REASONS FOR RETICENCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 January 1943, Page 4

REASONS FOR RETICENCE

REGARDING DESTRUCTION OF U-BOATS. IMPORTANCE OF SECRET PAPERS. Many people have been puzzled by the firm refusal of the Admiralty to issue any detailed statement of the Üboats which are being sunk or captured, says a writer in the “Manchester Guardian,” While this policy is mainly designed to keep the enemy guessing it was some years after the late war before Captain von Rintelen .acting for the German Admiralty, cleared up the fates of several U-boats from the British records —there is a special reason for official reticence. The capture of a Üboat more or less intact can be far more valuable to the Admiralty than her destruction. The authorities are not looking for any startling improvements in submarine construction so much as the documents carried on board the vessel,' for these often contain valuable information. Although U-boat captains have strict orders to destroy all such papers in an emergency, and a special receptacle containing acid has long been installed, there is always a chance that events moved too quickly for this to be done. There were several cases during the last war where secret papers recovred from submarines, both German and Allied, resulted in other boats being sunk. In the case of surface ships confidential documents are fairly easily disposed of, leaden covers being provided to ensure their sinking when thrown overboard.