LOSS OF LINER IN U.S. DUE TO SABOTEURS

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 November 1947, Page 6

LOSS OF LINER IN U.S. DUE TO SABOTEURS

NEW YORK, November 12. A German spy was responsible for the fire aboard the French liner Normandie in 1942, when she was being converted to a troop transport, according to the French language newspaper, France Amerique. The spy, who is now held in Germany on a murder charge, is quoted by the newspaper as saying that several former members of the German American Bund were working on the Normandie, and that men acted under his orders'to set fire .to lifebelts. His group did not risk much, as the Normandie was not guarded by the Army, Navy, or Coastguard. Agents, placed lifebelts at strategic points, and, at a given signal, set fire to them with blowtorches. Only when the fire was well started was a fire alarm given. The fire-fighting equipment aboard had been sabotaged, and conflicting orders were given to the firemen to slbw up their work. The New York Times gives the spy’s name as Fritz Scheffer, and reports that the F. 8.1.. has expressed interest in this purported confession, as it is anxious to obtain further details. At the time of the fire, the F.B.L made a thorough investigation which did not reveal evidence of sabotage. *