SANK FOUR SHIPS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 34, 10 February 1943, Page 3

SANK FOUR SHIPS

U.S. SUB. IN PACIFIC Six Thousand Jap. Troops On Transport Lost N.Z. Press Association. —Copyright Rec. 10 a.m. MONTREAL, Feb. 9. "When in doubt, we shoot," said Lieutenant-Commander Dudley Morton, after his return from New Guinea waters, \rhere the United States submarine Wahoo bagged an 1800-ton destroyer and an entire four-ship convoy, totalling 30,000 tons cables the United Press correspondent, Frank Tremaine, from on board the submarine Wahoo at a South Pacific base. ; . . Lieutenant-Commander Morton relates that the Allies learned that the Japanese were establishing bases along the northern New Guinea coast above Salamaua from where they moved supplies to the fighting area. The Wahoo was assigned to attack these supply lines. The Japanese were reported to have established. a base at Wewak, which was not shown on the Wahoo s military charts, but was, fortunately, shown on a 25-cent atlas owned by an enlisted man aboard the submarine. Lieutenant - Commander Morton took the Wahoo right into the harbour at Wewak, 350 miles north-west of Salamaua, and there torpedoed a Japanese destroyer, which immediately broke in two. Thereupon he spotted two freighters and one transport loaded with 6000 troops, and sank all of them. - "We knocked off the bow of the first freighter and the stern of the second," he said. "We then hit the transport amidships. It exploded and was blown sky high, all on board being lost."