FIVE U-BOATS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 January 1943, Page 2

FIVE U-BOATS

SUNK BY AMERICANS IN SOUTH ATLANTIC DURING THE PAST MONTH. GERMAN SURFACE RAIDER SCUTTLED. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, January 21. The Chief of the United States naval forces in the South Atlantic stated today in Rio de Janeiro that units under his command had sunk five Axis submarines in the past month, and that' the wreckage of a large number of Üboats had been recovered off the coast of Brazil in the last few days. The admiral said that the forces at his disposal were sufficient to keep open essential communications and prevent the passage of any enemy warship or raider. As evidence of this, he said, a German surface raider scuttled itself after being pursued by ships of his command. He also disclosed that though the British Navy patrolled the South Atlantic coast of Africa, the United States Navy was already using a base at Bathurst, and expected very soon to have its own bases at Dakar and elsewhere. The United Press of America says that U-boats which, before the North African invasion, were expelled from South American waters, have now returned and are prowling offshore in packs sometimes numbering 20 to 30.