Americans in Invade Truk This Year

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 56, 9 March 1944, Page 5

Americans in Invade Truk This Year

WASHINGTON, March 7. America intends to invade Truk, the great Japanese base in the Carolines which was recently attacked from the air. This was disclosed by RearAdmiral Edward Cochrane, Chief of the Bureau of Ships, in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee. Admiral Cochrane said: “Ship repair facilities are necessary at Truk, where we are going in. Most of them will be needed before January 1, 1945.” Admiral Cochrane added that Vice Admiral Morel has declared that the Navy Department plans to develop Truk into the greatest naval base in the Pacific outside Pearl Harbour. The Secretary for the Navy (Colonel Knox) told a Press conference that the American fleet now consists of over 900 worships. “This does not include any small stuff, ’ ’ he added. The pre-wai strength was 344 warships. An Official Wireless message says. Admiral Nimitz (according to a Washington report) stated that United States submarines have sunk so many Japanese tankers and supply ships that “I believe they probably could not maintain major units at Truk. We were not surpriserd, but disappointed, not to find major units at Truk when we hit j it I believe the Japanese are beginning to find that maintaining a fleet at Truk is very difficult. Perhaps they decided to withdraw their major units , long before we attacked.” All that was needed now, he stated, j was time to carry out operations. The j principal obstacle was not the Japanese f but geography—the size of the Pacific. ; He thought the most urgent need at pre- > sent for the American forces was trans- ( Ports. , ;