WAR NEWS

Evening Star, Issue 23560, 26 April 1940, Page 8

WAR NEWS

STIRRING ACTION

SECOND BATTLE JIT NARVIK BRILLIANT WORK BY WARSPITE AND DESTROYERS MNHMLTY'S DETAILED ACGDUNT (British Official Wireless.) ' . RUGBY, April 25 (Received April 26, at 11.50 a.m.) The second battle at Narvik on April 13in, in which seven enemy destroyers were destroyed and shore batteries silenced at a cost of three British destroyers damaged, is the subject of a 1 stirring account published by the Admiralty. ,

The weather was misty, with low clouds and drizzle, when, at noon, the British naval force steamed up the head of West Fiord towards Ofot Fiord and Narvik. The force was led by H.M.S. Icarus, and consisted of the destroyers Icarus, Hero, Kimberley, and Forester, of the Tribal class, the destroyers Bedouin, Punjabi, EAimoy . and Cossack, and the battleship Warspite. The force was under the command of Vice-Admiral Whitworth, “ whose flag flew in the Warspite, which ' is 90j60Q tons, mounting eight 15in guns and eight 6in guns. , To take so large a ship through the long, narrow approach to Narvik .was'in itself 's'feat of navigation. It was, moreover, attended by great , risks, since if was known that German def stroyers lurked in the fiords and there wks no knowing what traps they might have laid. Air reconnaissance and the presence of Accompanying destroyers could reduce the dangers, but by no means eliminate them. The first contact took place at 12.tl p.rn. A German destroyer appeared out of • the mist on the . south side of the fiord. She wes sighted almost simultaneously by '■ the Icsrus and Bedouin, which,. with ' tho Punjabi and Cossack, opened firs, but the enemy turned away and disappeared into the mist. At 12.45 a German destroyer loomod up on the starboard side and was at onca engaged by our dostroyors, whose fire she returned; Five minutes later another German destroyer of the same class'came into sight l end joined, in, the. action. ■ Our destroyers thus had two targets to engage. A few minutes later the Warspite opened fire. Some minutes/ before 7 the British forces came abreast of Ballanger Bay, on the south side of Ofot Fiord, a warning was received from the Warspite’* aircraft that an enemy destroyer was lurking in the hay. This destroyer was sighted by . the Icarus at 1.7 p.m. The German ship opened fire, and . this was immediately returned. The Bedouin, Punjabi, and Eskimo also engaged this enemy destroyer as ■ soon as they came in sight of her. This German destroyer made.an.ob- ; stinate resistance. In eight minutes, however, she was ablaze forward, amidships, and aft, hut one of her guns . kept in action until finally silenced by' the Warspite. “ VERITABLE DOGFIGHT.’* While this action was in progress the . British destroyers were still under fire from two enemy destroyers to the east of them. More enemy destroyers appeared until there were six enemy ships zigzagging about ahead of the British force. Having dealt faithfully with the enemy destroyer in Ballanger Bay, the Icarus, Bedouin, Punjabi, Eskimo sighted their fire on these , enemy destroyers. A veritable dog- > 'fight ensued, with all ships firing rapidly and making large alterations of their course in order to dodge the fall of salvoes and keep their guns bearing. ' Many German salvoes fell close to the British ships at this period, but owing to skilful manoeuvring no ships were ■.hit. • • At 1.30 p.m. the aircraft of the Fleet air airm attacked the harbbur works at Narvik. The Warspite was then approaching a position from which she was to bomv bard the coastal fortifications. Dy this time other British destroyers which had been to the northward were also in action with the enemy destroyers at a range , of about threa miles. So far as this destroyer action is concerned, it lasted about half an hour and be- . came decisive. The following is an extract from the bridge narrative of one of the destroy- ■ era:— 1.58 p.m., one enemy badly hit. 2.02. the shore batteries firing. 2.03), enemy destroyer on fire. 2.05. German destroyer hit by torpeddes; another enemy on fire. 2.10, enemy fired torpedo. 2.14, another enemy destroyer on fire. 2.15, this enemy again hit. 2.24, two explosions on second enemy destroyer to catch fire. 3.26, two explosions on another burning enemy destroyer. It seemed that this was the end, but four German destroyers, one badly damaged, fled up Rombaks Fiord, dropping smoke floats to chase. Thus by 2.30 three of the enemy had been destroyed—one was a blazing wreck in Ballanger Bay, and one drifted as s derelict north of Narvik and was abandoned by her crew, who were swimming for the shore. The third had beached herself at Herjangs Fiord to the north-east. The remaining four ' German destroyers had sought refuge up Rombaks Fiord. Neither the Germans’ gunfire nor their torpedoes had had any effect on the British ships. While the destroyer action was in progress the Warspite was bombarding the shore batteries near Narvik Harbour, assisted by the Cossack, which.

went close into Narvik Harbour and engaged the shore batteries fiercely at a range of less than half a mile. The Cossack’s gunfire silenced the enemy howitzers. In this engagement with shore batteries the Cossack was supported by the Punjabi and Foxhound. Meanwhile the Eskimo, Forester, Hero, Bedouin, and Icarus gave chase to the destroyers up Rombaks Fiord to the east of Narvik and about 10 miles long. Halfway up there is a. narrow neck only about 200yds across and about two miles from the head of the fiord there is a fairly sharp bend. Thus there were’ two places which had to be passed without being able to see what lay ahead. As soon as the Eskimo passed through the 'narrow neck she came under fire. FINISHING THE FIGHT. The German destroyer which had been badly damaged .had been beached in the south side of the bend in tho fiord, and opened fire as the Eskimo came into view. The Hero reached the narrows to support the Eskimo, but 'could go no further. There was not sufficient sea room in the fiord to manoeuvre. It was therefore left to the Eskimo to silence the enemy. This was soon, accomplished, but the Eskimo received some damage. When the other British destroyers came through the Narrows they saw this enemy ablaze from stem to stern. The Hero, supported by the Kimberley, then took the lead j»nd advanced round the bend. At the head of the fiord lay the remains of three German destroyers. The most northerly, almost beam on, appeared undamaged, but there was no iign of life on. her. Only the bows of the middle one showed above the water. The other was on fire aft, but seemed otherwise all right. The Hero and "the Kimberley fired a few’rounds at the two v ships, afloat, but the firing was soon checked as there was no reply from the enemy. At 4.20 p.m. the Hero and the Icorn» sent armed parties in whalers to investigate the two German destroyers which remained afloat. The whalers were on their way when the northernmost German destroyer listed to starboard and slowly, sank. She had been scuttled. British armed parties boarded the remaining German de-. stroyer jjamed Hans Lademann. Men of the Hero hauled down the German ensign aed rchoisted it with the White Ensign above it.— A search' revealed that she was deserted except for one .wounded officer who was taken on board the Hero as a prisoner. As salvage of the Hans Lademann was not practicable, the Hero sank the last of the seven German destroyers - with torpedoes. The whole ship was lifted into the air and came down in crumbling pieces. Then .the British forces reformed and withdrew, leaving the Ivanhoe and the Kimberley in possession of the fiords. Later that night the Ivanhoe rescued the survivors of the Hardy from Ballanger Bay. During the night a party of 120 Germans entered the town, and surrendered to the 24 men of the armed guard landed from the Ivanhoe, and at the request of the Norwegian authorities that these Germans should be kept in custody, the Ivanhoe provided the local Norwegians, mostly miners, with rifles and ammunition so that they should be in a position, to guard the large body of German prisoners. AMERICAN AIRCRAFT-CARRIER NEW SNIP COMMISSIONED ' BOSTON, April 25. (Received April 26, at noon.) ' The aircraft-carrier Wasp has been commissioned. \ UNITED STATES AIRCRAFT ] i •: -PURCHASES BY ALLIES WASHINGTON, April 25. (Received April 26, at 10.8 a.m.) The Allied purchasing mission has announced that it has sighed contracts for 200,000,000 dollars worth of aircraft and engines in the past fortnight. It adds that the Allies are financing a new plant construction for three United States aircraft engine manufacturers. AMERICAN NEUTRALITY LAWS INVOKED ON NORWAY WARM SPRINGS (Georgia), April 25. (Received April 26, at 10.5 a.m.) . President Roosevelt proclaimed that a state of war exists between Norway and Germany, and invoked United States neutrality laws on Norway. NORWEGIAN CREDITS SUSPENDED WASHINGTON. April 25. (Received April 26,, at 2 p.m.) The proclamation suspends Norway’s 10,000,000d0l credits of March 7. Technically the credits are not cancelled, but their disbursement is prevented. POSITION IN GREENLAND CONSIDERATION BY BRITAIN AND CANADA _____ * (British Official Wireless.) , RUGBY, April 24. (Received April 26, at 6.30 a.m.) The Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Mr R. A. Butler) confirmed in the House of Commons that the position in Greenland as affected by the occupation of Denmark was at present receiving the consideration of the British and Canadian Governments,

SUBVERSIVE ELEMENTS PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES DISCUSSION IN COMMONS (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, April 25. (Received April 26, at 11 a.m.) Sir John Anderson was questioned, in the House of Cpmmons to-day about "the propaganda activities of certain groups under Communist or Fascist leadership. It had been represented to him previously by deputations of interested M.P.s that the propaganda of these bodies was of a seditious character; In to-day’s reply. Sir John Anderson said for some time' past he had been carefully watching the activities of certain small groups of people of whom some appeared to be deliberately anxious to hinder the war effort. The national resolution that the war must he waged with all the country’s strength was such .that these activities had had so far little practical effect. Nevertheless, the possible consequences of a continuous attempt to impede the war effort could not be ignored. The question as to what steps could be properly taken to check propaganda of a harmful kind was discussed when the defence regulations were debated on October 31. There was general agreement that every effort should he made, even in time of war, to avoid interference with the propagation of opinions held by small minorities. There was, however, a risk that, the liberty allowed by our traditional principles might be abused by extremists of whom some were anxious to destroy that liberty. ‘‘ lam at present considering whether some strengthening of the regulations is desired for the purpose of checking activities specifically directed towards impeding our national war effort,” said Sir John. NOW IN COMMISSION U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER WASP BOSTON, April 25. . (Received April 26, at 10.8 p.m.) The aircraft-carrier Wasp has been commissioned.BALTIC MAILS BRITISH SERVICES RESTORED ; * (British Official Wireless.) „ RUGBY, April 25. (Received April 26, at 2 a.m.) The Postmaster-General announces the restoration of letter and mail services, including air mails and money order services, to Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, but adds that correspondence is subject to delay.