ANOTHER ACCOUNT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 December 1943, Page 4

ANOTHER ACCOUNT

OF THE. SCHARNHORST’S END GIVEN BY GERMAN UNDERGROUND RADIO EARLY RETREAT BY OTHER ENEMY SHIPS (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.0 a.m.) LONDON, December 28. Giving a more detailed account of the Scharnhorst’s end, the German underground radio says German destroyers made contact with British destroyers at about midday on Sunday. The silhouette of the convoy was described by wireless and the Scharnhorst sailed up to attack, opening fire against British warships. Suddenly British battleships appeared on the horizon. Tne Scharnhorst engaged them and a heavy exchange of fire began. The British ships got in several hits. One of the Scharnhorst’s engines was hit and she lost speed. Then one of her main turrets was hit several times and the ship became enveloped in thick clouds of smoke. The Scharnhorst met her end at about 7.40 p.m., when she was shaken by a violent explosion, after which she began to sink slowly. The other German warships retreated at the beginning of the battle and escaped undamaged. German planes arrived later and searched for stirvivors. It is believed that only a few of the .1,400 members of the crew were saved. The German-controlled Paris radio today described the sinking of the Scharnhorst as a major British victory. “We cannot blame the British for celebrating this feat,” the radio said. Swedish observers say the sinking of the Scharnhorst has finally removed, the threat of German surface ships from Allied convoys in the Arctic. The rest of Germany’s big ships are believed to be sheltering in the Baltic.