ITALIAN U-BOAT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 July 1940, Page 6

ITALIAN U-BOAT

, 4 SUNK AT CLOSE RANGE BY BRITISH SUBMARINE. MORE ABOUT MEDITERRANEAN CHASE. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.30 a.m.) i RUGBY, July 10. The torpedoing and sinking of an Italian U-boat by the British submarine Parthian, in the Mediterranean yesterday, was announced in an Admiralty communique issued tonight. The Italian U-boat was sighted on the surface, at close range. The Parthian fired torpedoes and hit the Italian U-boat, throwing quantities of debris into the air. Her bows rose at an angle of 70 degrees and she sank stern first. The communique gives further details of the engagement between British and Italian forces in th,e Mediterranean yesterday which the Commander-in-Chief in. the Mediterranean describes as “a disappointing action,” owing to the fact that the British Fleet had no opportunity of dealing effectively with the enemy in a close-range action. The Italian forces, in fact, were pursued until the British Fleet were in sight of land, but unfortunately the enemy could not bo overtaken before they were able to reach the shelter of their shore defences. Ono enemy cruiser was hit by a torpedo during the attack by a torpedobombing aircraft of the fleet air arm. The attack was pressed home, in face of heavy anti-aircraft fire, in the hope of checking the withdrawal of the Italian forces. An Italian communique issued today admits that one Italian unit was hit—presumably a capital ship—by a fif-teen-inch shell from our forces. As announced in a previous Admiralty communique, there were no casualties among the British ships engaged yesterday.