NAVY DEPARTMENT
          OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS
                         WASHINGTON
 
               MEMORANDUM TO THE NAVAL AIDE
 
 
Subject: Supply Routes to China via Karachi and Turkestan.
 
 
    1.      In April 1942, the Chinese Ambassador to Russia asked that 
his country be sent supplies by this route, but added ttmt he would 
not ask for more than 4,000 tons a month.
 
 
    2.      The first difficulty of this project lies in Karachi itself. 
Karachi is an important port which can accommodate 21 10,000 ton ships 
of 26' to 30' draft simultaneously. In December 1941 the combined in-
coming and outgoing railroad capacity at Karachi was 4,000 tons per 
day and it was estimated that this could be increased to lO,000 tons; 
however, Karachi is now being used almost to capacity for supplies going 
to British forces in the Middle East.
 
    3.     There are three supply routes from Karachi to the Russian-
Turk.-Sib. Railroad; two via Afghanistan and one via Iran.
 
    4.      The first route is from Karachi to the Khyber Pass by rail, 
via Peshawar; across Afghanistan by motor road, via Kabul to the Rus-
sian railhead at Termez. From Ternez, north by rail to Kagan, on the 
main line of the Turk.-Sib. Railroad. The motor road from the 
Indian frontier to Kabul is "very poor".  Difficulty exists in crossing 
the Oxus River at the Afghan-Soviet frontier. No bridge exists, but a 
ferry is used. The road approaching Termez is "impassable" for a dis-
tance of about 20 miles, and would have to be completely rebuilt. The
remainder of this road across Afghanistan is "fair", and presents no 
insurmountable difficulties.  The exact tonnage capacity of this route is 
not known, but it is estimated that if improvements were made on it, 
its capacity could be built up to that of the Burma Road (17,000 tons 
a month).
 
    5.      The second route would be to go north from Karachi to the 
Chaman Pass, on the Afghan border, by rail through Sukkur and Quetta 
and by motor road from the Chaman Pass to Kushka, the Russian rail-
head on the Afghan border; this road is far better than the road from 
the Khyber Pass to Ternez; it is less used; is over a flatter terrain, 
and 75 miles shorter. During the springtime, however, floods are apt to 
occur along it; its exact tonnage capacity is not known, but "reliable
sources" estimate that it could handle approximately the sane amount as 
the Khyber Pass-Termez Road. From Kushka, supplies could be sent