BASE FOR SUBMARINES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 68, 21 March 1940, Page 5

BASE FOR SUBMARINES

PACIFIC ISLAND I rortihcation iSy lhe Soviet POSSIBLE USE AS GERMAN RAIDING CENTRE (.By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright; NEW YOFK, March 19. The Shanghai corre pendent of the, New York Times reports that British, French, Japanese, and United States navai ofhceis are focussing their attention on the Commander Islands, off Kamchatka, as P is known that the j Soviet Union is fortifying Bering and Medny, the main islands oi the group, with a strong submarine base on Bering Island, which it is feared the Russians may grant Germany Lhe use of for raids in the vacinc in the event of the Allies becoming embroiled with the Soviet. A large group of German navai officers Hew to the Commander group in December and remained there till late in January, In addition 20 German submarine commanders visited there in January and November. Moreover, German Diesel engine experts from the Reich, the United States, Mexico, China, and the Philippines gathered in Vladivostok and , were llou n to the islands in parties of ; The 21 Germans who were seized by , a British warship from the Japanese ' liner Asama Maru in January had . tickets to Germany, but the British ’ authorities here believe it was a blind, as most of them were going to the Commander Islands. The Russian submarines in the ( Pacific were fabricated in European . Russia and sent to Vladivostok, where they were assembled. If granted the use of the base, the Germans would be able to do likewise.