NATURE'S LIFELINE TO JAPAN
SEELY, Lt. Comdr. C. S.
Nature's Lifeline To Japan By LT. COMDR. C S. SEELY NATURE favors the Japanese in the matter of obtaining supplies from the southern territories they have occupied. Of all the great open waters of...
...For many centuries the Chinese, Annamese, Siamese, and Malayans have operated very small boats along this coast with little loss...
...And there are many inlets all along this coast in which small vessels can take refuge during bad weather...
...Obviously we can greatly restrict Japanese imports after we take the southern islands, but we cannot effectively blockade Japan until we establish a bridgehead on the Asian mainland, at or near Hong Kong, and thus cut Japan's lifeline to the South...
...The opinions and assertions expressed above are the private ones of the writer and are not to be construed as official or reflecting, the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large...
...Anyway all American and British forces in that war theater are moving— or attempting to at any rate—in that direction...
...Of all the great open waters of the world, none is so well suited for small craft operations as the seas along the Southeast Asian coast...
...It is my guess that our major objective in the Orient is to establish this bridgehead...
...Storms, ground swells, hurricane rollers, breakers, etc., which make navigation dangerous along nearly all sea coasts, are rarely experienced there...
...In fact, until recent years even the Chinese never operated a single vessel as large as our old sailing ships, although both French Indo-China and the Philippines were parts of the Chinese Empire...
...In this way Japan can continue to import supplies from the South even after the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, and all the other islands south of Hainan island are lost...
...These water-borne vessels can keep near the Asian mainland—usually within a mile of the coast—under protection of cannon and land-based aireraft...
...Because of the general calmness of the Southeast Asian seas the Japanese can, and of course will, use small, inexpensive wooden craft, including light draft barges and rafts, to transport oil, rubber, rice, and other products from the South to Japan...
Vol. 8 • May 1944 • No. 19
