SUBMARINE REPORT

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29718, 11 January 1962, Page 10

SUBMARINE REPORT

Sighting Off N.S.W. Coast (N.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright) SYDNEY, Jan. 10. An unidentified submarine sighted off the New South Wales coast was believed to be one of Russia's nuclearpowered craft, the “Sydney Sun’s’’ Canberra correspondent said today. Royal Australian Navy officers were questioning the lighthouse keeper at Port Stephens, near Newcastle, who reported seeing the submarine yesterday, , The “Sun" report said the Navy had accounted for its three Royal Navy submarines, none of which was believed to have been in the Port Stephens area at the time the lighthouse keeper made his report. Later Sydney newspaper reports today said that Australian naval authorities were convinced the mystery craft sighted off Port Stephens yesterday was a foreign submarine, possibly one of Russia’s latest nuclear-powered vessels.

Reports said it had been established that the submarine was outside Australian territorial waters. For this reason, and because of the time since the sighting yesterday, Australian defence services were not making a search. However all shipping had been alerted, reports said. The head keeper at the outer lighthouse at Port Stephens said that he had sighted the submarine travelling north at high speed He said the submarine was dark blue or black and was partly submerged. Only two-thirds of the conning tower was visible.

The last reported sighting of an unidentified submarine off the Australian coast was on November 14. That night Australian and New Zealand warships exercising off Sydney Heads began chasing an underwater object. The crew of a R.A.A.F Neptune bomber first saw the unidentified object on its radar screen, and quickly alerted the warships. However, the object was lost shortly after the search began The speed and ease with which the mystery craft eluded the fleet suggested it was nuclear-powered.