MORE SINKINGS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 134, 18 March 1940, Page 5

MORE SINKINGS.

BRITISH AND SWEDISH. ANOTHER GERMAN SCUTTLED. •■‘ \ - LONDON, March 16. Tho British steamer Melrose Abbey (2473 tons) sank in the North Sea after an explosion on March 15. She carried a crew of 23. A Dutch motor vessel picked up the ship’s cook, who says that there was no time to launch the boats and.no trace.of other members of the crew, but ho believes, other vessels may have rescued some of them. The Admiralty announces that the trawlers Peridot and 'Maida were sunk by mines yesterday and to-day. There were no casualties on the Peridot, but tho commanding officer; and five ratings of the Maida are missing and feared to be lost.

It is reported from Oslo that the Swedish steamer Osman (1316 tons) was sunk in the North Sea. The cause is unknown Nine members of the crew were landed at a Norwegian port and 10 are believed to have been drowned. Another German steamer, the La Caruna, of 7414 tons, was scuttled when trying to run the Allied, blockade. The ship left Rio do Janiero on February 3, and was intercepted by a British warship in northern waters on Wednesday. The vessel was set on fire by her crew, who were picked up by the British warship. The burning ship was finally sunk' by gunfire. . This is the thirty-fourth German ship to be scuttled, making the Nazi losses by this means more than 180,000 tons. In addition, 26 ships have been captured, totalling more than 100,000 tons. The Government of on behalf of the 21 American Republics, including the United States, has protested to Britain against the alleged violation of tlie American safety zone in the scuttling of the German ship Wakama, when she was called upon to surrender. Tho protest declares that the British warship’s action was a hostile act within the definition of the Declaration of Panama. . Reward Offered.

The Admiralty offers a reward not exceeding £IOOO to non-members of the services for information leading to the capture or destruction of an enemy warship according to the nature and size of the warship; £SO for information of the movements of enemy war vessels, including minelayers; and smaller rewards for finding mines and other gear. The Netherlands Navy Staff has ordered Dutch shipowners to follow a new route across the North Sea to Britain. This follows urgent telegrams to shipowners ordering', a temporary suspension of sailings, presumably owing to the location of a new minefield. It is believed that a message, from London stating that- xnany mines were sighted near the Straits of Dover was a contributory factor. Norway has protested to Germany against the sinking of the Nidarholm by a submarine, claiming full compensation against the U-boat commander. It is reported from Copenhagen that Esbierg fishermen are sending a delegation to Berlin to investigate the possibility of resuming fishing on the Dogger Bank, from which the entire fishing fleet has been withdrawn because of the mysterious sinking of four %'essels.

A NEW OFFENSIVE. TWO U-BOATS ISUNjv. LONDON, March 16. A new U-boat offensive may be developing, according to the Paris correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain, who also quotes French naval sources as saying that preliminary information has been received of the sinking of two German submarines. It is said in naVal circles that the U-boats which have been operating since February arc now going homo and that a now fleet will replace them. Naval vessels dropped depth charges off the Scotish coast in an endeavour to trap a U-boat which was believed to be lurking there to attack a passing convoy. There wore no signs of the submarine.