The focus of the war turns a^ain to the bleak gray ocean, the N0rth Atlantic in early Spring. Several days ago, the news of the conflict dwelt with emphasis and fantasy on - the Battle of the Ful l Maon. Aad Aow the weather h. s obscured the skies of northern *urope* Ihe thundering contest of planes and bombs has slackened, and the center of interest shifts to the attempt of Nazi Germany to cut the lifeline of ships that permits the Isle of Britain to live and fight. Today Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister, uttered these measured word: "We must regard this Battle of the Atlantic as one of the most momentous ever fought in all the annuls of y/ar." He said this at a luncheon of the Pilgrim Society new American Ambassador Winant and Averill Harriman, President Roosevelt !s Aid-to-Britain Envoy, The two Americen dignitaries spoke glowingly of Britain1s cause and AmericaTs aid. Winston Churchill responded with characteristic eloquence: "At such a moment, in such an ordeal," said he, "the words and acts of the President and the people of the United States come to us like a draught of life. And they tell us by an ocean-borne trumpet-call WAR - ? * that we no longer are alone* iie Proclalined that Britain in the struggle at sea would be victorious, he told how yesterday he had been informed of the sinking of three German submarines, and spoke of being cheered oy wnat ne cabled — "Such a delectable triple event." Churchill expressed confidence, but conceded that the sea losses of Great Britain had been on the rise. This admission is dramatized by today»s official report. The Admiralty gives the figure for the sinking of ships during the week ending March Ninth. Twenty-five vessels sent to the bottom, a total of ninety-eight thousand eight hundred and thirty-two tons. This latest reported week of sinking brings the total for the war up beyond the mark of five million tons. This in eighteen months is more than the World War U-boats of the Kaiser sank in the first thirty months — almost twice the time. A dispatch from Berlin today tells of a new stroke in the war at sea _ accomplished by torpedo speedboats. They attacked a British convoy yesterday and sank ten thousand tons — says Berlin. The figures for shipping losses are not all of the story. They do not include vessels damaged. There is considerable speculation of how serious this factor may be -- for air bombing is as likely to damage ships as sink them, and Nazi warplanes are constantly raiding the shipping lanes. In his address today, Winston Churchill touched upon a theme of immediate American interest — German sea raids on this side of the ocean, American waters. Churchill spoke of Nazi U-boats and — battle crusiers. Churchill’s words are as follows:- nNot only German U-boats but German battle cruisers,11 said he, 11 have crossed to the American sideof the Atlantic - and have already sunk some of our independently routed ships, not sailing in convoy.” Then he added this significant statement: "They have sunk ships as far west as the forty-second Meridian of Longitude.” That matter of longitude is of peculiar interest — bearingon the question of whether or not the Nazi raiding craft are operating o withing the Pan—Amerrcan neutrality /^one. The forty—second parallel of longitude is far to the east, far outside the neutrality zone in the iNorth Atlantic. But it’s whtMn that zone in the South Atlantic - where South America bulges so far to the east. We’ve had reports of German surface raiders operating down there. But most to the point is the question about the waters off Our ovti Atlantic coast, and here the Cnurchill statement dramatizes a headline report in the news today — that a Nazi submarine is on its way across the ocean to sink ships on our side of the pond. This rumor leaked out, and was attributed to British Ambassador Lord Halifax. And now we have confirmation. This afternoon Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles said - yes, it was Lord Halifax who informed the State Department that a German submarine was on its way. He brought the message to the State Department yesterday, saying this was word from the British Navy - the British naval authorities wanting to transmit the information to the naval command of the United States. The report was strongly denied in Germany today. But then the German submarine command wouldhardly broadcast the movements of one of its U-boats. U-BOAT RETAKE Memory flashes back to the dramatic days of Nineteen i ifri een, when the newspapers blazoned the headline - "Ships attacked by ^-boat off American coastln The submarines of the Kaiser raided our own American waters, sinking ships. The memory of this still lingers - but itfs confused. The people at large have only vague ideas of what happened. Recollection, these many years later. suggests most vividly the name of the submarine - DEUTSCHLAND. People will tell you that this was a mercantile undersea craft - and that!s true. Before the United States entered the war, the arj<XX DEUTSCHLAND made a sensational voyage to^the U^lted Statetook aboard a cargo of copper, and returned to Germany - an undersea freighter. Few will remember that the DEUTSCHLAND was later - converted into a xHEmaz war submarine, and as a U-boat, made a r\ hostile raid along American shores - sinking ships. The|fact is that U-boat operations in American waters were on a larger scale than most of us think. How many German submarines came over here to attack our shipping? Most of us would have a t e A hard time to make a guess. It happened that years after the end of the conflict I wrote a book telling the story of the U-bOAT - 2 IA/&SZ * - .. ..... . U bo^eeapai^n^ The material was gathered in Germany, and naturally I made a special effort to get the American angle, i'rom records of the German Admiralty^ fcii5-st'9i!y:.TO^:pra£ruredt In Mfneteen I-ighteen, the Germans had built a number of % submarines of the largest class, *veritable cruisers of the undersea. Fhese were the type ordered across the Atlantic to raid shipping VZoP and lay mines from Cype Cod to Key V.’est. Clines were laid/ for A ' example, in Chesapeake Bay, at 'the entrance of the harbor of Baltimore, America^ greatest war-time port. Several dozen ships were sunk all along^tia^ coast. How many U-boats were tiiere^ The records of the German Admiralty disclosed that seven of the biggest submarines were sent to raid American waters.* These seven were: the U-151, which was the first. It left Germany on April Fourteenth, Nineteen Eighteen, and returned in July. \ The U-156, which left Germany on June Fifteenth - and never returned. On its way back tro Germany in /) tn« struck a mine in the N0rth Sea and sank. — U-BOAT o J > Tv.o U-boats left Germany together in June, raided in American waters, and returned to Germany in October. These partner submarines were the U-140 and the U-117. „ Next, the U-155 - that wac the former DEUTSCHLAND, the merchant submarine converted into a fighting craft, The American coast on September Seventh and didn’t get back to Germany until after the Armistice. The same for the U-152 The U-139 never got across the ocean. was on its way, but was recalled as the war ended. I imagine that most people will be surprised to learn that seven U-boats were sent 1 across the-ocean to attack ships in our waters, and that six were actually in destructive operation over here. How close to home this all came is illustrated in an over here. account given by the commander i*> ^ . ... ..... n elated how his U-boat was sneaking into Delaware Bay to lay mines. ’’Suddenly es. It was night - the craft was running submerged. „ said the Captain of the U-151, "there was a heavy lurch that took me right off aiy feet. The boat kjc bumped two or three U-BOAT - 4 times against the bottom and then leaped to the surface as though grasped by a giant hand. "She wonft stay down, I canrt control her, the engineer /> was sang out.” ‘ Tne fact^that the shock of the U-boat hitting the bottom had disabled the steering and diving apparatus. So there was a crippled U-boat of the Kaiser in one of the busiest of American waterways - Delaware Bay! The captain continued his narrative as follows:- "The channel ran with freakish and powerful cross-currents, and these caught us and were hauling us about. We were as if dragged hither and thither by some unearthly strength. I felt a strange motion," he said. "We were going round and round. The currents were spinning us like a top. Up we went to the surface, revolving like a crazy thing in waters where a ship might run us down at any moment. Lights ahead, and a looming form in the darkness. A large steamer came toward us. It passed us a few hundred feet away! Two other steamers passed close by! The currents pulled us so near the lightship that we could hear its bell. It sounded," said the O.boat captain, "like the tolling of a death knell. P-BQAT - 5 D-)-\n below tne men worked feverishly, fighting to get the steering and diving mechanism back in order.n The U-Bnat Captain concluded his narrative by telling how finally they succeeded in repairing the damaged apparatus - Ln/\ and were able to dive once again^ wWe. scurried down and lay on the bottom,n he said. "The depths were a snug and comfortable place. <5rV^r'<- -z ui AIR V.AR -1 ^ £ news brings a grim aftermath of that aviation battle Oi. the xiill moon, London announces the casualty list. A thousand persons killed and thirteen hundred injured in the mass bombing attacks on the L^verpool-Glasgow shipping areas last week. That doleful casualty list is for only tv.o days,/ Compare that with the death toll for the entire month of February - seven hundred and eighty-nine. The figures are a tragic indication of how savage were those air raids in the moonlight. Tonight’s dispatch from London tells of German radio stations going off the air - meaning that British warplanes are hitting back again tonight. They struck heavily last night - devastation of great German ports like Bremen and Williamshaven. bnlTibH T u OOPK Travelers from Greece describe the arrival of troops in that country. These travelers, crossing into Turkey, tell how they had to give up hotel accommodations in Athens to make room for British officers, who had just landed. They tell likewise of seeing British troops in Salonika. This would seem to be first hand confirmation of the fact that the British have a A powerful army in Greece - taking up defense positions to resist a Gprman attack. This word comes from everywhere - including London. -r. However, herets an example of the sort of thing that bedevils a newsman following the dayTs dispatches. It’s a statement given out by the Greek Legation at Vichy, in France. It denies—tha^ British A \ troops are in Greece. The statement is as folIov;s: MThe royal legation at Greece is authorized to deny recent press reports that British forces have landed in Greece." That seems definite and authoritative, but how can you make it jibe with the preponderance of evidence that military units of -Great Britain in great force have joined the acrales of Greece? London tonight repeats that Great Britain has named Italy that if Athens is bombed, the Royal Air Force will bomb Rome.\ Hitherto, it has been an accepted thing that the two great capitals of classical antiquity^w£li be immune from the W H—ex er Jit high explosive of modern war - their ci&s'sics^ monuments respected. The L0ndon report states that the British warning was conveyed through a neutral power - possibly the Vatican. But from Rome we have a statement attributed to high officials of the Vatican - denying that any such warning about the possible bombing of Rome had been transmitted. BRITISH AID Tne House of Representatives today began consideration seven billion dollar appropriation for aid-to-Britain. Strong declarations in favor of putting up the huge sum were made by Democratic Congressman Woodrura of Virginia and Republican Congressman T^ber of New Y0rk. The law-maker from Virginia said: r,mo put seven billion dollars down on the barrel-head in cash carries a message to certain people that they can understand much better than any speeches you or I might make.n Congressman Taber voted against the Lend-Lease Bill, but hefs in favor of the seven billion dollars. He spoke scathing criticism of the Lend-Lease measure. He attacked the attitude and actions of the President. But he said that almost all of us in this country have taken a position in favor of aid to Britain. And said he: "It is time now for us to implement that aid." FOOD President noosevelt today announced aid to Britain in the w y of oqq . He s^ys he has instructed the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sur6feon General to draw up a program to send foodstuffs and agricultural commodities to Great Britain and other democracies. The President added that the plan might also provide for food to be shipped to such countries as Spain and unoccupied France. Food for France seems about to become a reality. Today the French Ambassador to Washington told of plans to send two shiploads of American grain .to-France* He described this as - "experimental.n TheyT11 experiment with the two cargoes and see whether the distribution of food can be accomplished without aid to the Nazis. The Red Cross will have charge of the task. The French Ambassador stated that the United States is in full agreement, and the project now' needs only the final consent of Great Britain - to let the food ships through the blockade. The indications are that London will acquiesce in the plan proposed by Washington. Tomorrow this nation will acquire a Super-Mediation Board tax**! for settling labor disputes in defense industries. This afternoon, President Roosevelt announced that he will issue an order &rv>rT%w% a mat1or attempt to deal with the strike, epidemic in industries making armament. Who is to head the Board? We donTt know but rumor mentions Bernard M. Baruch - that same Barney Baruch who was the Chief of the War Industries Board in that other conflict a quarter of a century ago