U-BOAT CRIMES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20132, 29 December 1939, Page 8

U-BOAT CRIMES

NEUTRAL WATERS DELIBERATE ATTACKS FLOUTING LAW OF SEA USE OF TORPEDOES NO WARNING GIVEN (Klee. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 1.40 p.m. RUGBY, Dee. 28. Evidence of the deliberate use of neutral territorial waters for preying upon shipping, in defiance of all principles of international law, is contained in the testimony of survivors from the British steamer Deptford, one of three ships, including one neutral, recently torpedoed inside Norwegian waters. The testimony is corroborated by members of the crew of the Norwegian motor boat Faircla, which rescued them. Details of the sinking of the Deptford on December 13 can now be given for the first time. This ship was skirting the Norwegian coast in accordance with established navigational practice in those waters and had two Norwegian pilots on board when she was torpedoed. The ship sank in about 90 seconds and there were only five survivors from the crew of 37. In addition to the loss of life among British noncombatants, both the Norwegian pilots were killed.

When she was torpedoed the Deptford was only about 850 yards from the mainland of Norway. Could Not Plead Mistake

Naval writers, commenting on the facts, point out that it is possible, under certain conditions, for a submarine outside territorial waters to attack a vessel without appreciating that the vessel is within that internationally accepted zone of sanctuary. Such a case might arise in bad weather if the ship attacked were close to the outer edge of the three-mile limit. In the case of the torpedoing of the Deptford, the U-boat could not possibly plead a navigational mistake. The visibility was excellent and the Deptford was less than half a mile from a high coastline. Even more damning is the statement of the captain of the Fairda, who said he saw the conning tower of the submarine break the surface and she was between the Deptford and the land. The Norwegian const in that neighbourhood is deeply indented and has deep water right up to the shore. It was an ideal place for a submarine — careless of the legality of its proceedings—to lie under the land awaiting her chance, and there is little doubt that these were the tactics adopted by the U-boat concerned in torpedoing the Deptford. It was only two days before that the Greek steamer Garou Falia had been torpedoed without warning in Norwegian territorial waters, while four days before that the British steamer Thomas Walton was torpedoed without warning off Narvik, when she was well inside neutral territorial waters.