WILFUL DAMAGE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 50, 10 December 1935, Page 5

WILFUL DAMAGE

SABOTAGE ON WARSHIPS. COST OF £3OO ON BATTLESHIP. INVESTIGATIONS BY ADMIRALTY. \/ / (United Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, December 8. The police and the Admiralty are investigating wilful damage, skilfully concealed, on the battleship Royal Oak and the submarine Oberon, at Devonport dockyard. The “Daily Mail” says that the Oberon, which was recently refitted, was prevented from sailing on time by damage to her electrical equipment, alleged to be caused by an iron bolt and : a sheet of copper placed in the motors. The Court of Inquiry decided that the damage had been done deliberately, but was unable to identify the culprit. The second incident delayed the refitting of the Royal Oak through the failure of the electricity supply. It is understood that investigation revealed that a sail-pin had been driven into the cable connecting the power station with the battleship control tower, causing damage amounting to £3OO. AN AMERICAN OUTRAGE. DAMAGE 100,000 DOLLARS. (Received This Day, 1.20 p.m.) BOSTON, Decemer 9. The newspaper “Evening American” stated to-day. that an.act of sabotage last Saturday ruined the turbine gears of the new navy cruiser Guiney, being built at the Fore River shipyards. The damage totalled 100,000 dollars. The sabotage consisted of the deliberate placing of a loose steel nut in such a position that vibration caused by starting the electrical machinery dropped it into the revolving mechanism. Investigation disclosed a nut of a type nut used aboard the vessel. The incident followed the disastrous fire on the same vessel last summer, when the wiring of the main switchboard was destroyed.