AIR ATTACKS ON WARSHIPS

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23001, 22 April 1940, Page 9

AIR ATTACKS ON WARSHIPS

British and German Losses TACTICAL VALUE DISCUSSED — \ (BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.) (Received April 21, 7 p.m.) RUGBY, April 19. Evidence on the controversial question of the efficiency of air attacks on warships has .been forthcoming from recent activity. From April 8 to April 16, one German cruiser, two German destroyers, one British battleship and one British cruiser were hit by bombs, and two British cruisers were also very slightly damaged 'by flying bomb splinters, but they were not hit. Altogether;, air attack sank two vessels and hit five, while other forms of attack sank 14 vessels and hit 11. The battleship Rodney suffered very slight damage from a very heavy bomb explosion, which did not affect the vessel in' any way, except for injury to four officers and three men. It is also interesting to note that in an air attack in which a British cruiser was damaged, 115 bombs were dropped. Whereas the German air arm sank only one British destroyer, British warships sank one German cruiser and eight German destroyers. Naval circles in London say that these figures merit special attention in view of the heavy destruction wrought on the German fleet in the last TO days, and the consequent Increasing reliance by Germany on her air arm. The' figures provide an answer to Nazi attempts to suggest that the German air force holds mastery. oven the British Navy, whose losses the Nazis greatly exaggerate. They have even falsified the report by the United States Chief of Naval Operations (Admiral H. R, Stark) to the Naval Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives.' He was alleged to have said: "The latest encounters between Allied warships and German bombers clearly show that the German bombers. are more effective than the warships." < • , The "New York Times,” however; reports Admiral Stark’s remarks thus: "Air power has not seriously affected British control of the sea lanes .of the world, After seven months of war in which the immediate major objective has been the reduction of British sea strength, relatively small damage has been done by air attack from the German advance bases located 480 to 560 miles from the British Fleet bases. It is the British preponderance in naval power that has gained the control of sea-borne trade and denied this to Germany.”