25,000 MEN BELIEVED TO HAVE PERISHED

Southland Times, Issue 24655, 29 January 1942, Page 5

25,000 MEN BELIEVED TO HAVE PERISHED

(United Press Association—Telegraph Copyright) (Received 1 a.m.) LONDON, January 28. It is believed that at least 25,000 Japanese soldiers and sailors perished during the Allied battering of the giant Japanese convoy trapped in the Straits of Macassar. Enemy ships sunk or damaged total 34, including an aircraft carrier and a battleship. A Batavia report says that only a portion of the battleship is now showing above water. American opinion is that the Japanese have suffered such a heavy defeat that they may have to revise their whole offensive strategy in the South-West Pacific. The hundred-ship convoy is understood to have included 30 troopships.

Breaking a five-day silence Tokyo official radio now mentions the battle for the first time, with the admission that four Japanese transports were lost last Friday in landing operations at Balik Papan. The battle in the Macassar Straits is said to be still going on.

The Royal Navy has offered its congratulations to the American and Dutch forces for their sustained attack on the Japanese convoy.

The Navy Department discloses that during the first Japanese attack on December 7 on Midway Island, which is still holding out, the defenders seriously damaged a Japanese cruiser and a destroyer.