AUSTRALIA AGAIN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 July 1940, Page 5

AUSTRALIA AGAIN

H.M.A.S. SYDNEY SINKS ITALIAN CRUISER Second Enemy Warship Put to Flight ACTION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN DESTROYER PICKS UP SURVIVORS An Italian cruiser was sunk in the Mediterranean yesterday morning’ by the H.M.A.S. Sydney, a Daventry broadcast reports. The Sydney, accompanied by.a small destroyer force, became engaged with tw r o Italian cruisers, one of which was sunk. The. other withdrew with British forces in pursuit. The lost Italian cruiser was claimed to be one of the fastest cruisers in the world. She was a ship of 5000 tons and carried a complement of 500. A British destroyer rescued 250. . The Italian cruiser was equipped with eight 6in. guns and six 3.Qin. guns. She carried mines, four torpedo tubes and two or three aircraft. The Sydney, a cruiser of 7,000 tons, carries eight 6in. guns, besides four 4in. guns, eight torpedo tubes and two aircraft. Her speed is 32,5 knots. The Italian cruiser is said to have reached 40 knots in her trials. ADMIRALTY REPORT Sydney and Her Famous Predecessor (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.5 a.m.) RUGBY, July 19. The Admiralty announces: “The Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean reports that H.M.A.S. Sydney (Captain Colling', Royal Australian Navy) accompanied by a small destroyer force, became engaged with two Italian cruisers early this morning to the north-westward of Crete. In the ensuing action the Italian six-inch gun cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni was sunk. The other Italian cruiser withdrew with the British forces in pursuit. “A British destroyer rescued 250 survivors from the sunken cruiser. ’ ’ The Bartolomeo Colleoni was-a cruiser of 5,069 tons displacement and was completed in 1932. Her main armament consisted of eight six-,inch guns and she was famous for her speed, having maintained a speed of 40.9 knots for eight hours during her trials. Her conqueror, H.M.A.S. Sydney, is the successor to the famous Australian vessel, which sank the German cruiser Emden in the last war. H.M.A.S. Sydney has a displacement of 6,830 tons, was completed in 1935, and also has a main armament of eight six-inch gains. Her speed is 32.5 knots and she is very similar to the Ajax and the Achilles, being of the modified Leander type of cruiser. These cruisers were laid down during the previous tenure of office of the present First Lord of the Admiralty and the Leander herself was launched by Mrs Alexander. The Bartolomeo Colleoni is the first cruiser sunk by gunfire since the outbreak of war.