INTERCEPTED BY NAVY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 May 1943, Page 4

INTERCEPTED BY NAVY

TWO GERMAN BLOCKADE RUNNERS WITH VALUABLE CARGOES FROM FAR EAST. BOTH SCUTTLED BY CREWS. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.30 p.m.) RUGBY, May 17. The Admiralty states that two mere enemy vessels which attempted to. break through the Allied blockade have been scuttled after interception by British warships. One German armed ship, the Silvaplana, of 4793 tons, was inward bound from’ the Far East with a valuable cargo of rubber and tin. She was sighted by the cruiser Adventure about 200 miles off Cape Finisterre, and ordered to slop. Within a few minutes, and before the Silvaplana had lost way, her crew proceeded to abandon ship. Flames enveloped her bridge, and a series of explosions rent her hull. She heeled over "and sank stern first. The shin’s company was rescued. The other blockade-runner, the German motorship Regensburg, of 8068 tons, also heavily laden and inward bound from the Far East, was intercepted between Greenland and Iceland by the cruiser Glasgow. Warning shots were followed by signs of panic aboard. The enemy signalled: “I stop,” but soon after scuttling charges were fired, and, owing to heavy weather and icy water, only six of the 75 personnel were rescued.