WARSHIP SUNK

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 156, 1 June 1940, Page 7

WARSHIP SUNK

. ROYAL NAVY’S LOSS. SECOND CRUISER OF WAR. STRUCK BY BOMBS. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) Received June 1, 9.44 a.m. RUGBY, May 31. . Tlie Admiralty announces the loss by enemy bombing action ol H.M.S. Curlew off the coast of Norway. Heavy bombing .attacks have been delivered on ships engaged in shelling tlie enemy positions and .protecting coastal areas and convoys, during which many enemy aircraft have been destroyed. The Admiralty states that occasional Josses arc inevitable in the confined waters in which these operations are being carried out, and it was during these arduous operations that the Curlew was struck by bombs and subsequently sunk. Built in 1917, the Curlew was reconstructed and rearmed as an antiaircraft cruiser in 1938. her original armament being replaced by ten 4in anti-aircraft guns. The only other British cruiser lost in the present war was the Effingham, which was sunk, in consequence of a marine risk. The Admiralty later announced that four officers and five ratings are missing in consequence of the loss of the Curlew. The Admiralty discloses that the loss occurred while His Majesty’s ships were operating in the Narvik area. Difficulty in obtaining the names, of the survivors prevented an earlier announcement. On May 21 tlie Admiralty announced that the 10,000-ton cruiser Effingham was a total loss off the Norwegian coast. The vessel struck an uncharted rock. There wore no casualties. H.M.S. Effingham was a cruiser of 9550 tons. With main armament of nine 6-in guns, the Effingham carried five torpedo tubes and had a complement of 700 men.