AEGEAN EXPLOITS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20630, 11 August 1941, Page 7

AEGEAN EXPLOITS

BRITISH SUBMARINE ITALIAN SHIPS SUNK LONDON, July 29. ,A new British submarine, the latest recruit for the Eastern Mediterranean station, slipped quietly into Alexandria yesterday flying the Jolly Roger with 17 bars —the navy’s humorous method of denoting the 17 German or Italian ships it had sunk. The Alexandria correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says that the young Scottish commander of the submarine, with no sense of fear, described the “worst experience” of the ship’s patrol. “We were patrolling the Aegean Sea when we sighted two troopships escorted by an Italian destroyer and a single aircraft,” he said. “The sea was so calm that I decided to take long shots, since it was impossible to approach the ships without being detected. “The convoy was headed west, led by a 4000-ton ship, which I am sure was the City of Tripoli. The second ship was about 2500 tons. Immediately I had loosed the torpedoes I dived. “The leading ship was certainly hit, and I believe she was sunk. We had no chance to verify this, because we were attacked with depth charges for an hour.” < Another exploit occurred under a brilliant moon. "There were three caiques and one 300-ton schooner carrying men and petrol to Crete, and in the moonlight it was as easy as firing in a shooting gallery. We picked off the vessels one by one,” said the commander. “Our final task before our return from patrol was the interception of the Italian tanker Strombo. which had already been hit once by British torpedoes. She had carried out emergency repairs, and was making for home to complete them when a couple of our torpedoes ended her troubles.”