SEVEN U-BOATS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 October 1940, Page 6

SEVEN U-BOATS

AND TWO ITALIAN SUBMARINES SUNK IN LAST FOUR WEEKS. OTHERS SUFFER DAMAGE (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, October 4. An Admiralty communique this morning says that .in the last few weeks units of the British Navy sank seven German U-boats and two Italian submarines and damaged others. The communique adds that attacks by U-boats against merchant shipping have been more successful lately than in the earlier stages of the war. This was to be expected after the collapse of France, as the German submarines operating from the newly-occupied French ports were able to spend longer periods at sea. POLICY OF SECRECY JUSTIFIED BY RESULTS. SHORT LIFE OF U-BOAT MEN. (Received This Day, 12.35 p.m.) RUGBY, October 4. The Admiralty communique regarding the sinking of enemy submarines adds: “It has never been the policy of the Admiralty to announce successes against U-boats when they occur, or at regular intervals, since such announcements would be of operational value to the enemy. It is known, moreover, that the moral effect of the disappearance of a U-boat without any indication of the cause of its loss is a potent factor among the U-boat personnel. An interesting light is thrown on this communique by a report received today from Balkan sources that the published statistics of certain German insurance companies reveal that the average life of an officer or man seiving in German submarines is 62 days.