NO ACTIVITY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20067, 13 October 1939, Page 7

NO ACTIVITY

U-BOAT CAMPAIGN WEEK WITHOUT LOSS BRITISH SHIPS SAFE GERMAN VESSEL TAKEN GAP NORTE’S CARGO (Reed. Oct. 13, 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 12. A communique from the Ministry of Information states that during the past week there has been no report of the sinking of a single British ship. One small vessel is overdue, but a variety of causes may have occasioned the delay in its arrival in port. U-boats are, reported to have been, in the West Atlantic, but, (like the German raider reported off Brazil, showed no practical activity, and are still keeping far afield from the trade routes. It is officially announced that the British Navy captured the German steamer, Cap Norte, which is believed to have been taking supplies to a commerce raider. The Cap .Norte carried- foodstuffs and petroleum products. She slipped out of Pernambuco on September 17 for an undisclosed destination, believed to be Vladivostok. Oil companies declined to sell fuel and oils used by submarines, but the Cap Norte had 2500 tons of crude oil aboard. The Paris office of the Associated Press of Great Britain reports that the German Air Force is preparing action against the British Fleet.

The First Sea Lord, Mr. Winston Churchill, in a written reply to a question in the House of Commons, said that the U-boat commander who wirelessed him a personal message is not in British custody. Competent, authorities informed him that the commander was a prisoner, but subsequent examination had not confirmed ffiis assumption.

The Cap Norte is a steamer of 13,615 tons, built in 1922 for the Ham-burg-America Line.