LOSS OF THE HERMES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24890, 14 April 1942, Page 5

LOSS OF THE HERMES

CONTINUOUS AIR ATTACK VESSEL SET ON FIRE COLOMBO. Apl. 12. Non-stop air attack in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire sank the Hermes within sight of land. No torpedoes were used. A wounded sub-lieutenant who was interviewed in hospital said the antiaircraft guns and pompoms of the Hermes put up an intense barrage, but this did not prevent the Japanese planes from diving through the curtain to drop sticks of bombs, and their bombing was pretty deadly. The Hermes was hit several times and set on fire. She started blazing furiously. • Wave after wave of raiders came over. The low-flying attackers paid for their audacity,. and at least four were unable to return to their base. The action went on for some time. “We were able to see the shore throughout,” the lieutenant said. “Judged by the number of carrierbased planes used for the attacks, it is probable that at least one new Japanese 28,000-ton aircraft carrier, accommodating 60 planes, is operating in the Indian Ocean. “ The Japanese machine-gunned men from the Hermes while they were struggling in the sea,” says the Colombo correspondent of the Daily Express. “Stokers on the aircraftcarrier worked on after the engine room was damaged, and the crew, fired the guns to the end.”