WESTPORT LOSS

Grey River Argus, 10 September 1940, Page 3

WESTPORT LOSS

Electric Cable IN SUNKEN LINER. WESTPORT, September 9. Th 8 Westport. Borough Council has been advised that thirty-live miles of electric cable which was intended for use in linking Denniston up electrically with Westport, was on a liner which has been sunk by enemy action. The electric cable was expected to arrive very shortly. This loss will mean that Westport must continue to endure “black outs” at night, unless there is a heavy or plentiful rainfall, as the water in Lake Rochfort, at present the main source of .supply of electric current, is still very low.

Tasman Raider OVERDUE COLLIER SWIFT ATTACK FEARED SHELLING OF TURAKINA SYDNEY, September 4. Shipping authorities in Sydney believe that the French collier Notou, thought to have fallen a victim to the enemy raider which shelled the Turakina. was taken by surprise. No official report is available to indicate whether the Notou had lime to issue any warning. The Notou is now more than lb days overdue on her voyage from Newcastle’ to Noumea. Her time for the voyage of about 1000 miles should have been about live days, and normally she would have reached Noumea on August 17 or 18—-two or three days before the Turakina reported that she was being attacked. , Belief in Sydney It is considered possible that the Notou was stopped after some warning that may have misled her captain about the identity of the raider. At the time of the attack it is unlikely that the captain of the Notou had anj' suspicion that a German raider was in these waters, and the vessels may have been al very close qi/arters before the raider disclosed her intention either to sink the captured vessel or to risk operating her with a prize crew. The “disappearance” of the Notou on the route to New Caledonia is | accepted in shipping circles as indicating that the raider came from northward to attack the Turakina. The fact that it was dusk when the Turakina was fired on meant that the raider would be able to dash for safety in the darkness. The captain of the Notou is Captain Louis Jego, who is well known from long service on the Noumea coal run. His wife and family live in Noumea. Among the olliccrs were Chief-Ollicer Chatelin. Chief Engineer Lc Galion, and Second Engineer Houman. 'There' were two other European ollicers and a native crew of about 16.

The Sydney agent of the Societe Le Nickel, Mr M. Pelletier, said last night that, although M. Paul Vois, a director of Ihe company, who had been conferring with the Australian Government, was the only passenger on this trip, the Notou could carry about six passengers. “The Notou carries coal for the smelters in the nickel mines in New Caledonia," Mi Pelletier said. The Notou is a collier of 2489 lons, registered in Noumea, am! was British Lulli. hiding been Iminehed at Wesl Hartl.'pool in 1930. Originally she was called the Margam Abbey. M. Vois. who is one of Ihe inost prominent citizens of New C aledonta, married a Melbourne woman. She and one of their sons are in Franco. No results were reported after the seal ch which followed .he attack on the Turakina. Air patrols from Australia and New Zealand made longdistance flights. . The detailed staff work rnduded a constant check on the position and movements of every vessel known or believed to be within hundreds of miles of the search focus. This included the movements not only of British, but of foreign-owned vessels, which might be either potential victims or potential supply sources for the raider.

Check on Vessels Naval experts have pointed out that the Beilin claim that the Turakina was sunk hy a German iava] foice was not made until after the fact that she had been fired on had been announced by the 8.8. C. This would not rule a slight possibility, therefore, that the raider might not be German at all, but Italian. The movements of hundreds of vessels have been checked m the past two weeks, and in some cases fears for the safety of a. ship have been resolved when she turned v.p, slightly late, al some pon. Experts pointed out at the time that if a raider had many hours’ sl.ari, the air patrol activity became very dilliculf after the first all-day search. A raid at dusk, several hundred miles off a coast, would give a raider nearly 12 hours in which to flee from the vicinity of the attack Raiding Tactics When an air search began at. dawn, a 30-knot iaider could be more than 350 miles from the scene of a sinking. Three days after an attack a 20knot armed merchantman raider could be more than 1300 miles away --well beyond the radius of most, flying-boats. The tactics of a raider in the South Pacific or Tasman must, be largely guided bj' her success in replenishing fuel supplies from any vessel attacked. Operations by a vessel using hit-and-run tactics, without a tempting to use supplies from vessels attacked, would have to lie suspended lor long periods while a dash was made for a distant base.

SHIP MISSING LONDON, September 8. Norwegian sources in London state that nothing lias been heard of the Tirranna since she left Melbourne for Mombasa.

MORE SINKINGS BERLIN, Sep! ember S A communique states: “A U-boat sank four armed enemy merchantmen totalling 33,400 tons, and damaged a further 4000-ton vessel. Two torpedo boats on September 6 encountered a strongly-guarded con-