DUTCH WARSHIP BOMBED

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1933, Page 7

DUTCH WARSHIP BOMBED

EIGHTEEN ABOARDKILLiED ' ■ ■ -A ■ ' SURRENDER OF MUTINEERS act Us ffi • Hi FIRE IN SHIP SOON SUBDUED COURT-MARTIAL AWAITED By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright ’ Batavia/ Feb. 16.' ‘ < Eighteen were killed aboard the commandeered Dutch warship Zeven -Pro- - vincien when the vessel was bombed by a pursuing flying-;boat, and the mutineers surrendered. Fire followed! 'tn®; bombing; but was soon subdued. The mutineers, who Irft the ship hX order, are imprisoned at thequarantihe station at Orust.’ They are guarded by infantry and will be immediately courtmartialled. ’’ Nine of the thirteen injured ato-mia serious condition. The wounded were taken off most speedily and brought to Priok. ' ~ The commander of the air squadron summoned the Zeven Provincien to make , an rmconditional surrender or/violence would be used. He demanded that the white flag be hoisted and that a white cloth be shown on the; awning dedq while the ship should stop, for .ten minutes to allow time for reflection.' J The mutineers wirelessed a reply that they were only acting in protest against the wages cuts, and that they would" surrender the ship to the authorities in due course, adding “Don’t hinder us.? Thereupon the aeroplane dropped the first bomb alongside the. mutinous ship. The. Zeven Provincien surrendered after being hit at 9.18 by a bomb from .a Dornier flying-boat Fire broke out and the crew left the ship in boats. Only one bomb hit the ship. Three 12 natives and three unidentified persons were killed. Lieutenant Devos': Van Steedwijk was slightly injured. Six bomb-laden hydroplanes went to Padang to prevent a possible attack by the mutineers, but the cruiser passed without molesting Padang,- and the hydroplanes returned. The fact' that they did not bomb the cruiser then shows that the Admiralty considered this too dangerous for the imprisoned officers. The Navy Department states that the bomb entered the Zeven Provincien on the port side forward of the", forward funnel, causing great panic among the ratings gathered on the; main dedt Several holes were blown in the upper deck and the funnels were riddled, but otherwise the ship was rmdamaged. A lieuterfant standing on the poop was wounded in the. leg by a fragment of the bomb. The divisional commander at Batavia announces that' no private ’persons"Vdfi be admitted to Orust Island, a portion of the defence" zone.