BRITISH AIRCRAFT TAKE PART

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23928, 31 March 1941, Page 7

BRITISH AIRCRAFT TAKE PART

FLEETS IN ACTION

ITALIANS SUFFER HEAVY DAMAGE

ONE ENEMY SHIP PROBABLY SUNK By Telesrraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received March •->!», 7.10 p.m.) LONDON, March 2}) The Italian navy has been forced to action by the British Mediterranean Fleet, and appears to have suffered severe losses, says a British official wireless message. An Admiralty communique states: "Naval operations of some importance are taking place in the eastern Mediterranean. Only preliminary reports are available, but from these it appears that on Friday our naval forces under Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham sighted Italian forces consisting of battleships, cruisers and destroyers. "The enemy force scattered, but some units have been brought to action, and it appears that so far at least one battleship of the Littorio class has been damaged and two enemy cruisers very severely damaged. "Naval aircraft and units of the Royal Air Force carried out attacks, the results of which are not known. Greek nayal forces are taking part in these operations. Successful Air Attacks A later Admiralty communique stated: ' Further information about the naval action is not yet available, but rafts containing Italian survivors were reported this morning by our aircraft, and it may therefore be assumed that at least one Italian ship has been sunk." Following closely on the Admiralty communique, Royal Air "orce headquarters in the Middle East issued a communique which described widespread air operations from southern Italy to the Red Sea, including heavy attacks on Italian warships in the lonian Sea. In respect of the lonian Sea activities, the communique says: "A large formation of our bombers made a heavy and successful attack on enemy warships in the lonian Sea. Two warships and one destroyer were hit by heavy bombs. One of the cruisers stopped, emitting black and yellow smoke. A number of bombs fell close to the enemy ships." Rome Claims Bomb Damage to Warships A Rome communique says: "Italian air formations throughout yesterday attacked enemy convoys, naval formations and anchored ships in the Aegean Sea, by means of torpedoes and bombs. We hit two aircraft-carriers and two British cruisers. One cruiser must be considered as lost. Some small merchant vessels were heavily hit, and one of them was set on fire. Inaugurating the Brighton war weapons week, the First Lord of the Admiralty mentioned the Mediterranean naval action. Commenting on the fact that units of the Italian navy had been brought to action, Mr. Alexander emphasised that that was always the endeavour of the Royal Navy. The First Lord referred to the damage to one Littorio-class battleship and to two cruisers and added, "Maybe they are sunk. Speaking of the enemy's lighter craft he said, I do not think there is much left of the destroyers." Italy's Capital Ship Strength When Italy entered the war she possessed six battleships— two jf the Littorio class and four of the Cavour class, but two more ships of the Littorio class were under construction. One battleship of the Littorio class and two of the Cavour class were severely damaged by the Fleet Air Arm at Taranto last November. A second ship of the Littorio class was torpedoed and damaged by the Fleet Air Arm a fortnight later, and another vessel of the same class was damaged in yesterday's engagement. Thus out of a possible eight battleships only three have managed to escape damage. The first two of the Littorio battleships—the Littorio and Vittorio Veneto—were completed last year. They have a displacement of 35,000 tons and are armed with nine 15in. and 12 6in. guns, and 12 3.5 in. anti-aircraft guns. They have a speed of 31 knots and a complement of 1600 officers and men.