BRITISH COUP

Grey River Argus, 15 April 1940, Page 7

BRITISH COUP

RAID ON NARVIK SEVEN ENEMY DESTROYERS Sunk on Saturday (British Official Wireless) (Received April 14, 6.30 p.m.) RUGBY, April 13

The Admiralty makes the following announcement: Since the attack upon the German destroyers in Narvik on Wednesday by the Second Destroyer Frotilla, this flotilla, with reinforcements, has been blockading the enemy in Narvik Fiord'. On Saturday morning, about noon, the battleship Wairspite, accompanied by a strong force of destroyers, using mine-sweeping and other appliances, advanced up Narvik Fiord to attack the German rAestroyers.i (Some of them had already been damaged. They»were sheltering in the harbour. The British ships intended also to engage any shore batteries which might have been erected. According to. reports which have been received from the Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Whitworth, who hoisted his flag in the Warspite, the attack was extremely successful. The enemy opposition was not found to be remarkably severe. A field howitzer, mounted ashore, was put out of action by the fire of H.M.S. k. Four German destroyers were shattered apd sunk in Narvik Bay. Three other German destroyers fled up the Rombacks Fiord, a small inlet eight or nine miles behind Narvik town. These were pursued, engaged, and destroyed. At the moment of issuing the communique, the Admiralty had not precisely been informed as to the conditions in Narvik town. Parties of men, possibly even German soldiers, had been seen escaping from the town over the hills, and further details are awaited. The destruction of the seven enemy destroyers was not achieved without some loss. Three of the British destroyers were damaged in the fight, but not seriously. The British loss of life is believed to have been very small. No estimate can be made at present of the German losses in personnel, but the seven destroyers must have contained over one thousand men.

The Admiralty has signalled congratulations to the Commander-in-Ctyef, Admiral Sir Charles Forbes, Vice-Admiral Whitworth, and the of-' fleers and men engaged in this vigorous, daring and skilfully conducted action, which may well tend to clarify the situation on this part of the Norwegian coast. Operations are still proceeding. The name of the "Cossack" is well known to all the world as that of the destroyer which rescued the British prisoners from the “Altmarck.”

The ‘‘Warspite” is a battleship that was completed in 1915, with an armament of eight fifteen-inch guns, eight six-inch guns, and eight four-inch guns. Her speed is twenty-four knots. Sihe was rebuilt in 1937. Vice-Admiral Whitworth has had a distinguished naval career, he having seen service in the last war, in which he gained the D. 5.0., and; he was mentioned in despatches. He com-

manded the Second Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean from 1928 to 1931, and H.M.S. Rodney in 1936. He was created C.B. in 1938. “WARSPITE’S” LUCK TURNS. .LONDON, April 13. In the Narvik battle, the “Warspite,” which has been nicknamed for years past as “the unluckiest ship, dramatically turned the tables on her i misfortunes. Her steering gear was so damaged in the Battle of Jutland j that she turned two complete circles in front of the German fleet, and was badly hit. She struck an unchartered obstruction in the .Aegean Sea in 1928. She collided with His Majesty’s ship “Malaya” in 1931, and even after the overhaul, which she emerged as the most modern battleship in the world, she three times broke down in her trials. British Navai Losses GERMAN CLAIM (Received April 4, 7.30 p.m.) LONDON, April 14. The German High Command today did not refer to German navai losses, but quoted an Amsterdam report that a British cruiser was sunk off Trondheim on Thursday. This was the cruiser York. It also claimed that two British submarines were sunk by bombs in the North Sea. SINKING OF THE GURKHA RUGBY, April 13. The casualties on the ship Gurkha sunk by the Germans in the North Sea, were: Officers, five believed to have been killed; -ratings, one killed, nine missing and believed to have been killed; three wounded.