The Waikato Times. Thursday, October 17, 1940. ANOTHER AJAX VICTORY

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21246, 17 October 1940, Page 6

The Waikato Times. Thursday, October 17, 1940. ANOTHER AJAX VICTORY

The British cruiser Ajax has again flashed into the news with uhat appears to have been a brilliant encounter in the Mediterranean, in which three Italian destroyers were sunk. It was not perhaps remarkable that the cruiser should outmatch the destroyers; what was unusual was that the three Italian ships, presumably faster than the Ajax, did not make good their escape. Behind the known facts there is probably a story of the seamanship and gunnery of which the Ajax proved herself capable in that memorable engagement with the Graf Spee off the River Plate. It is extraordinary that at least some of the Italian ships could not outmanoeuvre their opponent by separating. The inference is that the British gunnery was amazingly good. According to the Italian version of the battle, the Italian ships in their hunt for the enemy went full steam ahead as soon as the Ajax was sighted. Whether they raced into battle or away from it they seem to have failed disastrously. They were apparently only light ships and could scarcely stand up to the guns of the Ajax unless they were lucky, but, it could have been expected, they could with ordinary seamanship have escaped destruction by making discretion the better part of valour. The whole incident is calculated not to improve the confidence of the Italian people in the quality of their navy. In future it may be even more difficult to entice Mussolini’s fleet into open water. The Ajax is in a fair way to becoming one of the most famous ships in the Royal Navy. Even when she had come up with stronger units of the Italian fleet she apparently did not hesitate but immediately gave battle and, with the assistance of another British ship, drove the Italians scuttling into the shelter of their ports after abandoning their crippled companion. It was then that the British sailors had to decide whether they could stay to rescue the crew of the last sunken ship. Not long before, a similar attempt at rescue was made and the British were subjected to a merciless attack by Italian aeroplanes. This time they deliberately disclosed their own position with a wireless message advising the Italian shore stations near at hand where to pick up their own men in their lifeboats. With more accuracy than usual the Italians have admitted the loss of all three ships, but as a solace to their people they added that a British cruiser was seen to sink. That, apparently, was untrue. Mussolini has had singularly little cause for pride in the achievements of the great fleet for which he claimed so much. He, it was understood, was to hold undisputed control of the “ Italian Lake ” with a navy that was to bind Italy’s African colonies to the homeland with unbreakable ties. Instead, the fleet has had to skulk under the shelter of the land forts and venture forth only when it is certain the coast is clear of British ships. Mussolini is, of course, wise in that policy. He may hope there will come a time when his fleet will be more useful afloat than at the bottom of the sea. That policy is certainly serving the purpose of keeping a British fleet constantly in the Mediterranean.