WARSHIP DAMAGED

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 434, 15 May 1937, Page 5

WARSHIP DAMAGED

BRITISH DESTROYER VESSEL BEING TOWED TO GIBRALTAR Nine Killed; Twenty-four Injured Press Association— Copyright. (Received 10.5 a.m.) London, May 14. The British destroyer Hunter was either torpedoed at 2.35 p.m. by an unknown warship off Almeria, or struck a mine five miles from the Spanish coast, states an official communique. Nine were killed and 24 injured. No light has yet been thrown on the explosion, says a message from Valencia. The hole in the hull han been patched to permit the vessel be. ing towed 'to Gibraltar for expert examination. The Spanish Government rushed the battleship Jaime Primero, the destroyer Lazaga and aeroplanes t« the scene. The evidence does not confirm earlier reports that the Hunter, which was engaged in a non-intervention patrol, was damaged by a bomb from an insurgent plane. The Admiralty officially announces that the explosion occurred on the Hunter’s waterline while the ship was on patrol for non-intervention purposes. It adds that the cause is at present unknown. The Daily Telegraph’s Madrid correspondent says Mr H. C. Brooks, British consul at Ailfeante, has been O.rdered to proceed to Almeria to interview the Hunter’s commander, Lieut-Commander Scurfleld, and report direct to the Foreign Office. 2The Valencia correspondent of the Time® says a preliminary examination of the Hunter makes it certain that- the explosion was due to an external cause. •jlS'ie Havasi Agency's Valencia correspondent says the Hunter’s hull shows marks where some projectile went through it.