DARING BRITISH FEAT IN THE BALTIC.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 21 August 1919, Page 5

DARING BRITISH FEAT IN THE BALTIC.

SPEEDY MOTOR BOATS TORPEDO BATTLESHIPS. PRELIMINARY TO BIG ATTACK ON PETROGRAD. Bl" CABLE—PEESS ASSOCIATION-OOPYRIGHT LONDON, Aug. 19. The Daily Express' Helsinglors correspondent supplies an account of the British high-speed coastal motor boats' dashing exploit at Kronstadt, sinking two Bolshevik battleships, the Petropavlovsk and ' Marie Feodorovna, also a transport with troops and a trawler and acting guardship. The motor boats, capable of forty , knots, crept in between the forts in the darkness. They got within close range of the battleships before they were detected, and loosed torpedoes, each of which found its mark. During the return journey the motor boats were subjected to a heavy fire from the batteries. While running the gauntlet at full speed between the forts at the mouth of the Neva, which are only 800 yards apart on either side of Kronstadt, three of the motor boats were lost with eight officers and three men. The Admiralty confirms the statement that the Russian battleships Petrppavlovsk and Andrei Pervosanni were' sunk in action in the Gulf of Finland. A Russian destroyer was also sunk and a cruiser probably damaged. The Admiralty also confirms the report that three British motor boats were lost. No mention is made regarding the loss of a Russian transport or guardship, nor the losses of the British personnel. HELSINGFORS, Aug. 19. The reinforced British fleet concentrated against Kronstadt, which is reported to be on fire. The Kronstadt operation coincides with the renewed aerial attacks on Kronstadt. It is known that British tanks and munitions have arrived at Reval, and the events , apparently mark the opening of a combined offensive against Petrograd under General. Yudehitch. Although there are na British under Yudenitch, it is due to the military mission's activities that an understanding has been effected between the Esthonians and Russians, making a combined effort possible.