STRUCK A MINE

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 435, 17 May 1937, Page 5

STRUCK A MINE

DAMAGED WARSHIP H.M.S. Hunter At Gibraltar Press Association —Copyright. Received May 17, 1.30 p.m. Gibraltar, May 16. The report of the diver confirms that H.M.S'. Hunter struck a mine. Not since the Great War has,a British warship reached port exhibiting such damage as H.M.S. Hunter did when towed in stern first by H.M.S. Arethusa. She was low in the water, her bow portholes being submerged. Her port-side plating was bent and torn, indicating a very forcible impact. Oil stains show that the explosion had flung up a column of fuel. Her foremast was snapped, the aerial destroyed and the davits smashed, necessitating the lifeboats being secured by wire hawsers. The decks were strewn with debris. The Hunter has been placed in dry dock. A message from Almeria states that the streets were crowded for the funeral of the eight members of the Hunter’s crew who were killed. The impressive procession was headed by the crews of the Arethusa and two British destroyers, and by representatives of the Spanish Air Force. Marines carried the coffins.