ON THE SEAS

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 July 1945, Page 6

ON THE SEAS

TRAWLER CATCHES U-BOAT RUGBY, July 20. George Elliott, skipper of the steam trawler Toronto, has brought home some fine catches, but the best of his life was when he ‘‘captured” a Üboat on its way from Japan to Germany with a valuable cargo of quinine, 'molybdenum and tin. It was on VE Day, when the Toronto was 26 miles off the Butt of Lewis, Scotland, when Elliott through his glasses sighted an aircraft well a.head circling over what appeared to be a small boat. It took the Toronto an hour and 20 minutes to reach the spot. Not till then did Elliot realise that the small boat was a German submarine. Hailing the German officer on the U-boat, Elliott tried to make him understand that he was going to take the enemy vessel to the nearest British port. The German, apparently knowing very little English, kept on saying “I beg your pardon, Captain.' So Elliott after explaining what he wanted in pantomine, turned and headed in the direction he wanted the submarine to take. Without further ado, the German officer gave the order to the crew, and within a few minutes the U-boat was following in the wake of the Toronto. At midnight they arrived at Stornoway, Lewis, Scotland. Here the submarine was handed over to the Commanding Officer of a motor launch, and the Toronto having done her big war deed then proceeded on her way >to Iceland. ’U-BOAT IN CLYDE. RUGBY, July 22. The bottom of the Firth of Clyde, over an area of 1000 Square miles, is being dragged by the Royal Navy minesweepers in search of three German moored magnetic mines, known to have been laid by the German U-boat 218, when she penetrated to the Clyde on April 18, three weeks before the surrender, writes a naval correspondent. This is the culmination of one of the most intensive minesweeping searches of the war. So far it has lasted three months, and occupied a total of 26 mine-sweep-ers. The U-boat carried 15 mines. Twelve have been accounted for, but the mystery of the remaining three has still to be solved.