TWELVE SHIPS SUNK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20490, 26 February 1941, Page 7

TWELVE SHIPS SUNK

WEEK’S ALLIED LOSSES ATTACK ON CONVOY FIVE VESSELS DOWN (Britisll Official Wireless.) Reed. 1.30 a.m. RUGBY, Feb. 25. Herr Hitler’s boast in his speech yesterday on the sinking of 215,000 tons of British shipping is described in authoritative circles as being far removed from the truth. So far as is known in London, there is nothing whatever in this extravagant claim. Such an exaggeration may be properly assessed by the figures now issued for the mercantile losses due to enemy action for the week ended at midnight on February 16 which total 12 ships of 37,636 tons, comprising 11 British of a total of 32,464 tons and one Allied ship of 5172 tons. The German claim on this occasion —there was no Italian claim this week —reached the huge figure of 185,000 tons of merchant shipping sunk. The week’s losses include five vessels—four British and one Allied — totalling 23,986 tons known to have been sunk by a raider which attacked a convoy off the Azores on February 12. Following its upsual practice of making announcements and claims before there has been any opportunity to check the facts, the German High Command announced on February 14 that in this attack the German raider had sunk 14 ships totalling about 82,000 tons. The facts are that of the 19 ships in the convoy, 10 are known to be safe and four others, three British and one Allied, totalling 19,698 tons, are not yet overdue.