Pacific Dominated by Three Great Power · Pacific Dominated by Three Great" Power America,...

Pacific Dominated by Three Great" PowerAmerica, Britain,' and Japan Hold

Strategic Islands(Continued from page one.)

llmited by fuel capacities toabout 4,800 miles. A well bal·anced war fieet contains variousunits, those capable possibly ofsteaming across the Pacific andback without refueling and thosethat would have to refuel some-where on the way. A rendezvousbetween a warship and a fuelship thousands of miles fromtheir base might be extremelyhazardous in the time of war.'. Therefore arises the Impor-tance of i s 1and s, especiallyislands upon which are estab-lished naval bases or fueling de-pots. Not only are islands tm-portant as fueling depots, butalso as airplane, radio, and cablestations, as refuges for ships insevere storms, as bases in whichtel assemble fieets and fromwhich to launch operations, andas outpostsof defense.ThePacif·ic has islands suitable for navalbases, although few actually arethus utilized. It has a muchgreater number of remote littleislands that for centuries havebeen nothing more than roostingplaces for sea birds and whichonly today-since the beginningof transoceanic fiying-have be-com e potentially valuable aslanding places for planes. Manyof these barren or rocky islandswould require expenditure ofvarying great sums of money toconvert them into adequate airbases, although it is a safe as-sumption that the sheltered laogoon of many a distant atollwould serve even now in anemergency as a safe restingplace for a harassed seaplane.

e • •The nations that control the

islands of the Pacific are theones that control the ocean itselfso far as naval operations 'areconcerned. Without its islandsand other bases in and on thePacific and in the far easternwaters included in the map onpage one, Great Britain wouldbe virtually helpless in theseparts of the world. Likewisew 0u 1d the United States ofAmerica be at a great handicaplr. the western Pacific withoutits defended naval base at PearlHarbor in the Hawaiian Islandsand to a lesser extent withoutits other insular possessions inthe Paciftc, most important ofwhich are the Philippines,slatedto become completely independ·ent in 1945; Guam, the Ameri·can Samoas, and the AleutianIslands. Japan, because of itsfavorable location in the west-ern Pac i f i e, is strategicallyplaced for defense. For takingthe offensive at sea, however, itis not so favorably situated. Itdoes have outlying islands, amajority of which it controlsunder mandates, that possiblycouldbe converted to naval usesin the event of hostilities. Agree-ments and treaties that llmit orprohibit fortifications on pre-viously unfortifled islands maybecome only scraps of paper,naturally, when a nation such asJapan becomes involved in anaval war.With the exception of the

Dutch possessions in e a s t ernwaters, the French possessionsin the far east and in the Pacific,a few tiny s pot s belongingto Portugal, northern Pacificislands possessedby Russia, andsomeChilean islands in the EastPacific,the whole expanse of seashown in the map on page onebelongs,because of naval powerand prestige, to the three afore-mentioned nat ion s, America,Great Britain, and Japan.

German infiuence and owner-ship disappeared from the Pa-ciftc as the result of the Worldwar. All of Germany's islandslying north of the equator werehanded over to Japan to be ad·ministered u n d e r mandates.And all of the German islandssouth of the equator were turnedover to the British to be gov-erned, also under mandates.

•• •To Japan under these man-

dates went virtually all of theislands in a portion of the Pacific2,500 miles long from east towest and 1,200 miles deep fromnorth to south. To be exact, inthis vast stretch of ocean Japanacquired 623 islands, includingthe Marianas group (with theexception of Guam, which be-longs to the United States ofAmerica); the Marshall Islands;the Caroline Islands, including

islands, eight of which-Savail,Nuulua,Manono,Apol1ma,Upolu,Fanuatapu, Manua, and Nuutele-are administered by New Zea·land, and the remaining six ofwhich- Tutuila, Aunuu,Ofu.010-sega, Tua, and Rose-are underAmerican rule. Swains Islandin 1925 was made a part of theUnitedStates administrative dis·trict of Samoa. Although thereare good reef-protected harborsat Saluafata and Apia, both onthe island of Upolu,the one real·ly fineharbor in the group is thatat Pago Pago in the AmericanSamoas. The American govern-ment maintains a naval stationat Pago Pago. Although thenavY department classes thisbase as fortified, it admits theequipment and defenses are outof date.In addition to the previously

mentioned mandated i sl and sJapan has other islands that are

(AuKlateci Pr_ photo.)

An anti·aircraft regiment. part of Americ:CI·. defen.e forc:e. in HczwcriLpaue. the renewing .tand. on whic:h are membeR of the c:ongreuioncd

c:ommiuion .tudyiDg the WClnd'. plea. for .tatehood.

Yap; and the Pelew (or Palau)Islands. All of these groups hadbeen annexed by Germany orpurchased from Spain by Ger·many in the period between 1885and 1900.Nauru Island, which' was an-

n ex e d by Germany in 1888,passed by a mandate of theleague of nations to Great Brlt-ain after the World war. ToAustralia went, likewise undera mandate, the territory of NewGuinea (formerly German NewGuinea), w h i c h includes thenorthwest quarter of the islandof NewGuinea; the NewBritainarchipelago, which, with scat-tered other islands, was calledthe Bismarck archipelagoduringthe German regime; and the ror-mer German Solomon, or Bou-gainv1lle,Islands. GermanyandGreat Britain had divided theSolomongroup in 1899, and Ger·many had acquired the islandsof the former Bismarck archl-pelago in 1884.The western Samoan Islands,

former Ge r man possessions,were mandated to New Zealandafter the war. Thus today thisimportant group of islands, lying13 to 15 degrees below the equa-tor, is under divided jurisdic·tion, the western islands under aNew Zealand mandate and them 0 r e easterly islands underAmerican ownership. The Sa-moan group consists of fourteen

not included in Japan proper.There are Formosa (Taiwan),which was ceded to the Nippo-nese government by China in1895; tne southern half of Sakehalin Island (Karafuto), whichwas ceded to Japan by Russia in1905; the Pescadores Islands,which are administered fromFormosa; the Bonin Islands,c a 11e d by the Japanese theOgasawara Jima, which wereclaimed by the Japanese govern-ment in 1861; the KurU Islands,or Kuriles, to which Japan tooktitle about 1875 as the result ofan agreement with Russia; andnumerous unimportant smallerislands and islets in and nearJapanese waters.

e • •

Besides her home naval basesJapan has fortified bases at Fu·taml-Koon the Bonin Islands, atBako on the Pescadores, at Ryo·jun in Manchukuo, at Chingkaiin Corea, and at Amami-o-Shimain the Riukiu group of tinyislands that stretches down in asoutherly direction from the tipof the southernmost Japanesemain island of Kyushu; TheKurUes are undefended. Theselast named are the islands thatstretch out toward the Kamchat-kan peninsula and are relative-ly near the extreme westerly endof the American-ownedAleutianIslands.

(Tribuae •• _ by SwalBScalI.)

The U. S, S. Langley, airplCIDe c:arrier, at Sitker. .Ala.ker. a. photographed from the fore dec:k of the U. S. S. D

ecutives. The forts there havebeen dismantled. Muchhas beenwritten of late about the Ameri-carr-owned Midway and WakeIslands. These tiny groups havebeen the centers of attentionprinclk>allyfrom the fact thattrans- Pacific airway· stationshave been located upon them.

• ••Undefendedand apparently re-

mote from the scene of possiblenaval operations are the Aleu-tian Islands, which are a part ofthe territory of Alaska andwhich extend 1,200 miles west-ward from the extremity of theAlaskan peninsula toward the pe-ninsula of Kamchatka. Their ape

it to place it in the same timebelt as the other of the islands.The finest harbor in"the islandsis Dutch Harbor, a deep land-lockedbay in Unalaska, most Im-portant of the islands. This isthe headquarters of the UnitedStates coast guard fleet that pa-trols the sealeries of the PrlbUofIslands. On the island of Atka,farther west, is an excellent harebor at Nazan bay. Although theAleutians frequently are drapedin fog, they are not at so greata disadvantage in this respect asto bar them as the sceneof aerialmaneuvers. In fact, these islandsactually have been utillzed asbases for naval planes that havebee n operated in conjunction

Two .eaplane. of the Americ:CIDround·th.·world flyeR of 1924 at re.t in Chic:hagof harbor, Attu 1I1C1Dd,mo.twe.terly of the .Al.UtiCIDlaiCIDd&.

Ranking first in importanceamong American Pacific posses-slons from a naval strategicstandpoint are the HawaiianIslands, 2,600 miles from theAmerican home naval base atSan Diego and 5,245 miles fromthe Panama canal. The navalbase at Pearl Harbor in theseislands is strongly protected, thefarthest west adequate defenseof the United States of America.At Pago Pago, in the AmericanSamoas, as mentioned before, isa naval station in a superb harebor. Its defenses also, as pre-viously mentioned, today are ob-solete. At Cavite, across the bayfrom Manila, in the Philippines,is a naval base, which is inade-quately protected, and on theisland of Guam are only a fewAmerican marines and naval ex-

~~1.~~~~.:;;.o;~~AmerlCCIDarmy mClc:hine gunneR in CIdemoD8trCltfon of how they would defend the c:oa.t of OClhu, HcnrCliiCIDWand.. agCliD.t CIlanding torc:e from

CIham. De.t. (Auoclatad P •.••• photo.)

(Photo by Sirnal Corpa, U. S. Army.)

Eight.inch railway gWUI belonging to the United StClte. c:oa.t cn1i1leryin HczwaU.

parent remoteness is due to thefact that they are far north, buta glance at the globe will showthat they actually lie in an alemost direct llne between Seattleand Tokio. In other words, theseislands, becauseof their location,might becomeof extreme Impor-tance to the American govern-ment in the event of a war in thePacific. The most westerly ofthe Aleutians is barely 2,208miles from Yokohama and lessthan half that distance to themore easterly and northerly ofthe Japanese-cwned Kuriles.The Aleutian Islands comprise

four groups, the Fox, Andreanof,Rat, and Near Islands. Attu, thefarthest west of the Aleutians,actually lies in the eastern heml-sphere, although the Internatlon-al date line has been bent around

with fieet maneuvers. KiskaIsland, one of the Rat islandgroup, is shown on maps as anaval reservation. The navydepartment say. it has beenusedas a fueling base and that planeshave been operated out of itin maneuvers and authorizedflights.By terms of the Washington

arms limitation treaty the Aleu-tians were included among thoseAmerican possessions that were'to remain in statu quo so far asfortifications we r e concerned.Since they had not been fortifiedpreviously, they are not todayfortified. Former Senator MilesPoindexter of Washington, backin 1922, said he did not look withapprehension upon the inclusionof the Aleutians in the fortifica-tions status quo. These islands

he regarded as too far remofrom the possible theater oferations to figure importantlany strategic defense plan.The former senator may h

been correct in 1922 in discoing the value of these islandsdefense purposes,but todayteen years later -it is bpointed out that the Aleutare hardly less importantthe Hawaiian Islands for thefense of the continent, lyingthey do, on the flank of 0tions 'in the Pacific. MAmerican naval strategy shdeem them highly valuableoffense purposes. A fieet bon Dutch Harbor or Nazanfor example, could strikeward effectively and havshorter distance to steam tone based on Pearl Harbor.is well within the realm of fbility that either one or bothese harbors could be forelatively fast in case ofemergency or more leisurela matter of preparedness.

• • •Of the three great naval

era that control the Pacificfar eastern waters, Great Briholds by far the most territBeginning with Bur m a,Straits Settlements, and theerated and Unfederated MStates that show at the extrleft in the map on page one,reader may note that underBritish fiag is a great deland, inclUdinga sizable poof the big island of Borneo,than half of New Guinea,whole of the great islandnent of Australia, with Tanta, the twin islands of Newland, and innumerable Ieislands in the Pacific, athem Norfolk Island, TokIslands, the Fijis, the Solomthe Tonga Islands, the GilIslands, the Ell1ce Islands,remote Pitcairn Island, ffor its associationswith thetineers of the Bounty.The British empire has str

ly defended bases at SingaHongkong, Sydney, Auckland Esquimalt; undefebases at Rangoon andGeorge sound.France's islands in the Pa

include Tahiti (Society IslanNew Caledonia, New Hebrithe Marquesas Islands, themotu archipelago, and thetral Islands. Its only defenaval base in that part ofworld that is shown in theon page one is at Saigon,FrIndo-China. The Dutch 0

eastern waters Java, part ofneo,Sumatra, Madura, theLingga archipelago, Banka,llton, the Celebes,the MolucMenado,Arnboyna,Ternat~of New Guinea, the Timorchipelago, Bali, Lombok,er Sunda, and many smislands. Not any of theseadequately fortified, andNetherlands, not being apower, could not figure actiin a war in the Pacific. Portpossesses the island townMacao, ot! the coast of Chand Portuguese Timor in easwaters. Russia holds the nhalf of Sakhalln Island andCommander Islands, both ufended.