SALUTE TO THE NAVY!

Your commentator is Ray Henle. The stab in the back at Pearl Harbor is answered. In less than 2 years, the world's greatest navy is built. More than 2 and 1/2 million men are recruited to man the ships of a $10 billion fleet. The most alert and best educated fighting men in the world are the heart of the Navy. They are trained to be as much at home in the water as on the water, anywhere, anytime. Their bodies are built until they are as tough and strong as the powerful fighting ships they will man. Stamina comes with rigorous training that produces men who can take a punch and give it back, double. The Navy is man. Conditioned for lightning attack under tropical skies or in zero weather, hardened for combat service in Europe or Asia. And our enemies proclaim the men of the democratic nations are soft. The best trained gun crews in any fleet is a Navy tradition, and they prove it in every fight. Guns, large or small, targets afloat or in the air, the Navy is trained to shoot AND HIT. POWERFUL SHIPS OF THE LINE PASS IN review to lift the hearts of freedom-loving people everywhere and give them fresh assurance that in the end the victory will be theirs. In more than a century, the American Navy has won every important battle action it has fought. Dominating the waters of two oceans, this mighty fleet grows at the rate of at least one new warship every day. Its battleships can throw shells the weight of freight car for 25 miles and hit. Long, lean destroyers can speed into action at more than 40 knots. The world's fastest and most deadly, they are dangerous to battleships 20 times larger. Almost as fast as destroyers, but far tougher, are the hard-hitting cruisers, the most formidable scouting and raiding force in the world. Heavy weather is nothing to these stouthearted ships and men. They smashed into seas like this to escort the carrier Hornet to within 400 miles of Japan. The mighty battlewagon. And the eyes of the ship hurled into the air for reconnaissance and spotting the target. General quarters. 2,000 men go into action, coordinated like a precision-built machine. Bulkhead doors close. The guns are ready. On the double to battle station. And then, shattering salvo. Clouds of searing flames shoot forth when 16-in guns roar into action. More than 2 tons of powder explode with every broadside. Here is the brute force of the fleet. Second only to sinking a Nazi or [ __ ] ship, the greatest thrill for a Navy man is a letter from home. And remember, no matter where he is, he'll get it. The romantic bygone days of wooden ships and iron men return with a PT boat. Smallest and fastest in the fleet, they hold the honor of hitting the first American naval blow against [ __ ] ships, sinking at least one big cruiser off the Philippines. At 60 miles an hour, they are hard to hit, but they can hit hard. Lighter than aircraft have played their part in the Navy's coordinated offensive against enemy submarines on the Atlantic coast. The wolf packs have been decimated and steadily driven from the sea lanes. A convoy assembles, and coastal waters for miles around are watched from hovering blimps, ever ready to drop depth charges and press an attack until surface units can rush in for a kill. The Navy's most dangerous service, United States submarines are manned by volunteers selected for their courage and great skill. They have steadily destroyed [ __ ] transports and fighting ships right in the enemy's home waters. The largest carry as many as 20 torpedoes. And they fight on the surface, too. Here is an actual encounter with an armed [ __ ] patrol vessel filmed in Asiatic waters. No fighting ships of the fleet more often receive the traditional message, "Well done." But of all the combat units in coordinated sea power, the naval air arm continues to roll up the most staggering score against the [ __ ] In spite of battle losses, the United States Navy possesses, by far, the world's largest, fastest fleet of aircraft carriers. Now, the camera records a flaming battle action near the Marshall Islands. Navy cameramen film some of the most thrilling combat scenes ever shot. The planes take off on a daring battle mission to blast [ __ ] bases, sink two light cruisers and four other ships. More than 85 enemy planes are swept from the sky. One of the carriers is attacked by [ __ ] torpedo plane. The desperate enemy maneuvers for position. They drop deadly torpedoes as the carrier twists and turns, her barrage of tracer bullets flashing like flaming spears. With uncanny accuracy, our gunners begin to pile up a flaming score. This wounded [ __ ] screams in close to a ship and is doomed. His wreckage flames on the sea. Here is where training counts. Another bull's-eye is scored. Again, the desperate enemy flyers try to [ __ ] the carrier, but her heroic gunners destroy plane after plane. Still another burning, crippled warbird crashes into the sea, but the mighty climax of this epic battle is still to come. Now we see the carrier's closest call in the entire action. Almost over the deck, a direct hit rips off a wing. The [ __ ] is doomed and crashes in a shattering eruption only a few feet away. And again, a vicious enemy has met his master. Salute to the Navy, the world's greatest fighting fleet. May it always be proud and powerful.