“Flying Aces,” March 1939. Cover art by August Schomburg.
“Will Fascists Bomb the Canal? The sensational story behind our cover painting. Menacing creed of the Dictators are being fostered in Central and South America. And this may mean that our Navy sky fighters will have to defend the ‘Big Ditch’ of Panama against – American-built bombing planes.” [Prologue]
“Second only in importance to the defense of continental United States is the defense of the Panama Canal. Indeed, this massive engineering development which has cut nautical distances between the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts in half, is probably the real key to the successful bulwarking of the United States.
“Yes, the so-called ‘Big Ditch’ is one of the most important factors in the strategic and commercial future of our nation. And its defense offers many pertinent problems which differ strikingly from those faced by other first-class powers. . .
“As we go to press, a big portion of our Pacific Fleet is scheduled to steam through into the Atlantic to appear at New York’s World’s Fair. Well, suppose the Canal was explosively banged shut after our battle wagons got over here in the Atlantic? And suppose Japan chose this particular time to raise hob (hell) over in the Pacific? Then our fleet would have to spend a lot of extremely valuable time in making the rigorous and lengthy journey around Cape Horn. And before they arrived on the scene of action, Japan would have got in some terrible blows.
“Most of the time we keep our greatest naval strength in the Pacific. This means that in similar fashion a European enemy planning to raise the devil in the Atlantic might take a try at blocking off the Canal at the zero hour. Again, a Cape Horn trip would be required to mobilize our sea force on the Eastern Coast. And again, a lot might happen before the battleships got around. . .
“Close students of military tactics believe that eventually naval and air bases will have to be established at the Galapagos and Cocos Islands in the Pacific, and at Puerto Rico in the Atlantic. Perhaps even more might come into the picture in cooperation with the British in the West Indies and with certain friendly Central American countries.
“Meanwhile, our Army engineers have been surveying Nicaragua as a site for a supplementary canal. And if this new water highway were built, we wouldn’t be carrying all our eggs in the one basket of the Panama Canal. What’s more, a Nicaraguan canal would provide even quicker passage between our Eastern and Western coasts . . .
“It is well-known that many American airplane manufacturers are selling their products abroad. As a matter of fact, practically every military type now being turned out in the United States is on the export list, which means it can be sold abroad. Even our new Boeing B-15 Super-Fortress is available to any country that has the money to buy it. And many other bomber types have already been sold to certain South American states.
“What if a hostile coalition controlling a number of these exported American fighting jobs hurled them against the Canal?” [Excerpts from the magazine article]
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The article frets about the Panama Canal as the single point of catastrophic failure, yet the real “eggs in one basket” vulnerability turned out to be thousands of miles away at Pearl Harbor. The article’s logic wasn’t wrong. It was simply looking in the wrong direction. It imagines a scenario where the fleet is caught on the wrong side of the Canal. What actually happened was worse: the fleet was caught in the right place, but unprepared.
“Flying Aces,” March 1939. Cover art by August Schomburg.
“Will Fascists Bomb the Canal? The sensational story behind our cover painting. Menacing creed of the Dictators are being fostered in Central and South America. And this may mean that our Navy sky fighters will have to defend the ‘Big Ditch’ of Panama against – American-built bombing planes.” [Prologue]
“Second only in importance to the defense of continental United States is the defense of the Panama Canal. Indeed, this massive engineering development which has cut nautical distances between the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts in half, is probably the real key to the successful bulwarking of the United States.
“Yes, the so-called ‘Big Ditch’ is one of the most important factors in the strategic and commercial future of our nation. And its defense offers many pertinent problems which differ strikingly from those faced by other first-class powers. . .
“As we go to press, a big portion of our Pacific Fleet is scheduled to steam through into the Atlantic to appear at New York’s World’s Fair. Well, suppose the Canal was explosively banged shut after our battle wagons got over here in the Atlantic? And suppose Japan chose this particular time to raise hob (hell) over in the Pacific? Then our fleet would have to spend a lot of extremely valuable time in making the rigorous and lengthy journey around Cape Horn. And before they arrived on the scene of action, Japan would have got in some terrible blows.
“Most of the time we keep our greatest naval strength in the Pacific. This means that in similar fashion a European enemy planning to raise the devil in the Atlantic might take a try at blocking off the Canal at the zero hour. Again, a Cape Horn trip would be required to mobilize our sea force on the Eastern Coast. And again, a lot might happen before the battleships got around. . .
“Close students of military tactics believe that eventually naval and air bases will have to be established at the Galapagos and Cocos Islands in the Pacific, and at Puerto Rico in the Atlantic. Perhaps even more might come into the picture in cooperation with the British in the West Indies and with certain friendly Central American countries.
“Meanwhile, our Army engineers have been surveying Nicaragua as a site for a supplementary canal. And if this new water highway were built, we wouldn’t be carrying all our eggs in the one basket of the Panama Canal. What’s more, a Nicaraguan canal would provide even quicker passage between our Eastern and Western coasts . . .
“It is well-known that many American airplane manufacturers are selling their products abroad. As a matter of fact, practically every military type now being turned out in the United States is on the export list, which means it can be sold abroad. Even our new Boeing B-15 Super-Fortress is available to any country that has the money to buy it. And many other bomber types have already been sold to certain South American states.
“What if a hostile coalition controlling a number of these exported American fighting jobs hurled them against the Canal?” [Excerpts from the magazine article]
-------------------------------------------------
The article frets about the Panama Canal as the single point of catastrophic failure, yet the real “eggs in one basket” vulnerability turned out to be thousands of miles away at Pearl Harbor. The article’s logic wasn’t wrong. It was simply looking in the wrong direction. It imagines a scenario where the fleet is caught on the wrong side of the Canal. What actually happened was worse: the fleet was caught in the right place, but unprepared.