Germany Loses Five More Ships

Northern Advocate, 16 December 1939, Page 9

Germany Loses Five More Ships

(Received 2.30 p.m.) LONDON, December 15

A message from Santiago says it is officially stated that the German vessel Dusseldorf (4930 tons), which was reported yesterday to have sailed from Valparaiso, has been captured. The steamer carried foodstuffs and 70 Otons of oil.

An earlier message from the same source stated that a British cruiser was reported to have sunk the Dusseldorf.

the British warships off Monte Video The sudden departure of the German liner Columbus from the Gulf of Mexico is viewed by experts in Washington as a possible attempt to lure the Brtish warshps off Monte Video into a trap, or force their withdrawal from the River Plate, Scuttled to Avoid Capture. According to a news agency report from Capetown, the Hamburg steamer Adolf Leonhardt (2989 tons) was intercepted by a British warship, but was scuttled to avoid capture. The warship landed 40 members of the crew at Capetown today, states the British Official Wireless.

The Paris radio reports that three German oil tankers, the Werdenfels (6000 tons), the Lindenfels (7000 tons), and the Wagens, unregistered (5000 tons), have been seized at Sabang, in the Dutch East Indies, on behalf of a foreign company, which claims large sums from the German ship owners. Attacks by U-Boats. At least three ships were attackeed by submarines last week while in Norwegian territorial waters. This new phase of German warfare is viewed very seriousl3 r by the Admiralty, which will possibly adopt reprisals until it is ended. The British steamer Athol Templar (8939 tons) was seriously damaged by enemy action off the East Coast today. It is believed that the crew was taken on another vessel.