GUNNERY PRACTICE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 128, 2 June 1927, Page 10

GUNNERY PRACTICE.

H.M.S. DIOMEDE'S OPERATIONS NO DETAILS FOR PUBLICATION. Details of the gunnery practice carried out on board H.M.s. Diomede in the Hauraki Gulf this week are covered hv a. heavy veil of secrecy, officers being forbidden to speak of the cruiser's operations A recent regulation issued by the authorities at the head cf "the Silent Senice" states that no information can be made public till it has been submitted to the Lords of the Admiraltv. so that by the time their Lordships have perused the reports on this week's gunnery practice, the details, as a news' item, will be of less interest than a eopv of Hansard, 1809. However, quite unofficially, it is said that the practice in the Gulf was most successful. The cruiser left Auckland on Monday morning, and returned to her moorings at the Devonport naval depot at 1).4."> a.m. to-day. All on board enjoyed good health, and the weather was fair throughout the cruise. Two night "shoots" and one day practice were held, results being satisfactory. The minesweeper Wakakura towed the floating targets. Previously this duty was discharged by the sloops Veronica and Laburnum, but better results are obtained when a smaller vessel is employed. The different types of guns carried on the vesgfl were used to advantage, the results obtained after dark being garticularjljr gratifying.