SUNK AT ALEXANDRIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25849, 21 May 1945, Page 5

SUNK AT ALEXANDRIA

TWO BRITISH BATTLESHIPS WAR SECRET REVEALED (Rec. 9.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 19. A midget Italian submarine damaged the battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant in January, 1942, when they were anchored in Alexandria Harbour. The story Is related by Reuter’s Alexandria correspondent, who says that the submarine, which was manned by two sailors, crept past the harbour boom in the wake of a British destroyer. The Italians attached explosive charges known as limpets to the battleships’ bilge keels and then climbed the anchor chains. The crew reached Valiant’s deck. The ship’s crew caught them, and took them to the magazine, where they were warned that unless they told the whole truth they would blow up with the • ships. The unnerved Italians then confessed, but it was too late. The time fuses went off, and the charges blew holes in the ships’ bottoms, causing them to settle on the harbour mud. The superstructure and magazines were undamaged. Queen Elizabeth was patched up and proceeded via the Suez canal under her own steam to America for repairs. Valiant was repaired sufficiently to go to dry dock. The secret of the attack was kept so well that neither the German nor the Italian High Commands knew.