SHIPPING LOSSES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 December 1940, Page 4

SHIPPING LOSSES

LIGHTER IN RECENT WEEKS WEEKLY AND OTHER AVERAGES. OPINION IN LONDON. The latest Admiralty communique on the subject of shipping losses, transmitted by the 8.8. C.,. shows that in the week ending on December 15 seven ships, with a gross tonnage of just under 41,500 tons were sunk by enemy action. The total included five British and two Allied ships. The average weekly loss of shipping throughout the war is 64,000 tons, leavout the losses at Dunkirk.. Taking monthly averages, the losses in the first half of December show a considerable decrease on previous months. Responsible circles in London are not prepared, however, to conclude that the menace to shipping is less than it was. They state that several months of experience will be needed to show the effect of British countermeasures. A British Official Wireless message states that the weekly average losses for each of the last'six months, taken in round figures, are:—July, 81,000 tons; August, 86,000 tons; September, 100,000 tons; October, 85,000 tons; November, 86,000 tons, and December, to date, 71,000 tons. These figures make it evident that the menaces from mines, submarines and the air are still severe, but they are regarded on the whole as offering ground for encouragement.