BRITISH TANKER SUNK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 33, 18 November 1939, Page 5

BRITISH TANKER SUNK.

SEARCH FOR THE RAIDER. POCKET BATTLESHIP SUSPECTED *7 " LONDON, November 17. The Cape Town correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph” says that the entire South African aerial coast patrol is searching for the German raider which sank the tanker Africa Shell, of 706 tons, inside Portuguese territorial waters, 180 miles north-east of Lourenco Marques. The tanker’s crew say that the raider was a pocket-battleship. The raider fired a shell across the tanker’s bows. An officer and ratings boarded the tanker and took foodstuffs, wines, and the captain aboard the raider. The remainder of the crew, consisting of six Europeans and 21 natives, lowed to the shore. The naval correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph” comments that there would be ample time for either of the German pocket-battleships; the Deutschland or the Admiral Seheer, to reach this region travelling at an economical speed of 15 knots. Significance is attached to the fact that the Africa. Shell is a tanker, though she was empty when she was sunk.

MYSTERY OF IDENTITY. (Received This Day, 10.20 a.m.) LOURENCO MARQUES, Nov. 17. The crew of the Africa .Shell state that the ship was stopped by a German cruiser, but mystery continues to surround the identity of the vessel. INSURANCE PREMIUMS HALVED. IMMUNITY FROM AIR RAIDS. (Received This Day, 11.20 a.m.) LONDON, November 17. The Board of Trade has halved insurance premiums under the commodity insurance scheme to 5s per cent, monthly from December 3 to March 2. The fund has a surplus owing to Britain’s comparative immunity from air raids.