ON THE SEA.

Taihape Daily Times, 4 January 1918, Page 5

ON THE SEA.

ITALIAN SHIPPING LOSSES. 5 ' Received 8.45. LONDON, Jan 3. Italian Official— Sinkings, 1 steamer over 1500 tons, 1 sailer under 100 tons; two, steamers were unsuccessfully attacked. BRITISH SHIPPING REPORT. Received 10.45. LONDON, Jan 3. T.he Admiralty reports;— Arrival for week 2111, sailings 2074. Eighteen over and three under 1600 tons were sunk; eigth unsuccessfully at-, tacked. • FRENCH RETURNS. Received 10.45. LONDON, Jan 3. Arrivals,. 736, departures 756, sinkings above 1600 tons nine, under, nil, unsuccessfully attacked, two MINE-SWEEPERS’ OPERATIONS. SOME STARTLING FIGURES. ■ Received 11.10. LONDON, Jan 3. An authoritative source states that 967 mine sweepers employed around the British Isles swept up 461 S mines in 1917, and about 9000 since the outbreak of the war. Mine sweeping averages about 2000 square miles daily, and between 15,000 and 20,000 men are involved in the operations.

MINES OFF AUSTRALIA. •ANOTHER NEAR GABO. COLLIER’S NARROW ESCAPE. Tiie steam collier .V» erri'oee, belonging to Huddart-Parker, Ltd., , ■which arrived at Melbourne a fortnight ago, had an exciting experieuce { on her trip from Newcastle. When near Gabo Island the third officer, who was on the bridge, noticed a susplcious-loox-ing object floating atiove the water almost in a direct line with the bow of the ship. Passing it less than half a ship’s length away on the starboard side, he could see that it was a mine with four prongs and a piece of wood attached. Several of the crew were , looking over the ship’s side. Had the vessel been passing that a few hours later, when darkness would have obscured the danger, the possibilities were that the ship and many of those on board would have been sent to the bottom. In conversation with several of the crew it was learnt that when the vessel was passing the vicinity on the previous trip to Newcastle a schooner, which has since reached Melbourne, was then almost on the same spot at which the mine was observed on the Werribee’s return trip to Melbourne. Commenting on a similar discovery made on October 9, the Minister for the Navy, Mr Joseph Cook, then made a statement, in the course of ■which he said the operations of minesweepers had revealed that a mine field had been established about five miles from Gabo Island. The mines so far discovered were laid in deep water, and in an open situation. The mines might have dragged to some distance from the position in which they were originally laid. Some w r eeks later the of the cargo carrier Aeon, belonginSw? Howard Smith,, Ltd., reported to*;e lookout at Gabo Island lighthouse that he had pased a buoy with a spar atfached off Green Cape, hearing west by south, ten miles magnetic, and that it looked a floating mine Shortly persistent rumoifr“reached Melbourne that a floating mine had been washed ashore in Mallacoota Islet, a few miles to the west of Gabo Island".' *