DESTROYER FLOTILLA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24430, 16 October 1940, Page 8

DESTROYER FLOTILLA

THE AMERICAN VESSELS VALUABLE ADDITION TO FLEET LONDON. Oct. 14. Another group of American destroyers recently arrived in a British port The captain of one ship said they had had a good trip. . There were no incidents and .no German planes were, sighted. ' ~ . . A naval officer who saw the batch of American destroyers delivered to 'the British Navy at an eastern Canadian port and travelled back to England in one of them described it as an unforgettable experience, remarking that the co-operational helpfnines of their American friends was wonderful. . He said: “The ships were sailed to Canada by their American crews. American guns, torpedoes, depth charges, anti-submarine equipment, engines, and boilers differ slightly from ours, so a day was spent with the American officers and men, who explained details to their British opposite 'numbers. The destroyers, which had been refitted throughout, are scrupulously clean and in * apple-pie ’ order. Full outfits of ammunition and other warlike equipment were left on board, together with stores of all kinds. Everything was left —rope, paint, mess traps, silver, china, linen, towels, sheets, blankets, and pillows Instruments were also provided—a sextant, chronometer watch, high-powered binoculars for the use of officers and look-outs, parallel rules for navigational purposes, a typewriter, paper, envelopes, patent pencil sharpeners, pencils, and everything and anything one can imagine, even to an electric coffee machine in the wardroom, a refrigerator, and an ice-water faucet, on the deck.’’ The naval officer added: “Admittedly, as destroyers go, they are pld ships, but between 40 and 50 British destroyers of equal age have done yeoman service since the war started. The destroyers have borne a heavy burden since the outbreak of hostilities. Their losses, 32 to date, have not been slight. Coming as it does at a cxutical time, this reinforcement from America of 50 fast, well-ai-med vessels will be a most welcome accession to our already hard-worked flotillas, for which we are duly grateful.”