BRILLIANT FEAT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 December 1939, Page 5

BRILLIANT FEAT

BRITISH SUBMARINE SINKS GERMAN CRUISER IN STRONGLY FORTIFIED AREA OFF THE ELBE ENEMY SHIP ESCORTED BY SIX DESTROYERS. Another success to the British Navy was announced by Daventry last night, a German cruiser of the Koln class (6000 tons) having been sunk by the British submarine, Ursula, off the mouth of the River Elbe last Thursday. When the attack was made on the cruiser, she was escorted by six destroyers. The torpedoing of the German cruiser is regarded as a daring and brilliant feat for, in addition to the screen provided by the destroyers, the submarine had to enter a strongly fortified area near the German nava] base of Cuxhaven. The sinking is stated to be in no way connected with the attack on an armed cruiser last week by a British submarine.

A message from London last Thursday stated: The Admiralty announces that the British submarine which sighted the Bremen has sunk a Üboat and torpedoed an enemy cruiser in the North Sea.

MINEFIELD PENETRATED.

Another Daventry message states that the Ursula had to penetrate a minefield into a strongly fortified area to reach her victim. The Ursula is a boat of 540 tons, and was completed last year at a cost of £200,000. The German cruiser was one of three built nine years ago at a cost of nearly two million pounds apiece. German naval losses in the past week include the pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee, a cruiser, and a submarine sunk, and a third cruiser damaged. For the fourth day in succession a list has been published in Britain of German officers and men who have been made prisoners.

ADMIRALTY REPORT PARTICULARS OF THE KOLN. SPEEDY LIGHT CRUISER. (Received This Day, 9.45 a.m.) RUGBY, December 18. An Admiralty communique states: “The Secretary to the Admiralty announces that the British submarine Ursula reports that she sank one of the Koln class of cruiser at the mouth of the Elbe on Thursday, December 14. The cruiser was screened by six German destroyers.” Three sister ships, the Koln, Karlsruhe and Konigsberg, were completed in 1929/30. They are ships of 6000 tons, with speeds of about 32 knots, armed with five 5.9 inch guns and a number of smaller guns. They mount twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes, arranged in four triple mountings, and a catapult with two airccraft. The aircraft were reported to have been removed from the Koln and one other of the cruisers during 1938. All possible expedients were adopted for savings of weight and electric welding was used for the hulls instead of rivetting. The designed horse-power at 31 knots is 657.000 and the ships are driven by geared turbines, with diesel engines for cruising purposes. With 1200 tons of oil, plus 300 tons of Diesel fuel the ships are reported to have a cruising radius of 5,500 miles at 14 knots and 10.000 miles at 10 knots. It may be recalled that on December 14 it was officially announced by the Admiralty that in the North Sea the same British submarine that sighted the Bremen torpedoed an enemy cruiser. There is no connection between this and the latest exploit of the sinking of a Koln class cruiser.