FREIGHTER ESCAPES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20141, 10 January 1940, Page 9

FREIGHTER ESCAPES

SHELLED IN ATLANTIC MELBOURNE, Dec. 28. A British freighter which arrived in Melbourne yesterday with a cargo of explosives was shelled by a submarine during the voyage from England, and escaped without being hit. About ‘ a week after the ship left England a U-boat broke the surface about dusk, and, without warning, fired eight shells at the freighter. Members of the crew said to-day that several of the shells fell. very, close to the freighter. The submarine lay ahead of the freighter, and immediately the first shot was fired the captain of the freighter altered course, and a defensive gun on the stern was manned. Lifeboats were swung out while the ship zig-zagged through the heavy Atlantic swell at 16 knots, two faster than she had ever gone before. The captain drove the ship at top speed throughout the night, and when dawn broke there was no sign of the submarine. for men. Between two and six months is required for learning the various operations, according to the complexity of the process concerned. 30,000 Components

An excellent idea of the vast amount of work that goes into each bomber is the fact that in each Blenheim, for example, there are 30,000 component parts. In the construction of each part there is at least an average of five processes, giving about 150,000 processes in the construction of every one of these aircraft. Measurements have to be exact to one-thousandth part of an inch. In every Whitley bomber there are 750,000 rivets.

The construction of aircraft to-day calls for skilled engineering, and not, as during the last war. for skilled coach work. With the exception of the Blenheim, there is, little, if any woodwork in the modern bomber. Wood is used only for bomb shelves and in the construction of the wing and tail tips of the Blenheims.