CARNARVON CASTLE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 11 December 1940, Page 5

CARNARVON CASTLE

REPAIRS AT MONTEVIDEO EXAMINATION IN PORT f U.P.A.-By Electric Telegraph-Copyright] MONTEVIDEO, 9th December. Uruguayan naval officers inspected the Carnarvon Castle and voiced the opinion that the German raider used 5.9 guns of a more modern type than 1 the Carnarvon Castle’s, firing fragmentation shells which had an effect similar to shrapnel. They cut the teakwood decks like a razor. The officers added that the Carnarvon Castle took obviously an aggressive part in the action because the majority of the hits were received forward. The German Minister to Uruguay. Herr Langmann, formally protested at the Carnarvon Castle’s extension of time in port to 72 hours, recalling the similar British protest on the occasion of the Graf Spee repair work. (The customary time of stay allowed belligerent vessels which are forced to enter neutral waters is 24 hours, but it is frequently lengthened to allow of repairs to make a ship seaworthy. The formal British protest over the Graf Spee was rejected.) Herr Langmann also appealed to the Uruguayan Foreign Office to search all British ships in the harbour for 22 Germans removed from the Brazilian coastal ship Itape. The Foreign Office informed him that there were no German prisoners aboard any vessel in the harbour. VESSEL LEAVES REPAIRS SPEEDILY EFFECTED [British Official Wireless] (Received 11th December, 10.20 a.m.) RUGBY, 10th December. The auxiliary cruiser Carnarvon Castle, which put into Montevideo for repairs after an action with a German raider, sailed at 4.45 p.m. at the conclusion of the 72-hours’ stay permitted by the Uruguayan authorities. Appreciation is expressed in newspapers here of the sympathetic interest taken in the Carnarvon Castle’s visit and reports emphasise that whereas when the Graf Spee sought refuge in Montevideo no repair firm offered its services every local firm with adequate equipment at once offered to help the ; Carnarvon Castle. The repairs have been speedily effected.