A Naval Exploit

Southland Times, Issue 24054, 19 February 1940, Page 4

A Naval Exploit

NOT SINCE the battle of the River Plate has any naval action appealed so much to the imagination as the rescue of more than 300 British seamen from a German supply ship, reported this morning in cable messages from London. In one sense the episode was a sequel to the defeat of the Admiral Graf Spee, for the prisoners had been transferred from that vessel and were nearing the end of one captivity only to enter another inside Germany. The story reveals again the qualities that brought fame to the crews of the Exeter, the Achilles and the Ajax. This time there was no long engagement and no ordeal by gunfire; but-there was a comparable display of the capacity for quick thinking and quick action. The affair will be studied from different angles by officials and legal experts who are keeping a close watch on Germany’s violations of international law, and by diplomats who will be interested in the roles played by the Norwegian authorities and the British Admiralty. But for the general public the main interest lies in the details of action: the attempt made by the Altmarck to ram the Cossack, the British destroyer’s swift response as it grappled with the other vessel, the boarding party and the brisk encounter before the Germans were overpowered. The adventures of the imprisoned seamen have the flavour of a fiction that

continues to delight boys and men in every generation. As the im-. mediate and practical result of the Cossack’s exploit most of these men will once again be free to help in the manning of the merchant fleet for its hazardous wartime service. Meanwhile the ceaseless and valuable work of the Royal Navy has again been thrown into relief by deeds of resource and gallantry. The words heard by some of ’ the prisoners, announcing their deliverance (“The Navy’s here!”), will have their echoes wherever British ships are to be found on the dangerous seas. They are one more reminder that the silent service is fulfilling its mission in the spirit of a great tradition.