NAZI SUPPLY SHIP

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 December 1940, Page 5

NAZI SUPPLY SHIP

TORPEDOED OFF DUTCH COAST ATTACK BY BRITISH MOTOR TORPEDO-BOATS. HEAVY ENEMY LOSSES WITHIN FEW DAYS. There is news, the 8.8. C. states, of another 'successful action by British naval units yesterday. Motor torpedo-boats, off the mouth of the Scheldt, torpedoed the 6,000-. ton German supply ship Santos. The vessel was escorted by a German warship, but the attack was pressed home successfully. One of the British torpedo-boats incurred superficial damage and two men were wounded. These were the only British casualties. Within the last few days 26,000 tons of enemy shipping have been destroyed in Dutch coastal waters by British naval forces.

CHASE IN CHANNEL AFTER GERMAN DESTROYERS. ONE BRITISH SHIP DAMAGED BY TORPEDO. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, November 30. An Admiralty communique dealing with the action in the English Channel on Friday between British and German light naval forces states: “Contact was made at 5.40 a.m. and fire was immediately opened by both sides. The German force, which consisted of at least three destroyers, scattered and withdrew at high speed toward- the French coast, firing torpedoes as they went. “One of our destroyers, H.M.S. Javelin, on board of which was the officer in command of the flotilla (Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten), was hit and damaged by a torpedo early in the engagement. The Javelin has now been brought safely to port. “Another of our destroyers chased an enemy destroyer, which made off westward under cover of smoke, but the pursuer lost touch after half an hour owing to the darkness and the enemy’s use of the smoke screen. The remaining enemy destroyers were chased southward by other British units. These German destroyers also escaped in the darkness, and subsequent attempts to regain touch proved fruitless. “It has not been possible to establish with certainty the extent of the damage inflicted by our gunfire, but the enemy was seen to be repeatedly hit. “Apart from the Javelin, the British forces sustained no other damage or casualties.” A 8.8. C. broadcast reports that the Javelin, while being taken back to port was. attacked by German bombers. Three of the enemy qjrcraft were shot down and a fourth was damaged. ANOTHER BRUSH ENEMY TORPEDO-BOATS PUT TO FLIGHT. Another slight brush between German ships and light British naval forces occurred in the North Sea on I Saturday night, the 8.8. C. reports. The British forces encountered a German] patrol of E boats, but the superior speed of the German craft enabled them to escape in the darkness.