CONVOY ATTACKED

Grey River Argus, 23 March 1940, Page 7

CONVOY ATTACKED

BY ENEMY PLANES Three Ships Damaged [Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Received March 22, 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, March 21. An Admiralty communique states: “Two small neutrals have been slightly damaged in a German raid on a British convoy. His Majesty’s ships were not damaged. The escorting warships and naval coastal command planes engaged the enemy. “The damaged neutral ships were the Svinta, which had to be abandoned her crew being rescued; and the Utklippan, which was hit by an incendiary bomb; and also the Toraelise which also was hit, but no details of her are available. “Two naval planes on one occasion, dispersed ten Heinkel planes which were attacking. “One Heinkel plane was damaged by anfi-aircraff fire from the escorting warships. Several others were hit by two naval planes. LOSS ADMITTED. [Aust. & N.Z. r--ble Assn J (Received March 7.5 p.m.) BERLIN, March.-21. The German Official News Agency admits that one German ’plane has failed to return from the attack on the British convoy on Wednesday.

GERMAN CLAIM

40,000 Tons Sunk in Convoy PROVED FALSE. [Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Received March 22. 7 p.m.) BERLIN. March 21. A German communioue claims that the Germans sank nine British merchantmen and warshins of a tonnage of 42,000, and also damaged two merchantmen of 11.000 tons. RUGBY. March 21. The Admiraltv has issued a communique commenting on the German claim to have sunk_ yesterday warsnips and merchantmen totalling 42,000 tons in a British convoy, as| cabled earlier. The Admiralty says: The facts are that the convov, which consisted almost entirely of neutral ships, was not dispersed. and proceeded safely upon its vovasre. None of the escorting warships was hit or damaged, and no shin was sunk. The raiders were driven off bv British naval aircraft, one of the German planes being destroyed, and others hit. 'Three neutral merchantmen, as already announced, were damaged, and the British steamship. Northern Coast (12,211 tons) and the Norwegian ship, Earling (1281 tons) reported, on arrival in harbour, that tney had suffered damage.

A British ship, the Barnhill, of 5439 tons, which was unarmed and xwa. not in the convoy, was set on fire by an Incendiary bomb, but the fire was extinguished and the shin is now in safetv.

“Thus the German claim that 42,000 tons of shipping was sunk yesterday Is 42,000 tons in excess of the actual facts. This considerable error is, perhaps, due to the agitated mentality caused bv the Svlt raid, for which agitation every allowance should bs made.” DAMAGED VESSELS. GERMAN CLAIM CORRECT. RUGBY. March 21. The Admiraltv. in its statement on German claims arising from the air raid yesterday on a convoy, says:— “The Germans also make the statement that eleven thousand tons or shipping was damaged. This is not so far out —the actual figure being 11,518 tons —the Danish ship Viking and the Danish ship Bothal being torpedoed and sunk vesterdav. in Scottish waters. “Nazi wrath was thus vented yesterday almost entirely upon neutrals,’ who. being unarmed, present a peculiar temptation to Nazi prowess when out of a convov. Experience so far gained in the present war in no way justifies the predictions that air power would prove the decisive factor at sea. The onlv form of which has yielded the slightest suc-j cess to the German Air Force has, been that of attacks on defenceless; merchantmen sailing independently, fishing vessels, and lightships and lightship tenders. Even so. the losses due to air attack have been exceedingly small in proportion to the effort expended by the enemy.