BRITISH DESTROYER MINED

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 278, 24 November 1939, Page 7

BRITISH DESTROYER MINED

21 Men Reported Injured and

40 Missing

GERMAN SHIP SHELLED IN CHASE (By Telegraph —Press Association—Copyright) (Received 23, 2.10 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 22. It is officially announced that the destroyer Gipsy struck a mine off the east coast yesterday and was subsequently beached. Twenty-one officers and men are reported to have been injured, and about 40 ratings are missing. The Gipsy was completed in the 1933 programme. She had a displacement of 1350 tons and carried a complement of 145. She carried four 4.7-inch guns and seven smaller. The Admiralty announces that a British warship intercepted the German vessel Bertha Fisscr near Iceland. The Germans began to scuttle the ship, after which they took to the boats and were picked up by the warship. The Reykjavik (Iceland) correspondent of the Associated Press says that a ship, the wreckage of which bears the name Bertha Fisscr, is lying in two pieces on the rocks outside Harnafjord harbour. She was shelled during a chase on Monday. The name “Ada of Bergen” was painted on her sides. It is announced that warships have captured the German freighter Rhcingold, which is laden with wheat, and have taken her to a Scottish port, where the crew were interned. Th Italian steamer Fianona (6273 tons) struck a mine off the south-east coast. It is believed that none of the crew was injured. The ship’s hull was apparently split above water level. The ship was almost empty and was therefore more buoyant. Efforts are being made to tow her to port. The violent explosion shook coastal residences. Received Thursday, 8.45 p.m. LONDON, November 23. Violent explosions offshore on Tuesday night attracted hundreds of people to the cast coast, from which they saw the stricken destroyer sinking. Huge volumes of smoke hung over the scene and when they cleared away searchlights from the land and naval vessels revealed the sea dotted with swimmers and floating wreckage. Small boats quickly picked up the survivors and over a hundred were landed during the night. One vessel anchored close to the scene and picked up thirty survivors, who came singing into port wearing all kinds of clothing from dressing gowns to bathing suits. A survivor declared the destroyer was struck amidships. When she was beached in shallow water she appeared to be broken in half, a portion being visible above the water at dawn. Prior to the mishap the Gipsy picked up three Germans from a collapsible boat and also rescued the crew of a ship sunk in the North Sea a few days ago.