NOT GOOD ENOUGH

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24281, 23 May 1942, Page 7

NOT GOOD ENOUGH

TORPEDOES TOO SMALL ATTACK ON PRINZ EUGEN FATE OF WARSHIP UNKNOWN LONDON, May 21 Whether it is in torpedoes, which are supplied by the Admiralty, or in aircraft that the Royal Air Force is deficient, the fact that enemy ships escape while British ships are frequently sunk when attacked by aircraft in strength is perturbing some expert observers. The matter has again been raised by the disappointing result of the Coastal Command attack on the 10,000-ton heavy German cruiser, Prinz Eugen, on Sunday night. The German fighter screen, comprising the latest and most efficient types, saved the cruiser from going to the bottom of the North Sea, but some experts believe that if the torpedoes which the Royal Air Force carried and launched had been bigger and more powerful, even fighters would not have enabled the Prinz Eugen to continue her charmed life.

Gallantry Not Rewarded

The Royal Air Force crews went into action with the greatest gallantry and initiative, paralleling their efforts when the Prinz Eugen, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst escaped in the Battle of the Channel in February. The attack was plotted and commanded from the shore with the greatest skill and efficiency. Therefore there is widespread disappointment felt that neither of the two torpedoes which hit the cruiser, when she was off the southern tip of Norway, was powerful enough to complete the job.

One commentator asks whether the Coastal Command is equipped with the best types of aircraft for attacking warships at sea, and, if not, urges that the deficiency should be speedily made good. It is pointed out that it is unknown whether the Prinz Eugen, even now, is not sunk, or at least crippled. On the other hand, the German warship's ability to withstand severe punishment has been demonstrated so often that it is practically certain that the Prinz Eugen reached the German dockyard, which was her apparent objective. Ship Well Protected

She went to sea on Saturday night from Trondheim, escorted by four destroyers and under an umbrella of fighter planes from bases along the Norwegian coast. The destroyers were spaced around her in such a way as to provide the greatest possible protection against attack, either from submarines or torpedo-carrying aircraft, and the fighters were "stepped-up " at various heights above the range of surface vessels' anti-aircraft guns.

The Germans set a course which at no time brought the Prinz Eugen closer than 300 miles to the nearest British aerodrome. Her destination was probably Kiel, 600 miles from Trondheim. The damage which has been inflicted on the Prinz Eugen should keep her out of commission for the rest of the summer.

The Evening News in a leading article says: " Must not the answer to why the Prinz Eugen escaped be that we had too few torpedo planes and no dive-bombers? Is not part of the reason the simple fact that the Beauforts carried only old 18in. torpedoes, compared with the 21in. torpedoes with which the Japanese destroyed the Prince of Wales and Repulse? Those deficiencies must be made good. The navy, without new weapons of sea warfare, will have a superhuman task of keeping the seas free. It might have sent the lucky Prinz Eugen to the bottom with them."