FALSE COLOURS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 November 1941, Page 5

FALSE COLOURS

ENEMY SHIPS MARKED AS AMERICAN CAUGHT BY CRUISER. ATTEMPT AT SCUTTLING ' FRUSTRATED. WASHINGTON, November 16. In. the first announcement of a successful American action against the Axis, the Navy Department said that a United (States cruiser at dawn on November 6 sighted in Atlantic equatorial waters a merchantman sailing under American: colours, bearing the name of an American ship, with Philadelphia shown as the home port. The vessel displayed an American Hag on the hull and decks. Since her appearance was suspicious the cruiser ordered the vessel to heave to and then sent a boat to investigate. The crew of the merchantman thereupon began to abandon ship and hoisted signal flags: “I am sinking. Send a boat for the passengers.” Two explosions were then heard aboard the merchantman, but the cruiser's salvage party succeeded in stopping the leaks and restarting the engine. The merchantman's papers indicated that she was Axis-owned. The • vessel was considerably damaged, but is being brought to an unnamed United States port by a crew from the cruiser. GERMAN MOTOR SHIP TRYING TO RUN CARGO OF WAR MATERIALS. It is now known that the merchant vessel seized in the Atlantic by an American cruiser is a German motorship of 5,000 tons. She was on her way to Germany. The ship has been taken to Porto Rico. The cargo includes rubber, metals and other war materials.