SOVIET STEAMER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 June 1942, Page 2

SOVIET STEAMER

SUNK BY JAPANESE ■ SUBMARINE TOKIO ATTEMPTS TO BLAME ALLIES. MOSCOW GIVES THE FACTS. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, June 26. It is reported that the Russian steamer Angarstroi was sunk by a Japanese submarine 30 miles off the coast of Japan. The Japanese version tries to put the blame on an Allied submarine. Reporting that the Soviet ship Angarstroi has been sunk near the Japanese coast, Moscow radio said that the circumstances suggest that the sinking was done by a Japanese submarine. It added that a Japanese warship stopped the Angarstroi on April 24, 130 miles off the Japanese coast, and forced it to proceed to the nearest Japanese pbrt, where, after an examination, it left for the home port, taking a course given by the Japanese authorities. On the night of May 1 the ship was twice torpedoed 32 miles off the Japanese coast, and sank quickly. As soon as the crew had taken to the boats two Japanese submarines surfaced and accompanied the boats to a Japanese steamer, which took the crew aboard. Moscow radio points out that. in spite of the circumstances of the sinking and the fact that it occurred in waters which were heavily protected by Japanese naval forces, the Japanese Press produced a version that the sinking was the work not of the Japanese but of an American submarine. The crew of the Angarstroi, who have now reached Harbin, state that this version cannot be substantiated because the circumstances show that the ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine.