HIT BY TORPEDOES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 42, 19 February 1942, Page 7

HIT BY TORPEDOES

ITALIAN CRUISER

SUCCESS FOR SUBMARINE

LONDON, February 18. A British submarine has scored another success in the central Mediterranean against one of Mussolini's heavy 8-inch cruisers,

hitting her twice with torpedoes,

The Admiralty says that the action followed the passing through the Mediterranean of certain British convoys between last Friday and Monday. The enemy made desperate efforts to prevent this operation, using both, surface ships and aircraft, but only the aircraft made contact.

The enemy has made exaggerated claims about the damage inflicted on British convoys. The facts are that none of the ships or their escorting warships suffered any casualties, and only superficial damage was caused to o*ne of the warships. Two merchant ships were damaged and had to be sunk by our own forces because towing was impracticable...' All the pther ships reached their destination!- In addition, the enemy lost five aircraft for certain, and probably four ( more. Meanwhile, the' enemy surface ships failed to make contact, and '. were severely handled .by our aircraft, as reported in yesterday's air communique from Cairo, which stated that two cruisers and one destroyer were hit. It was as the warships were returning to port that one of them was intercepted and torpedoed by a British submarine.