Direct Hit On Aust. Ship

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31504, 19 October 1967, Page 17

Direct Hit On Aust. Ship

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

SAIGON, October 18. The Australian guided missile destroyer, Perth received a direct hit from North Vietnamese gun batteries this morning as she weaved through a 300-shell barrage, an American spokesman said.

The spokesman said the Perth came under fire at 8 a.m. local time while firing on targets in North Vietnam about 176 miles north of the Demilitarised Zone. At least 10 guns opened fire on her as she steamed off the coast The Perth immediately began counter-battery fire while trying to out-monoeuvre the North Vietnamese gunners, the spokesman said. Inside the Perth’s gun turrets Australian gunners laboured to return the shower of shell coming from shore, and her four sin bow guns fired a volley every seven or eight seconds. Then a North Vietnamese shell scored a direct hit on one of the gun mounts, injuring four men and causing minor internal structural

damage, the spokesman said. The Perth fought a running duel as she steamed out to sea beyond range. The four wounded men are in a satisfactory condition, he said.

The spokesman added that it is not known if the Perth has been ordered back for repairs.

The effects of the Perth’s counter-battery fire is not known, he said. The destroyer—three of her class will eventually be in service with the Royal Australian Navy—was commissioned on July 17, 1965, and left Sydney for Vietnam on September 2 this year. She has a complement of 21 officers and 312 crew, and is armed with sophisticated Tartar missiles and quick-fir-ing sin guns. She has eight radar and I sonar systems.