U-BOAT ATTACKS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 May 1942, Page 3

U-BOAT ATTACKS

4 I LARGE AMERICAN SHIP SUNK OFF MISSISSIPPI. 27 MEMBERS OF CREW KILLED. (Bv Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) y WASHINGTON, May 16. The Navy Department yesterday announced that an enemy submarine torpedoed and sank a large United States cargo vessel near the mouth of the Mississippi River on May 12, killing 27 members of the crew out of a total of 41. The submarine discharged three torpedoes, the second of which caused the ship to catch fire, trapping many victims. The vessel burnt fox six hours and sank in 100 feet of water a mile and a half from the mouth of the river. The Secretary of State, Mr Hull, condemned the torpedoing of the Mexican vessel Portrero de Llano, which was reported yesterday, and declared the sinking: “Another of the outrageous, infamous acts of lawlessness evidently underlying the policies of a Government that is carrying on a world movement of aggression.” Mr Hull added: “Any precautions, no matter how elaborate, are no protection whatever against the assassins who remain concealed under the sea.”