinion whether the President has such authority. The announcement that the neutrality patrol will be extended has spurred opponents of the convoys to seek a showdown. Informed quarters understand that the plan is for American ships to maintain a safe channel several hundred miles wide by a criss-cross patrol and keep cargo ships advised of the whereabouts of submarines or suspicious surface ships. The patrol, it is believed, will operate so that battleships, cruisers, destroyers, aircraft-carriers and bombers will cover

the area, reporting their observations in plain English by radio. It is likely that when cargo ships reach the most dangerous areas they will be joined by British warships. Officials acquainted with the plan say that if the patrol found Axis ships of superior firepower and speed, ships would be detailed to follow them and report their movements, thus enabling British ships to move against the enemy. It is admitted that such tactics would involve risks, but the issue of peace or war with the United States rests on any decision by Germany and Italy to “make something of it.”