ENGAGEMENT IN MEDITERRANEAN

Waikato Times, Volume 131, Issue 21758, 18 June 1942, Page 3

ENGAGEMENT IN MEDITERRANEAN

LIBERATOR BOMBERS PLAY GREAT PART ENEMY SHIPS SUNK—CONVOYS GET THROUGH LONDON, June 17 The part played by American Liberator bombers and other aircraft in the great sea and air battles in the Mediterranean was described in a communique issued today. A force of Liberators surprised an Italian fleet on Monday. The two battleships included in the fleet both received direct hits which started fires. With the arrival of torpedo-carry-ing planes the fleet broke up. It is now 7 known that the British convoys did not get through to Tobruk and Malta without loss, but the Italian claims in that regard are fantastic. It is known that two Italian battleships w r ere struck by bombs which caused fires, that one 10,000-ton cruiser was sunk and a 6-inch-gun cruiser set afire, that at least two destroyers were sunk and that heavy losses were inflicted on the enemy air force. Malta’s defenders alone shot down ten bombers and five fighters. The battle covered 500 miles of sea. The Malta-bound convoy sailed from Gibraltar and that bound for Tobruk left from Alexandria. Several separate actions then resulted. Powerful air squadrons attacked the Malta convoy south of Sardinia. An Italian naval squadron in the meantime was hovering off Pantellaria, about 170 miles west of Malta, awaiting a chance to attack the convoy should it have been sufficiently weakened by the air onslaught; but this squadron, which consisted of cruisers and destroyers, never got a chance. Air attacks were launched upon it from aircraft-carriers and from Malta. One cruiser was set on fire and one destroyer probably was hit. This squadron appears to have taken no further part in the battle.

Sea Alive With Torpedoes The main Italian Battle Fleet, which included two battleships, meanwhile was steaming full-speed to the south from Taranto. Its obvious purpose, according to the naval correspondent of the Daily Mail, was to get among the convoy bound for Malta from Alexandria and smash it up when it had been reasonably “softened” by violent air attacks from Axis planes drawn from bases in the Aegean Sea and North Africa. However, like the smaller Italian squadron, it was never given an opportunity. A swarm of torpedo planes was loosed on it from Malta and another swarm swooped down from Africa. Then came the greatest shock of all—a strong force of Liberator bombers. The sea was alive with torpedoes, and powerful armour-piercing bombs from the Liberators were dropping all round the twisting, turning Italian warships. Fires and explosions broke out on board the battleships and bombs burst on the decks of the heavy Trento class cruiser. Before long this cruiser was ablaze from stem to stern. British torpedo planes swooped in for the death blow and she sank in a few minutes. There were fires also on other warships. The Italians turned to the north and fled full-speed for home. Once again a major sea action appears to have been fought out without surface ships coming into action against each other. The damage which our forces inflicted appears to have been the work entirely of planes, and our aircraft also effectively prevented the two Italian squadrons from making battle contact.