RENOWN IN BATTLE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 136, 9 May 1940, Page 4

RENOWN IN BATTLE.

TUSSLE WITH SCHARNHORST. NEW ZEALANDER’S STORY. AUCKLAND, May 7. High seas which swept- tho deck and a fierce blizzard, which eventually ob‘scured the target, were among difficulties encountered by officers and ■ men of the British battle-cruiser Renown, when she recently successfully engaged the German battleship Scharnhorst olf the Norwegian coast. The story *of the action, which materially damaged the enemy ship and put her to flight, is graphically told by a New Zealander, Surgeon-Lieuten-ant Gordon Evans, who. is dental officer in the Renown. Surgeon-Lieuten-ant Evans is a son of Mr J. H. Evans, of Auckland. Writing to his parents on April 15, Surgeon-Lieutenant Evans said the Renown was patrolling off the Norwegian coast when a signal was received stating that a German forco was heading north. They immediately set off south to catch the enemy, aiid on the following morning at 9 o’clock the crew were piped to action stations, where they remained all day. “As the day went on it became a bit rough, getting worse toward evening,” ho stated. “We were pelting along into big seas at a fair speed, which made us take in a spot of water. The forward medical station, where I was posted, was one of the few dry places by morning, and there were a few casualties during the night as the result of chaps being flung about tho ship by the sea. FIRST BROADSIDE. “At 3.30 a.m., when it was just •getting light, we were told to wake up, and at five minutes to four there was a terrific roar as we fired our first broadside. Tho enemy were caught napping, and wo got off three broadsides before they opened fire. When they did start, their fire was pretty good, but our skipper handled tho ship beautifully and dodged most of it. ' “When a salvo was fired by the enemy he watched where the shells fell and, when he saw the next lot of flashes,, he headed the .ship toward the first lot of splashes. By the time their shells landed wo had" changed position. The range when we opened firo .was 16,000- yards., increasing to 30,000 yards, and eventually finishing at 24,000- yards. This'-shows that, though - at; the beginning they - began to leave us, we soon started to catch them up. ' • ! “Eventually the German , ship managed to escape in the- blizzard, but before this we landed at least three of our 15-in. shells, each weighing about a ton, on her. They would cause .a fair amount of damage. We hit the bridge, structure with one and upset their- “.'firing I control. because she ceased-fire l'or a while and later sent out ragged salvoes from her afier turret, BAD VISIBILITY. ’“The cruiser Hipper was also with the battle-cruiser, but we were only firing our smaller stuff at her till she started to put a smokescreen around the Scharnhorst, then wo lot her have our heavy guns, but avo could not see any results on account of the blizzard. We eventually censed fire at about 6.25 a.m. ' “Weather conditions were on the side of the escaping enemy,” SurgeonLieutenant Evans stated. ‘.'Visibility Avas very bad and waves were at times as high ak the bridge.” The Renown clid not escape scot-free, he said. One shell went clean through the ship and -Aviped out a I’Cav cabins, but tailed to explode): Another passed through the mast, again without exploding. There; were narrow escapes from splinters of •high explosive shells bursting on the ship, but the only casualty; was: a firstdieutenant, . who was; struck, in . the foot by)a 4-in. splinter. He later underwent' an operation, at .which Sur-geon-Lieutenant Evans assisted, for the amputation of several toes.