SEA RAIDER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 November 1939, Page 5

SEA RAIDER

SAID TO BE POCKET BATTLESHIP EVIDENCE OF SUNKEN TANKER'S . CREW. SEARCH BY AIR PATROLS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyriglr LONDON. November 17. The Cape Town correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" says the entire South African aerial coast patrol is searching for the raider, which sank the British tanker. Africa Shell. The tanker's crew say the raidei was a pocket-battleship, which is supported by the fact that she is of the same tonnage. The raider fired a shell across the bows. An officer and ratings boarded the tanker and took foodstuffs, wines, and the captain aboard the raider. The remainder cl the crew, consisting of six Europeans and 21 natives, rowed to the shore. The "Daily Telegraph's" naval correspondent points out that there has been ample time for either the Deutschland or the Admiral Scheer to reach this region, travelling at an economical speed of 15 knots. Significance attaches to the fact that the Africa Shell was a tanker though she was empty when sunk. A message yesterday, reported the sinking of the Africa Shell inside Portuguese territorial waters, 180 miles north-east of Lourenco Marques, said that persistent rumours that the raidei was pocket-battleship were authoritatively denied. Further details of the sinking of the Africa Shell have been given by members of the crew, a Daventry report states. A German officer with a boarding party seized the provisions and sank the'tanker with two bombs. It is not known whether any oil was taken. The raider must have been in desperate need of supplies to give away her position for such a small prize. The German capture provided not only the first evidence of a German raider in the Indian Ocean but also gave an idea of her position. STILL A MYSTERY IDENTITY OF GERMAN SHIP. (Received This Day, 10.20 a.m.) LOURENCO MARQUES. Nov. 17. The crew of the Africa Shell state that their ship was stopped by a German cruiser, but mystery continues to surround its identity.

RAIDERS DISGUISED? NEUTRAL OBSERVER’S STORY. ATTEMPT TO LURE BRITISH SHIPS. (Received This Day. 10.55 a.m.i COPENHAGEN November 17. A neutral observer, upon arrival from Germany, reported that the Admiral Scheer and Deutschland were in a German harbour. The ships in the Atlantic and elsewhere at present were disguised to resemble pocket-battle-ships. in the hope of luring Britain s best ships from European waters. POLICY OF EYASION GERMAN NAVAL TACTICS. (Received This Day. 10.55 a.m.i LONDON. November 17. British official circles understand that the Gorman Navy personnel at. present numbers 50,000. reflecting unexpected progress, because when the Naval Treaty was signed the aim was 70.000 by 1942. British officials do not underestimate the German naval unit efficiency, which probably is 90 per cent ol that of the British, but doubt its strategical efficiency, which from the Nazi viewpoint demands colossal enemy sinking without cost. For this reason it is believed that the pocket battleships are avoiding trade routes, where they ate likely to be sunk,