Near War

Preparations for the annual manoeuvres of the U. S. Fleet were announced last week in Washington. Last year a portion of the fleet staged a sham attack on the Panama Canal from the Pacific with the remainder of the fleet defending the Canal. This year the plan is to test the ability of the Canal defenses to keep the Canal open for the passage of the Pacific Fleet into the Atlantic and the length of time required to concentrate the fleet in either ocean by means of the Canal.

The assumption will be that the U. S. and a European country of equal strength have for some time been under strained relations. For fear of precipitating war, the American Government has not ordered its Pacific Fleet into the Atlantic. Suddenly, however, the foreign fleet appears in the middle Atlantic. The Pacific Fleet is ordered to the Atlantic via the Canal.

At this stage the manoeuvres will begin. The Blue (American) fleet, which will be represented by the Pacific Fleet, will strive to cross through the Canal protected by the Blue army garrisons of the Canal Zone. The Black (enemy) fleet, which will be represented by the Atlantic Fleet, will try to prevent this operation.

Sealed instructions giving details of the situation have been sent out to the Army and Navy officers who will participate, to be opened on Jan. 14. The actual operations will take place between Jan. 16 and Jan. 22. The chief umpires will be Admiral Eberle, Chief of Naval Operations, and Major General Hines, Acting Chief of Staff.