BEATING THE BOMBS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 144, 20 August 1941, Page 3

BEATING THE BOMBS

NEW ZEALAND SHIPS

CARGO GOT THROUGH

The of a New Zealand Shipping Company vessel which ran the enemy's aerial blockade in the Mediterranean just after Italy had entered the war were described by Captain F. E. Tether, marine superintendent of the company, in an address at the luncheon of the Wellington R.S.A. He paid a tribute to the marvellous work of the Merchant Navy, from ships' masters to potato peelers, and gave this one particular instance of the risks run by merchant shipping in time of war. *

This ship, said Captain Tether, was on her way to England, via Sue/, just at the time of Italy's entry into the war. At Alexandria the master was sent for by Admiral Cunningham and asked if he would accept the doubtful honour of taking his ship to Malta with greatly needed supplies. This involved running what might prove to be a blockade. The master asked for a couple of high-angle guns, and was given two off a warship, no others being available.

His ship and two others then ,-e t out and, as expected, were attacked

by dive bombers. Several bombs were dropped miles away by Italians, but a plane apparently piloted by a German made three determined attacks from a lower level than the other planes. The first bomb hit the wireless cabin and killed the operator, the second struck the aft gun mounting and put out of action the hvo high-angle guns and the steering gear. The pilot came back, and with his last bomb scored a near miss right alongside the main injector. Water came into the ship and r,I most reached the furnaces before engineers were able to block the leak with timber. They were then

about 400 miles from Malta and were expecting more raiders. Fortunately It was a twin screw ship, and she carried on, steering by the engines.

"That Was the Hell of It."

Talking to Captain Tether later, the master of the ship said that when the action was on it was nothing. So - great was the excitement that he did not realise that a piece of one of the high-angle guns had been blown through the funnel oti to the bridge until he picked the piece up afterwards. But after the bombers had gone and the crew realised tint they could not ieacb Malta before daylight next day, and that more bombers would come after them, "that was the hell of it." At daybreak every man on the ship, whether on watch or not, was on deck, smoking cigarette after cigarette and watching for aeroplanes, in the highest possible tension. The raiding planes did come, hut fortunately the Navy had been informed and was on the spot, with the result that five bombers were shot down and none; of them got near the merchant ships, which reached Malta safely with the necessary supplies. The master received a civilian decoration.

Captain P. S.. Pederson, the harbourmaster, said that the ship was well known in New Zealand and »,vas regarded from the point of view of .manoeuvrability as a "perfect seast." That was with a rudder. 'How he got her 400 miles without ft rudder beats me," he added.