FAVOURABLE TURN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 15 October 1941, Page 5

FAVOURABLE TURN

BATTLE OF NORTH ATLANTIC EFFECT OF I S. CONVOYING NO SHITS LOST SINC E Kith SFP I EMBER ißec lu.A a.tn. ) London. (Jet. 1 \. A British United Press special correspondent at Rcykjavic in a single ship has been lost by enemy action from the convoys that Fnited States warships have escorted across the North Atlantic since 16th September, the day on which Colonel Knox, Secretary of the Navy, announced that convoys were running to Iceland. It is considered the clearest indication that the battle of the North Atlantic has taken a favourable turn and British and American naval officers, although they agreed that United States participation is greatly strengthening the trade routes arc careful to emphasise that the situation ma\ change anv FIGHT GOES IN CYCLES A high British naval officer .-.aid that I tins light goes in cycles. Sometimes wc j are able to keep the submarines off [they hit two or three convoys in suc- | cession. The correspondent continues, j that since the attempted torpedoing of the U.S. destroyer Greer there lias j been been no known torpedo attack against American destroyers although many escorting destroyers report the distance from their convoys. Apparently the submarines do not desire to provoke incidents or fail to penetrate [ the heavy screen of escorts. GERMAN TACTICS “German tactics at present appear to be to concentrate between six and ten submarines in wolf packs” on the edge of shipping lanes and to send out single submarines on scouting duty When the scout spots a convoy it summons the pack for a mass attack if conditions are favourable.’ Sometimes one submarine surfaces on the edge of- the convoy to draw **ff the escorts while the remainder lurking nearby, slip through the gap in the defence for a mass raid. A group of submarines :n one case came up in the middle of a convoy and fired their torpedoes in both directions so that in the running fight which ensued, considerable damage was caused. Naval quarters believe that faster merchantmen are the real solution to the problem but these are impracticable at present as many old slops are in use.—U.P.A.