AN ADMIRALTY MESSAGE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1302, 24 September 1914, Page 3

AN ADMIRALTY MESSAGE.

The following has been received by His Excellency the Governor from tbcl Admiralty : “ The attention of officers in command is called to the necessity of strict reticence in all matters relating to the movements and operations against the fleet. Interview's and letters from the fleet are appearing in the press giving information which should not be made public and it appears from private telegrams correctly addressed to ships at their base that information 011 this point must have been conveyed in letters from these ships. Such lapses in secrecy may have serious effects on public interests and as they cannot always be controlled by censorship, the patriotic co-operation of all ranks should be invited and His Excellency hopes that this request will be strictly adhered to.

NAVAL ENGAGEMENT.

THREE BRITISH CRUISERS TOREDOED. BY TWO GERMAN SUBMARINES. ATTACKERS MSTROYED. The Prime Minister has received the following official message ; London, Sept. 22, 5.5 p.m. The armoured cruisers Hogue, Aboukir and Cressy have been sunk by submarines in the North Sea. The Aboukir was torpedo ed, and, whilst the Hogue and Cressy were standing by to save the crew, they, also, were torpedoed. A considerable number of men w'ere saved by a division of destroyers, trawlers and boats. A list of casualties will be issued as soon as the particulars are known. London, Sept. 22 Reuter reports that the tw T o German submarines which attacked the cruisers Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue, have been destroyed.

The Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue were three sister ships, which, with the Bacchante and Kuryalus, also sister ships, and the Donegal, composed the 7th cruiser squadron, and were attached to the Third Fleet. The ships were all of 12,000 tons displacement, and had speeds ranging from 20j/j to 22 '/, knots. They carried two o.2in. and 12 bin. guns. The nominal complement of each of the three ships was 755 men. The Cressy class cruisers, of which, with the Sutlej, three remain, are the oldest armoured cruisers in the Navy, and were built from 10QJ to 1905.