WILL GO INTO ACTION

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23260, 23 July 1945, Page 5

WILL GO INTO ACTION

Japanese Navy Commander’s Boast By Telegraph—N.Z Press Assn.—Copyright :;EW YORK. July 20. l ii.' lukio radio quotes Admiral Takali..shi, former naval comm..ndct- -bief. a saying that the Japanese Xavy remains unshaken and soon will ?:> into aetion. The ci.iv of victor-. was rapidlv approa J tpan's air arm was being withheld until the right moment arrived, and then, together with the surface for • ■. it would unleash that "one last blow." Takahashi conceded that Japan could not now use her surface forces independently. except in suicidal actions because of American air superonty. He pointed out that the reverse was true early in the war when Japan was able to chase the enemy as far as Hawaii and Australia. The early successes were possible because Japan’s main naval strength—namely, air force strength—had overwhelmed the enemy air power. With the Japanese navy now in a similar situation. Japan was obliged to relv on air and sea suicide missions in order to snatch away the enemy’s air and sea supremacy gradually. The radio broadcast two versions of Takahashi’s article. One promised a sudden blow against the Allies. Tne other, for the homefront listeners, admitted that the Japanese navy’s cautious tactics were dictated by the Allied sea and air superiority, but he promis'd that this advantage would be gradually whittled down. Takahashi emphasised that air strength had entirely changed the status of the combined fleet, reducing the battleship to a mere auxiliary. He added that as long as the air force, which was the main strength, was sound, the navy’s present inability to fight did not matter.