MAGNETIC MINES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 5, 6 January 1940, Page 11

MAGNETIC MINES

NAVAL SCEPTICS JAPANESE CAPTAIN HAS NO DOUBTS HE HAD FIVE LOOK-OUT MEN (By Air Mail). LONDON, Nov. 25. Some of the naval experts in Britain are sceptical about the claim that the mines used by the Germans are magnetic. Captain Matukura. of the 12,-000-ton Japanese liner Terukuni Maru recently sunk off the east coast oi England has no doubts. It was some kind of magnetic mine, he is convinced, that destroyed his ship. He said this week the liner had been cleared for contraband. Two naval officers came on board and delivered the routine papers and Hag for her to pass into British waters. “I had live navigators on the bridge watching for mines,” said the captain. ‘When we left anchorage 1 felt secure. My look-out man saw nothing dangerous, had no warning of any sort. vVe were going at 15 knots when the explosion occurred. I knew it was a mine and I would say it was a deep mine. If it had been an ordinary floating mine at least one of my look-out men would have seen it. “There was a terrific explosion in No, 2 and No. 3 holds. The bridge was shattered. The boat began to heel over and I directed my passengers into the Lifeboats. There were eight boats, it was 45 minutes before we went down, plenty of time for all to oe rowed well away from the sinking ship. “We got an S.O.S. out, and a British boat answered. Just how there was a mine in this area which was marked as safe mystified us both. My own belief is that it was some sort of magnetic mine. It looked to me like one. “The magnetic mine stays at the bottom of the sea out of the reach of the sweepers until certain magnetic forces make it rise quickly lOtt. below on oncoming ship. It is then drawn upwards against the weakest part of the vessel. There was a crew of 178 and 27 passengers in the liner, 16 of them British. Oldest of them was a British woman, Mrs. Hunter, aged 70. bhe was thrown off her feet by the explosion and badly shaken. Mrs. Helen Swales, 36-year-old wife of a chief petty officer, who lives in Aberdare, said:—“l was pacing the deck, with my dog Nutty, thinking that if we were struck I was at least safe on the upper deck, when there was a shattering explosion in the forward part of the ship. Nutty jumped and yapped with excitement. We were immediately ordered to our stations. There was no panic whatever. Old Mrs. Hunter was magnificent. To all the she said, ‘We must remain calm.’ While she was wailing to enter a lifeboat she carefully adjusted her hair. “Nutty was the first to leap into the lifeboat. We were under the care of a Japanese coxswain. I shall never forget that man’s behaviour. Although blood was streaming down his face, he gave all his orders quietly and calmly. Within a few minutes we were taken aboard a drifter. The crew gave us rum and coffee. Nutty wagged his tail in delight when he was given some meat by the crew.”