NOT YET KNOWN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20123, 18 December 1939, Page 7

NOT YET KNOWN

BRITISH LOSSES VESSELS STILL AT SEA AMIRALTY EXPLANATION EXET£R’S “HARD KNOCK” MOVEMENTS OF RAIDER (Reed. Dec. 16, 2.15 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 15. The Admiralty spokesman stated tlat the Admiralty had not heard anything from the British warships which were engaged in the South Atlantic battle for some time, since they were still at sea and were not operating their -wireless. For this reason it had no , kridweldge of the damage sustained- There wasuy no reason to suppose that the Achilles or ,Ajax., suffered)., severe damage, though xio doubt the Exeter had had a hard knock. The, Admiralty has. now, traced the approximate course-of the .Oral, yon Spee after the sinking of the Clement on September ,30 off Pernambuco, after, whies H she,, sanktheNewton Beagb on October,) 6, the Ashlea on October T. .the- .Huntsman dri October 10, and ,the . .Trevapman ori ; October 22, all north-east from St. Helena. Short Notice Given After this rhe rounded ti.e Cape and sank the,.Africa, Shell.bn,November 1, north-east ffomLoureucc hlarques. She then again- rounded the Cape and sank the. Doric Star on December 2, south-east, from St. Helena, i|-. latitude 20, and sank-the Tairoa oh December ;3. She then steamed to Montevideo, sinking the Streonsholh en route. The Shaw Savill Company has teen advised from Montevideo that seven members of the crew of the Tairoa are aboard the Graf von Spee,, but the commander and remainder of the crew are aboard an enemy auxiliary cruiser. A message from Montevideo says that Captain Pottinger said that the Ashlea was sunk on October 2. The crew were given 10 minutes to aban- , don the ship. The crew was transferred to the Newton Beech, which fdllowed the Graf Spee, and the provisions were seized. The Ashlea was sunk with bombs. The Huntsman’s chief officer, Mr. Thompson, said that a prize crew boarded the Huntsman on October 10 and she followed the Graf Spee for a week *o disguise her. position, because she had sent out a wireless warning. She was later sunk with bombs.