“Pax vobiscum”
The Aleutian chain of islands, constituting a part of the Territory of Alaska, projects some 1,100 miles from the extremity of the Alaskan peninsula, and comprises four groups called, in order from the peninsula westward, the Fox, Andreanof, Rat, and Near Islands. (See map of Alaska accompanying U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, July, 1937.) The chain crosses the meridian on the opposite side of the earth from Greenwich, the 180th degree of longitude, so that while the Fox and Adreanof Islands are in the Far West, the Rat and Near Islands are in the Far East. The islands are not smooth and round but rough and irregular in outline with many promontories and indentations, so that charts of them indicate some 100 anchorages, bays, harbors, and inlets of sorts. (See U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey’s Aleutian Islands Charts, Nos. 8802 and 9102.) These indentations are not far apart, since the islands are so numerous that the step from one to the next is comparatively short.
No such transoceanic bridge of potential island bases exists anywhere else in the world, and the development of their military possibilities may well make them our most useful all-round defensive positions in the northern Pacific, for they are located either across, or on the flank of, the most direct routes from northern Asia toward our west coast, Alaska, and the Hawaiian Islands. Moreover, the need for the defense of the Aleutians themselves, and their very real value for offensive action, must not be overlooked. All Eurasia is in ferment, and its restless nations are gazing enviously toward the Americas across both the Atlantic and the Pacific. During the past year (1940) our press has reported that Russia is fortifying the Komandorsky Islands, which stretch out from Kamchatka toward the Aleutians, and has established submarine bases and flying fields there; and Pravda, the Moscow government controlled organ, is quoted as saying that Russia wants Alaska back again. The press also quotes Takahashi, an Admiral lately commanding the Japanese Fleet, as declaring that his country’s “new order for Asia” extends to the 180th degree of longitude. Apparently, therefore, Russia dreams of repossessing all of the Aleutians, and Japan of seizing at least the Rat and Near Islands.
Meanwhile many Americans have come to think that since 1823, when President Monroe announced his famous doctrine, our defensive needs and those of fellow democracies grouped around us have expanded so that a present declaration of our position might be something like this:
No European or Asiatic power can be permitted to extend its dominion or acquire fresh territory west of the thirtieth degree of west longitude, or east or south of the line Attu [Aleutians]—North West Cape [Australia]. The zone so delineated is barred to outside interference or intrusion.
Location and Climate
The Aleutians cross the North Pacific from 163 West Longitude to 172 East Longitude in about the latitude of Ireland, 51 to 55 degrees North. If the outline of Attu, the extreme western island of the chain, be slid along its degree of latitude until it is superimposed upon England half way between the English east and west coasts, it will embrace the town of Sheffield, 200 miles south of Firth of Forth and 400 miles south of Scapa Flow, the principal British Fleet bases during the World War. If on a globe one end of a piece of string is placed on Tokyo, and the string held taut while the other end is brought down on Seattle, the string will cross the curving line of the Aleutians twice—in other words, the shortest route between the two cities runs through those islands. Attu is 900 miles from continental Alaska and 2,500 miles from the State of Washington, so that an expedition proceeding from northern Asia would be intercepted by forces based on Attu while still far from our coasts.
A description of the climatic and living conditions at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, is contained in the article on “Life in the Aleutian Islands,” U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, July, 1937, pp. 1001-08, the author stating, among other things, that in a normal year the temperature varies between 10 and 70 degrees F. The climate of the Aleutians is oceanic, with moderate and fairly uniform temperatures, frequent fogs, and high humidity. The mean temperature at Dutch Harbor during the midwinter month is given as 32.6, and that during the midsummer month as 54.8. A comparison of the Monthly Pilot Charts of the North Pacific (Unimak-Avacha) for a year with the Monthly Pilot Charts of the more familiar North Atlantic (Lands End- Halifax) for the same year showed icebergs in the Atlantic in five months and none in the Pacific, more days with fog in the Atlantic than in the Pacific in each of the eight months from October to May, a higher percentage of time with gales in the Atlantic in every month except September and November, and a higher percentage of hours with calms and light airs in the Pacific in every month except February, in which month the percentage in the two oceans was the same.
Harbors and Distances
At this time (December, 1940) no charts exist of the great majority of Aleutian indentations, and many of those that do exist cannot be trusted. For instance, Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart 9102 of the western Aleutians indicates 11 harbors, bays, or inlets in Attu, of which 4 have names, yet only one, Chichagof Harbor, is charted, and the information given on the Chichagof chart is “from a survey by the U. S. Navy in 1855.” Now the Aleutians, in that respect like our entire west coast and the whole of Japan, are located in the Circum-Pacific Earthquake Zone. In the earthquake of 1899 a broad region of Alaskan mountains and sea bottom suddenly sprang up many feet. In the Disenchantment Bay vicinity the maximum coastal uplift was 47 feet. At the time of the Tokyo-Yokohama earthquake of 1923 the bottom of near-by Sagami Bay suffered startling changes. The deleveling amounted to a maximum shallowing of 800 feet in one part of the bay, and a maximum deepening of 1,300 feet in another part. In such a zone soundings taken 85 years ago need rechecking. Then the only available charts of Kuliliak Bay, Unalaska Island, Sviechnikof Harbor, Amlia Island, and Korovin Bay, Atka Island, are based “on Russian authority,” as is also in part the chart of Constantine Harbor, Amchita Island; yet the U. S. Coast Pilot, a government publication, warns that “the early Russian surveys were not made with great accuracy, and until they arc replaced by later surveys these charts must be used with caution.”
The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey is now engaged on hydrographic surveys of the Aleutian Islands, but docs not expect to complete them until the latter part of 1946, unless steps are taken to speed up the work. In connection with these surveys our newspapers reported that it was proposed to chart a transpacific route passing through the Aleutians and saving some 200 miles over the course now followed south of those islands. Questioned (November, 1940) as to the correctness of this report, the Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey says:
The Great Circle Track from the Pacific northwest to the Orient extends, for all practical purposes, through Unimak Pass, thence north of the Aleutian chain toward the western extremity of the Aleutians. At the present time most vessels bound for the Orient pass to the southward of the Aleutians, and, therefore, in the winter time are compelled to buck westerly gales of greater intensity than found north of the Aleutians. The distance by this southern route is only a very little longer than the Great Circle Track north of the Aleutians, but it is considered that on a westward sailing time will be saved by the route north of the islands because of these predominant westerly gales in the North Pacific.
It will be noted that the Director anticipates no ice on the winter run north of the Aleutians. Increased facilities, or possibly help from the Navy or the Coast Guard or both, would result in the completion of the Aleutian surveys long before 1946.
Existing charts are good enough, however, to show that in the Aleutians there are three harbors (in the case of Unalaska, groups of harbors) each larger than any in our more southerly Pacific islands east of the Philippines—the Unalaska group, the Bay of Waterfalls (Adak Island), and Kiska Harbor—besides several smaller harbors, one of which, Constantine (Amchita Island), is entitled to rank in size with Pago Pago. In the following table the first three harbors are in the South, and the last four in the Aleutians.
In the case of Pearl Harbor, the above information as to capacity is not recent, since charts of that area are now treated as confidential and are not open to the public. However, in June, 1940, our press reported that the major units of our Fleet in the Hawaiians were at Lahaina Roads and not at Pearl Harbor, so that Pearl Harbor capacity may not have been greatly increased. The entrance to each of the Aleutian harbors is narrow enough (the Unalaska group ½ mile to 2 miles, Bay of Waterfalls 3 ½ miles, Constantine 1 mile,
Capacity of Mid-Pacific Harbors
|
| Berths |
|
Harbor | First Class | Second Class | Third Class |
Pearl Harbor | 4 | 17 | 60 |
Pago Pago | 7 | 13 | 34 |
Guam | 11 | 13 | 30 |
Constantine Harbor | 9 | 13 | 25 |
Bay of Waterfalls | 23 | 45 | 65 |
Kiska Harbor | 40 | 84 | 115 |
Unalaska group | Accommodation for licet. | the entire |
Kiska 2 miles) to be readily mined and defended against submarines, while not a single mid-Pacific island under our flag south of the Aleutians has a harbor that answers fleet requirements as to both size and defensibility. Pearl Harbor, Pago Pago, and Guam are much too small to accommodate a large force of warships and its train of lesser vessels, and Lahaina is an open roadstead between the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Kahoolawe.
As for transpacific distances, the advantage enjoyed by the Aleutians is emphasized by comparing an imagined advance through them with Russia allied, and the southern route once considered possible for an Asiatic expedition. In the following tables the continent-to-continent distances by the two routes are given, and, as a matter of additional interest, the nonstop distance from New York to Bordeaux, so familiar during the World War, is stated. All distances are given in nautical miles.
Continent to Continent
New York-Bordeaux (direct)..................... 3,318
Seattle-Nikolaievsk (via Unalaska, Kiska, and Avacha) 3,830
San Francisco-Tsingtau (via Honolulu, Guam and Manila) 8,329
Continent to Continent in Detail
Seattle-Unalaska...................................... 1,707
Unalaska-Kiska......................................... 599
Kiska-Avacha............................................ 724
Avacha-Nikolaicvsk................................... 800
3,830
San Francisco-Honolulu............................ 2,091
Honolulu-Guam........................................ 3,337
Guam-Manila............................................ 1,501
Manila-Tsingtau............................... 1,400
8,329
Not only are the continent-to-continent and island-to-island distances much shorter in the north, but even the southern islands of Guam and Luzon are closer to our Pacific coast by way of the Aleutians than by way of the Hawaiians. Thus when in the course of the effort by the northern route the enemy has been reduced to the point where we are justified in turning our attention to Guam and the Philippines, we will be on our way. In each of the two tables that follow the first distances given are via Unalaska and the last via Honolulu.
To Guam
Seattle-Guam (via Unalaska).................... 5,027
Seattle-Guam (via Unalaska and Kiska).. 5,128
San Francisco-Guam (via Unalaska) 5,371
San Francisco-Guam (via Honolulu) 5,428
To Manila
Seattle-Manila (via Unalaska and Kiska). 5,970
Seattle-Manila (via Unalaska and Guam). 6,528
Seattle-Manila (via Unalaska, Kiska and Guam) 6,629
San Francisco-Manila (via Unalaska and Guam) 6,872
San Francisco-Manila (via Honolulu and Guam) 6,929
Defensive Value
Further examination of the situation in the Pacific with the aid of a globe, as suggested earlier in this article, will demonstrate that not only do the Aleutians lie on the road from Tokyo to Seattle, but that the shortest route from any port of northern Asia to any part of North America is either through, or close to, the Aleutians, and that a force proceeding from northern Asia against the Hawaiians would leave the Aleutians on its left and rear. Moreover, it may well occur to persons studying the globe that the seizure of undefended Aleutian islands as way stations or advance bases for operations against us is not unlikely; and some such persons may even wonder why, at a time when anxiety is being evinced about the future control of Greenland and Iceland in the Atlantic, we arc neglecting to establish bases in our outlying Aleutians in the Pacific. A globe shows the true direction from and relation of one point on the earth to another as no map can, particularly when the unequalled oceanic expanse of the Pacific is involved. There the shores of the two bordering continental masses flow away from each other from the north toward the south in truly generous fashion. The angle formed at Bering Strait between the two lines, one running directly to Panama and the other to Singapore, is about 165 degrees. Fifteen degrees more, and a single straight line would connect the three points. The distance between the two continents at Bering Strait is less than 100 miles, while the Panama to Singapore distance between continents is over 12,000 miles—176 degrees of longitude—nearly half way around the earth. This “lay of the land” explains why there is such a contrast between the mileage by way of the Aleutian crossing in the north, and that by way of the gigantic San Francisco-Hawaii-Guam-Philippines chasm in the south; also why the Aleutians shield our entire west coast from direct approach by any conceivable hostile force. Admiral Stirling has lately written that “the Alaskan peninsula and islands, very near the great circle route from Seattle to Japan and China, have most excellent natural harbors for warships and merchant ships and many available air fields, all as yet undeveloped,” and developed he thinks they should be. General Drum, commanding our Second Corps Area, has just been reported as saying that the surest defense is that which meets the enemy far from our shores, and that in no other way can the bombing of our coastal cities and the infliction on us of heavy losses be restricted or avoided.
Offensive Value
The possible use of the Aleutians in offensive operations in alliance with Russia was contemplated in the preparation of the Seattle-Nikolaievsk table of distances heretofore given. In the event of such an association with Russia the islands would serve, among other things, as part of a continent-to-continent line of communication between the allies passing north of Japan. The entire line would include four fleet harbors, Puget Sound, Sitka Sound, Unalaska, and Avacha, and many smaller harbors and anchorages. In a clash with a purely oriental power Russia and England are our natural allies, because of their Asiatic and Australian possessions and their insular holdings in the Pacific which some orientals covet, and because of their other far eastern interests.
The Aleutians would also probably be used in any offensive directed toward the Bonins and Amami-o Shima. These islands lie off the coast of Japan much as Bermuda and the Bahamas, enemy-held through two of our wars, lie off our own coast. There are three harbors in the Bonins, the best of which is Port Lloyd (9 first-class, 25 second-class, 36 third-class berths). Two miles north of Port Lloyd is Walker Bay (8 first-class, 23 second-class, 34 third-class berths); and 29 miles south of Port Lloyd is Okimura Ko (36 first-class, 100 second- class, 169 third-class berths). Okimura Ko is exposed to the westward. Each of these harbors is on a separate island. Amami offers a large interior area with two entrances separated by a distance of some 20 miles and good defensive possibilities. Whether an attack is made on the Bonins and Amami or not, fleet, air, and submarine operations can be conducted from the more westerly of the Aleutians as far south as Kyushu, which falls within a circle having a radius of 2,500 miles from either Attu or Kiska.
The mere existence of well-fortified and developed bases in the Aleutians would have a strongly deterring effect upon any tendency to trespass on the Philippines, the East Indies, Singapore, or Australia. We should hasten the completion of the Aleutian survey, and select, equip, and fortify fleet, submarine, and air bases in the Aleutian Islands, to and including Attu.