NAVAL VICTORY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24431, 17 October 1940, Page 7

NAVAL VICTORY

CRUISER AJAX AGAIN ITALIAN SHIPS ENGAGED THREE DESTROYERS SUNK (British Official Wireless) (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) RUGBY, Oct. 15. After waiting for full reports from the ships, engaged the Admiralty made public this evening the facts of recent naval actions in the Mediterranean, regarding which an Italian account was put into circulation on Sunday. The communique states: The Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean reports that his Majesty’s ships under his command have carried out an extensive sweep in the Eastern and Central Mediterranean. No contact was made between our main forces and the main forces of the enemy, and there was no indication that the enemy main force had proceeded to sea. During these operations, however, H.M.S. Ajax made contact with three Italian destroyers of the 679-ton Airone class about 60 miles south-east of Sicily at 2.30 a.m. on October 12. The Ajax at once engaged the enemy and two Italian destroyers were sunk outright. . Shortly after this encounter the Ajax sighted an enemy force comprising one heavy cruiser and four destroyers. The Ajax again engaged the enemy and succeeded in crippling an enemy destroyer. The remainder of the force escaped in the darkness. Believing that the Ajax was in touch with considerable enemyforces, H.M.S. York came up in support, but no further contact was made with the enemy that night. With the assistance of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm the damaged enemy destroyer was located at dawn in the tow of another Italian destroyer, which had gallantly come to her assistance. On the arrival of the Ajax the towing destroyer slipped its tow and made off at high speed towards Sicily under cover of a'smoke screen. It was then ascertained that the damaged destroyer was the 1620-ton Artigliere of the latest class of large Italian destroyers. H.M.S. York soon came on the scene, and the crew of the Artigliere at once began to abandon ship. Our. forces allowed half an hour for abandoning ship and then sank the enemy destroyer by gunfire. The York dropped rafts to supplement the boats and rafts for the survivors.

ITALIAN SURVIVORS POSITION BROADCAST ACTION BY THE BRITISH RISK OF BOMBING AVOIDED (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, Oct. 15. A wireless message was broadcast on the commercial wavelength of an Italian station giving the position of the survivors of the destroyers sunk by the Ajax. This was done in spite of the fact that such a signal compromised the position of the British forces. The weather was fine and Sicily at no great distance. The experience at the sinking of the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni on July 19, when our rescuing destroyers were bombed by Italian aircraft, made it impossible for our ships to take any further measures for the safety of the survivors of the Italian destroyer. It was known, moreover, that an Italian air concentration and an Italian submarine were in the vicinity. Ajax Slightly Damaged During these spirited and successful actions, the Ajax had only a few casualties. The only damage suffered by the Ajax was superficial, and in no way impaired her fighting efficiency. No casualties or damage were suffered by the York.

These are the actions in which an Italian High Command communique, while admitting the loss of two small and one large destroyers, claimed that a British cruiser, probably of the Neptune class, had been sunk. Following upon these contacts between our light forces and those of the enemy, our fleet was attacked by enemy aircraft over a period of four hours. The Italian High Command communique claimed one of our aircraft carriers and one of our heavy cruisers suffered damage as the result of these attacks. In fact, none of our ships suffered either damage of casualties, whilst four enemy aircraft were certainly shot down 'by fighters of the Fleet Air Arm and the anti-aircraft fire of our ships, and two more were probably destroyed. All our aircraft returned safely. On the night of October 13 aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm attacked the port of Lago, in the Dodecanese Islands, achieving a complete surprise. Barracks, workshops, hangars. and a petrol tank were hit and set on fire. From this attack all our aircraft returned safely.

THE AJAX COMMANDER A DISTINGUISHED CAREER LONDON, Oct. 15 (Received Oct. 16, at 9.30 p.m.) The new commander of the Ajax, Captain Desmond McCarthy, has had a distinguished career with destroyers. He was deputy director of the Training and Staff Duties Division at the outbreak of the war. The Italians must have been nuzzled by the appearance of the York, which is among the ships the Germans claimed to have sunk.

PRESTIGE ENHANCED BLOW TO AXIS BULLYING Referring to the wireless message broadcast by the British cruisers on the Italian commercial wave-length giving the position of the survivors was, commented on last night by Mr George Slocombe in a talk from London. “This is the first time in . history, I believe,” he said, “ that a warship has compromised its own security by giving the enemy valuable information as to her own whereabouts.” After recounting the full details of the engagement, Mr Slocombe continued: “If I have told the, story at some length, I have done so because rt affords another proof of the effective British naval control of the Mediterranean and also because, in its influence on the surrounding countries, it may have a powerful effect on the Axis policy of bluff, blackmail and bullying in the : Near East. It is not enough for Mussolini to keep proclaiming, as he constant!,; does over the Italian radio, that he - is the ‘ Protector of Islam ’ or for Hitler to declare that Britain will be destroyed. These statements have no meaning while the navy rules the seas. “ The Rumanian oil wells and the Black Sea ports which Germany is said to be fortifying, must be well within the bombing range of,our aircraft,” M!r Slocombe,.added. “And similar, considerations apply to Turkey, which can receive considerable assistance so long as Britain retains her hold on the Mediterranean,”