THE VON SCHEER

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 116, 15 April 1940, Page 7

THE VON SCHEER

BATTLESHIP TORPEDOED SUBMARINE S UCCESS. REVIEW BY ADMIRALTY. (From Daventry.) The British Admiralty yesterday announced some oi the British submarine successes in the last week. It is not shown where these successes were gained, but they probably relate to the Skagerrak and the Kattegat. The communique deals with the torpedoing of 14 supply slaps, ten of which were definitely sunk. A major success not previously made known is the torpedoing of the German “pocket” battleship Admiral von Sclieer in the early hours of Thursday morning. The submarine responsible for this was the Spearfisi). This vessel was in the news earlier in the war when she escaped frpm a German submarine net in tlie Heligoland Bight.

The cruiser Karlsruhe, as previously reported, is announced as having been sunk at Christiansand. Troopships and supply ships, seven of whose names are definitely known, are included in the list of vessels sunk. They include the Posidania (4000 tons), Rio dc Janeiro (5300 tons), the Kreta, a tanker (5300 tons), the Antares, a troopship (3500 tons), the lona (of 3000 tons) and another of 2600 tons.

On April 10 two German merchant ships were scuttled, including a troopship in a convoy, and a third was attacked. hut it is not know whether the latter was definitely sunk. Admiral Sir James Sommerville yesterday said that inside the Kattegat the British submarines had been operating in narrow and shallow waters. When the story of the submarines’ enterprise could he told in full it would provide a thrilling chapter in Britain’s naval history. The conduct of the officers and men was beyond all praise, “but just what we expected of them.” Several German submarines have been sunk or captured, but the Admiralty is not making the details known because that is just what the Germans desire to know. 'Two large German ships were sunk in order to avoid capture and a third was reported to he sinking. One of these vessels was that attacked by the destroyer Zulu. The British Navy, now that it has been given a chance, has proved its resoluteness. THE HARDY’S LOSSES. The Admiralty lias issued a list of the casualties on H.M.S. Hardy, the destroyer which ran aground in the first attack in Narvik Fiord. Sixteen men were killed out of a total complement of 175, including the commander who led the action in the fiord; two others are missing, believed drowned, and nine seriously injured. It will bo recalled that some of the Hardy’s men were seen making for the shore, armed, and are believed to be assisting the Norwegian forces.