WARSHIP SUNK
FATE OF H.M.S. FIJI ACCOUNT OF BOMBING WELL-KNOWN OFFICERS ESCAPE
(0.C.) LONDON, August 2G "It was a sad ending to a very splendid sliip, which certainly played her part and had taken ns to within half an hour of perfect safety," said L'av-master-Coinmander E. L. Tottenham, R.N., who was secretary to the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy from 1935 to 1939, in commenting on the fate of H.M.S. Fiji, from which he was a survivor. The Fiji was sunk by German aircraft when returning from taking part in the hunt for the Bismarck. "She had been badly knocked about by near misses, and then a very near miss aggravated damage already done to the extent of flooding the forward engine and boiler unit. That was the beginning of the end. A couple of direct hits, the last attack of the day, shattered any hope we had of saving a splendid ship. We were fortunate to this extent that exactly two-thirds of the crew survived to be picked up some hours later." Other Royal Naval officers who have served in New Zealand and who were also survivors were Captain \\illiam Powlett, who commanded the Fiji and was loaned to the New Zealand Division from 1932 to 1935, and Commander G. V. Gladstone, who was in New Zealand from 1928 to 1931.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24070, 15 September 1941, Page 8
Word Count
224WARSHIP SUNK New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24070, 15 September 1941, Page 8
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