Submarine Sinks Submarine

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 4, 6 January 1941, Page 8

Submarine Sinks Submarine

FORMER THETIS’ BAG RUGBY, Jan. 3. An Admiralty communique announces that the submarine • Thunderbolt sank an Italian U-boat proceeding to Its base In enemy-occupied territory escorted by three armed trawlers. It is revealed that the submarine Thunderbolt, . says a British Official Wireless message was originally the Thetis, which sank in Liverpool Bay in June 1939, after a trial dive. Details of the Thunderbolt's sinking of the U-boat show that after firing his torpedo, the commanding officer of the Thunderbolt say a tall column of water rise in the air from the U-boat and a loud explosion was heard. When the smoke and spray cleared away, only one end of the vessel was seen sticking out of the water at a steep angle and this quickly disappeared. The escort, consisting of three armed trawlers, dropped depth charges as soon as they realised that an attack was taking place. Since the explosion of the torpedo was both seen and heard and since the enemy U-boat would not have dived while the trawlers were dropping depth charges in its close proximity and it is considered certain that the U-boat was sunk, it is possible on this occasion to depart from the normal procedure of refraining from announcing losses inflicted among enemy U-boa.ts, since the incident was witnessed by the enemy’s escorting vessels.