JAP DESTROYERS SUNK

Grey River Argus, 27 November 1942, Page 5

JAP DESTROYERS SUNK

CONVOY’S FAILURE

In Attempt to Relieve Buna

[Special to N.Z. Press Assn.] (Rec. 9.35.) SYDNEY, Nov. 26. Two more Japanese destroyers have been sunk and a third one has probably been sunk, in further illstarred efforts to relieve General Horii’s hard-pressed force in the Buna -Gona defensive strip in North Papua. , Enemy troops estimated to number "several hundreds” lost their lives when 500-pound bombs from Flying Fortresses, Beauforts and North American bombers sent the warships to the bottom of the Huon Gulf. This latest enemy relief convoy comprised on? light cruiser and four destroyers. All were heavily loaded with troops. The convoy attempted to reach Buna under the cover of darkness The) Allied aircraft, however, sighting their targets by the light of flares, scored direct hits on two of the destroyers, and several near misses against a third one. Two were seen to sink after explosions and fires occurred aboard.

The third destroyer, after being left “dead” in the water for twentyfive minutes, was last sighted headed for land at a speed of onlv six knots an hour.

General MacArthur’s Headquarters, in a communique, claims: “It is probable that the third destroyer also sank, as our rear air eschelon searched for her in the possible area of her position without sighting her. “The cruiser and the remaining destroyer fled to the north.

The convoy was speeding southwards towards Buna when it was intercepted north of Lae and Salamaua. It was well out to sea. Airmen who took part in the attacks declare thfit they saw epemy»troops struggling in the water.” JAP. RAIDER SUNK RUGBY, Nov. 25. A Japanese raider was sunk in tne Indian Ocean, when a. minesweeper of the Royal Indian Navy and a Netherlands tanker, took on two heavily armed Japanese raiders and sank one of them. The story is told in an Admiralty communique, 'rhe mine-sweeper Bengal, and a' tanker of 6000 tons, engaged the raiders one thousand miles south-west of Java, and scored many hits in rapid succession on the leading raider, which soon caught fire and blew up and sank. The second raider tren turned its guns on the tanker, whose master was killed. When there was no more ammunition, .the crew abandoned the vessel, and the enemy machine-gunned the lifeboats, killing four members of the crew before making off. Some of the crew then returned to the ship and got her under way.