EXPLOITS IN PACIFIC

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25277, 14 July 1943, Page 2

EXPLOITS IN PACIFIC

NEW ZEALAND CORVETTES ATTACKS ON SUBMARINES (Special) CHRISTCHURCH, July 13. When the history of naval operations in the Western Pacific was written, said Lieutenant-commander P. C. Connolly, R.N.V.R., addressing members of the Christchurch Business Men’s Club at luncheon, the exploits of the New Zealand corvettes in attacking large Japanese submarines would occupy an honoured part. He referred to the achievement of the New Zealand corvette Moa, with a tonnage of only 580, which, after ramming a Japanese submarine of about 1600 tons, had driven it on to the reef at Guadalcanar. He described the engagement as one of the most outstanding of the Pacific war. Lieutenant - commander Connolly, who was engaged for 18 months on a minesweeper in the English Channel, said that British convoys had been the most highly organised in the world. He had seen German convoys sailing on the south side of the Channel while a British convoy was on the north side, and both were dive-bombed simultaneously. “It was most important that the English Channel should have been kept open,” he said. “If it had been closed, it would, apart from anything else, have becli exceedingly bad for British morale, especially in those difficult days after the fall of France.” He mentioned that of 1500 vessels he had seen go through the Channel, only seven had been totally wrecked. Many vessels were damaged, of course, at that time, but a great many were subsequently repaired and used again. Lieutenant - commander Connolly concluded by paying tribute to the truthfulness of Admiralty figures m shipping losses. He said that with improved anti-submarine detection devices and more escort vessels considerable improvements had been achieved.