CHANNEL ACTION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 2 December 1940, Page 6

CHANNEL ACTION

GERMAN DESTROYERS SCATTER ESCAPE IN DARKNESS ADMIRALTY STATEMENT OF DAMAGE [British Official Wireless) RUGBY, 30th November. An Admiralty community dealing with the action in the English Channel on Friday between British and German light naval forces states: “Contact was made at 5.40 a.m. and fire was immediately opened by both sides The German force, which consisted of at lea:;t three destroyers, scattered and withdrew at high speed toward the French coast, firing torpedoes as they went

“One of our destroyers. H.M.S. Javelin, on board of which was the officer in command of the flotilla (Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten), was hit and damaged by a torpedo early in the engagement. The Javelin has now been brought safely to port. Another of our destroyers chased an enemy destroyer, which made off westward under cover of smoke, but the pursuer lost touch after half an hour owing to the darkness and the enemy’s use of the smoke screen. The remaining enemy destroj'ers were chased southward by other British units. These German destroyers also escaped in the darkness, and subsequent attempts to regain touch proved fruitless.

It has not been possible to establish with certainty the extent of the damage inflicted by our gunfire, but the enemy was seen to be repeatedly hit. Apart from the Javelin, the British forces sustained no other damage or casualties.”

“OUR SEA - ’

ITALIAN NAVAL PLAN WRECKED BRITISH WARSHIPS’ SWIFT BLOWS RUGBY. 30th November. There is wide agreement in the London Press that an estimate of the blow sustained by the Italian Navy on Wednesday may safely be left to the responsible opinion of the world. The blow to enemy prestige is particularly stressed by ‘The Times.” which comments : “When two battleships, one of them the newest and most powerful in the world, retire from a 23-vear-old battle-cruiser it is not Italian confidence that is likely to be stimulated, but British.” The material angle of the blow—following closely on the Taranto exploit—is described in the “Daily Telegraph” as having changed fundamentally the whole naval position in the Mediterranean “Italy.” the “Telegraph” says, “began as a great maritime Power, and under the Axis strategy she was, by continual avoidance of action, to conserve her strength till such time as that w of the British Fleet had been whittled away by the submarine and other hazards of war and battle could at least be loined with a good prospect of victory. “The expected attainment has not taken place, and the whole nlan has been irretrievably wrecked in the space of 16 days. ‘Mare Nostrum’ is commanded to-day by the British Navy.”