German Raider Attacks Atlantic Convoy

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23177, 14 November 1940, Page 8

German Raider Attacks Atlantic Convoy

In spite of her inferior armament, the Jervis Bay closed with the enemy. She immediately, came under heavy fire, and was severely hit several times, and although burning she continued to engage the enemy for two hours. Then an explosion occurred in the Jervis Bay. Although her decks were awash, she still continued firing, and the crew must have known what their fate was to be.

The gallant action fought by the Jervis Bay recalls the epic battle fought by the Rawalpindi against the German pocket battleship Deutschland early in the war. There is some speculation as to whether the Jervis Bay engaged a pocket battleship or a heavy cruiser.

One British captain suggested that the raider was either the Deutschland or the Admiral Scheer. Another captain thought she was a 6000-ton vessel of the Nuernberg class. The following 24 ships have arrived at port:—Rangitiki (16,698 tons), Erodona (6207 tons), Andalusian (3082 tons), Cornish City (4952 tons). Empire Penguin (not included in Lloyd s Register), James J. Maguire (10,525 tons). Danae II (not included m Lloyd’s Register), Castilian (3067 tons), Briarwood (4019 tons), Varoey <1531 tons), Atheltemplar (8949 tons). Lancaster Castle (5172 tons). Dan-y-Bryn (5117 tons), Athelempress (8941 tons), Oilreliance (5666 tons), Solfonn (9925 tons), Hjalmar Wessel (1742 tons), Emile Francqui (5859 tons), Persier (5382 tons). Delhi (4571 tons). Anna Bulgaria (4603 tons), Delphinula (8120 tons), Cordelia (8190 tons),, and Pacific Enterprise (6736 tons). : One of the British captains said that the raider appeared just before nightfall, and. opened fire at long range. She began shooting at some of the larger 'ships in the convoy, and. the shooting .Was accurate and regular., The shells appeared to be falling in salvoes of five, and he estimated that they were being fired by 11-inch guns.

Conditions Favour Haider

Everything was in the enemy s favour. It -was a clear evening, and the Sea ’ was calm. ’ The order was given for the ships to scatter, and the Jervis Bay attacked with guns blazing. They could see that the enemy was a much more heavily armed warship, but this: did not deter the captain of the Jervis Bay, who closed with the enemy. The men in the Jervis Bay were fighting an overwhelming weight of guns, and although the British ship fought gallantly, enabling the merchant vessels to get away, he feared that the Jervis' Bay had gone up in flames. “We and the other ships owe our lives to the gallant fight put up by the lads in the Jervis Bay,” said the captain ■'Of another ship. The Jer.yls Bay was a vessel of 14,164 tons, well known in the Indian and Australian trade.

German news reports in the last few days have specialised in stories purporting to describe successful air attacks on convoys, with sweeping claims of the loss and damage inflicted and the usually inflated estimates of the tonnage. The wisdom of treating such descriptions with sceptical reserve is well shown by an Admiralty statement issued yesterday. On Monday night a special announcement was broadcast by Germany to the effect that five ships totalling 37,000 tons was sunk in an attack on a British convoy In the North Sea. This claim was improved upon in yesterday’s German High Command communique, which claimed that seven merchantmen of about 44,000 tons were sunk in this attack.

The Admiralty declares that in point of fact no ships were sunk. Two ships sustained some damage, but both are safe. - ; • .

The Admiralty also, announced the destruction by anti-aircraft fire from His Majesty’s' ships of three enemy aircraft additional to those already reported destroyed. The Vivien and Londonderry each shot down one Junkers, and the Vivien’s fire so , severely damaged another that it is not likely to have regained its base. His Majesty’s tug St. Mellons shot down one Messerschmitt and damaged another enemy aircraft.

BRITISH MERCHANT FLEET ADDITIONAL TONNAGE OBTAINED LONDON, November 12. The Minister for Shipping (Mr R. H. Cross) stated in the House of Commons that at the end of October the total tonnage of foreign vessels of 500 tons and over which had been added to the British merchant fleet by capture, requisition and purchase, was about 1,125,000. The corresponding total of allied and neutral vessels time-chartered to Brit-: ; . «In ; was about 4,000.000 tons. . added: ‘ ‘lt should not be ; all the: tonnage now at disposal represents an addition to .Ijjptrt.. importing capacity, as much SfeteiPtMlh ■ tonnage traded in our ports -beoutbreak of war.”

TWENTY-NINE VESSELS KNOWN SAFE (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPTRIOHT.I (Received November 13, 10.45 p.m.) LONDON. November 13. The full story of how a British convoy in the Atlantic Ocean was saved by the gallant action of the armed merchant cruiser H.M.S. Jervis Bay, which engaged the enemy surface raider making the attack and fought her, thus enabling the other ships in the convoy to scatter, is told in an Admiralty communique issued to-night. The Jervis Bay was commanded by ActingCaptain E. S. F. regen, R.N. The convoy consisted of 38 ships, and the attack was made on the night of November 5. The German High Command said that the whole of the convoy was destroyed. The true facts are that all but nine of the ships are safe. It is possible that some of the others may yet reach port.

That three-quarters of the convoy escaped was a result of the high efficiency shown by the captains, who made full use of smoke screens when the ships scattered, and of the gallant action fought by the Jervis Bay.

The communique adds that the full details are not yet available, but the Admiralty regrets to announce that the Jervis Bay must be considered lost. It is known that 65 members of the crew are on board a merchant ship.

One of the captains, who told the story of (he action, paid a tribute to the heroism of the men of the Jervis Bay in engaging a much more heavily-armed ship, and fighting her to the finish.

“A CRUSADE FOR APPEASEMENT ” MR J. P. KENNEDY’S SPEECH (Received November 13. 1.55 p.m.) NEW YORK, November 12. The North American Newspaper Alliance states that the Washington columnists, Messrs Joseph Alsop and Robert Kintner, describe the interview given by; the United States Ambassador (Mr Joseph P. Kennedy) to the "Boston Globe" as one of the most fantastic incidents in American diplomacy and they allege that Mr Kennedy plans a crusade for "unblushing appeasement” of dictators. The columnists add: “Mr Kennedy seems to have confided to a reporter of the “Globe" the ideas which he has industriously privately spread for some time. It was his announcement of a personal crusade to limit American in ■ volvement in the war, for which reason he is seeking the support of publishers and Congressmen. "It is impossible to mistake the general drift of the interview towaod open and unashamed appeasement. It is serious to suggest that such a public man holds theories to which 94 per cent, of Americans are opposed, but Mr Kennedy’s record speaks for itself. His dispatches from the beginning to the end of his mission in London reflected appeasement. Hg 'attempted to convince Mr Roosevelt mat such views were correct, in spite of the terrible evidence to the contrary from Hitler. "When Mr Roosevelt sent a message to Hitler and M. Moscicki, the Polish President, urging arbitration before the war began, Mr Kennedy angrily cabled to the State Department declaring that the President should have urged Polish capitulation. Then came the outbreak of war and Mr Kennedy, near hysteria, telephoned Mr Roosevelt announcing that it was the ‘end of the world.! ” OFFICIAL VISIT TO UNITED STATES „ PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL (Received November 13, 9 p.m.) WASHINGTON, November 12. The President of Brazil (Dr. Vargas) has accepted an invitation from Mr Roosevelt to pay an official visit to the United States. TALKS ON SOUTH PACIFIC WASHINGTON. November 12. Mr R. G. Casey, the Australian Minister to the United States, said after a conference with Mr Cordell Hull, the Secretary of State, that the joint United States-British-Australian talks on the South Pacific would be resumed when Lord Lothian, the British Ambassador, returns from England. Mr Casey said to-day’s talk consisted of a routine exchange of information.