THE CHINA MAIL, DECEMBER 7. 1939
NAVY SMOTHERS U-BOAT MENACE: HIGH AVERAGE OF DESTRUCTION MAINTAINED
London, To-day.
BRITISH
THE DESTRUCTION of U-boats is proceeding in aç-
cordance with the estimate previously given, SEIZURES OF namely two to four a week, or faster than the Germans can replace them, said Mr. Winston CONTRABAND Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, in the House of Commons yesterday.
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"Last week," added Mr. Churchill, "I am inclined to think that certainly five met their fate from our flotillas or in operations by the Royal Air Force.
London, To-day.
The Ministry of Economic Warfare states: "On Decem- ber 2, 80 neutral ships were in
contraband their
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SECRET ANTI-U-BOAT DEVICE
London, To-day.
Mr. Winston Churchill's refer- ence in his Commons speech to the As-dic method of fighting U- boats, was the first use of the term in a public speech, Reuter Icarne.
The Navy authorities preserve complete secrecy about the de- vice, which employs a special type of hydrophone apparatus for the detection of submarines by sound.-Reuter.
Control DR. LEY
bases in the United King-
"These results are independent of those by the dom, of which 47 had been VISITING
French Navy."
Mr. Churchill continued that over by about 280,000 tons, leaving a net 1,000 merchantmen had been armed loss of about 60,000 tons. for defence, and before long there For every thousand tons of Bri- would be over 2,000 armed.
tish shipping sunk, 110,000 tons en- The Navy had lost hitherto 50,000ter British ports. tons of warships, and we are building nearly 1,000,000 tons of warships much of which is in an advanced stage.
The efficacy of the As-dic method of detection of submarines was in- creasingly proved, and the ordeal to which U-boats were subjected would become ever more severe.
CONVOY SYSTEM
The convoy system was now in full operation. Very few ships were at- tacked in convoy, and less than one in 750 was sunk.
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Convoys involved a certain definite loss of carrying power, but this loss was being steadily reduced
by the institution of slow and fast convoys and appropriate measures, but a cer- tain delay must always remain.
U-boats,
sald
Mr. Churchill, prefer Increasingly to attack ships of countries with whom they are at peace rather than those with whom they are at
war.
"DREAD NAUGHT"
Losses on protecting warships
there four days or less.
The total included 22 Dutch, 18 Swedish, 15 Norwegian, nine Danish, six Belgian, two Greek, two United States, two Panamanian, one Spanish, two Italian, one Rumanian and one Finnish.
During the week-ended December 2. the Contraband Committee con- of sidered the cargoes of 110 ships which
cargoes of 57 ships outstanding from
the Navy were necessarily heavier in arrived since November 25 and the proportion to those protecting the Mercantile Marine, as they ran grea- ter risks because they had to seek enemy destroyers and
the previous week.
The combined total of ships includ- submarines. ed 35 Italian, 27 Dutch, 21 Swedish, 19 British, 14 Norwegian, 11 Danish, 10 Belgian, six Greek, six United States, four Finnish.
In all these losses came to about 50,000 tons.
Nearly 1,000,000 tons of warships of all classes was being built at pre- sent, much of which was in an ad- vanced stage:
Losses of warships during the
in three months of the war were more than double those suffered.
first 1914 now
Concluding, Mr. Churchill said their watchword should be "Carry on and dread naught."----Reuter.
COMMERCE RAIDERS
London, To-day. Earlier in his speech Mr. Churchill stated that two German pocket bat- tleships and certainly one other cruiser have been let loose in the "The figures are remarkable. Bri- North and South Atlantic, or near tish merchant ships sunk in October; Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean.
half of what they were in He said that very great reinforce- September, and in November only ments of British hunting craft in two-thirds of what they were in home waters, already tripled since October.
the beginning of the war, will come into service in 1940. - British Wire- less.
were
STRANGE KIND OF WAR
"Quite the contrary has been the case of neutrals. They lost half as much again in the second month as in the first, and double as much in. the third month as in the second.
"It is a strange kind of war. fare for the German Navy to engage in.
"When driven off the shipping of their declared enemy they、 console themselves with running amok among the shipping of neutrals.
COMPLETE GUARANTEE
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"This should encourage neutrals to
charter their ships to Great Britain for the duration, when they can be sure of making larger profits than they have ever made in peace and have a complete guarantee against loss."
Referring to minea, Mr. Chur- chill cald that was about the. lowest form of warfare that could 'bo imagined."
BRITISH
STEAMER MISSING
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London, To-day. The British steamer Hunts- man, says an Admiralty an- nouncement, is reported to be missing.
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Of 8,196 tons, the Huntsman owned by the Charente Steamship Company of Liverpool. She was built in 1921.
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Meanwhile six of the crew of Danish 8,500-ton steamer were drown- ed when the vessel struck a mine in the North Sea yesterday and sank- Reuter.
Copenhagen, To-day..
It was the Danish steamer, Ovetoft (3,500 tons), which was mined in the North Sea.
Only one of a ship's entire cargo was seized, whilst the entire cargoes of 91 ships were released.
FORMAL CHECKING
ROME
(SPECIAL TO "CHINA MAIL")
Rome, To-day.
Dr. Robert Ley, head of the German Labour Front, arrived here yesterday and immediately started confer- ring with Fascist leaders.
Dr. Ley is to call on Signor Mus- solini and Count Ciano, the Italian Foreign Minister, to-day, and returns to Berlin on Friday.
It is recalled that last month it was believed that Field-Marshal Goering, or even Hitler himself. The system under which advance might come to Italy, and much copies of manifests are received and
comment was aroused by the re- considered before a ship's arrival at cont visit to Milan of Heinrich British ports resulted during the week
Himmler, the Gestapo chief. in 26 ships being so dealt with and
The opinion was expressed at the 15 of the ships concerned being re-time that Himmler was preparing for leased by
Committee subject the visit of an important personality merely to formal checking of the to Italy.
the
original manifests on arrival at con- trol bases. British Wireless.
READ THIS AND LAUGH
Mr. Churchill is still the favourite sport of the Nazi propaganda depart- ment. They tell so many lies about him that if there had been no Chur- chill the Nazis would, no doubt, have invented one.
A complete special edition of "Das 8warze Korpe" was devoted last week entirely to Mr. Chur- chill. Here are some of the stories they printed:
However. Dr. Ley is the first Nazi official to visit Italy since that time. --Havas.
A NEW NAZI THESIS
(SPECIAL TO "CHINA MAIL")
Berlin, To-day. The "Diplomatische Politische Korrespondenz," organ of the Wil- helmstrasse, says: "The forthcoming meeting of the League of Nations As- sembly will abuse Swiss territory and will implicate the neutrality of neu- . Winston Churchill recently adver- tised in The Times as follows: "Gen-trals who are still members of the tleman, sixty-one years of age,
League."-Haves. with good intentions, seeks wealthy lady with a view to matrimony."
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Churchill laid the foundations of his immense fortune by selling his name to a tobacco firm which used him as a decoy for advertising.
LORDS ALSO TO GO INTO SECRET SESSION
London, To-day.
The Lord President in the House of Lords stated that the Government
Messrs. Churchman will be en- had decided to hold a secret session lightened by this disclosure.
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No man in Britain has so many hats as Winston Churchill. This 10 because his chameleon-like character loves camouflage and disguise,
One of his favourite pastimes is
It was the warfare of the Irish Republican Army, leaving bombs in the parcel office at a railway station.
The magnetic mine might perhaps Six were drowned and the remain- | painting, but he cannot earn much be Hitler's much vaunted secret wea-ing 15 crew were picked up. pon.
MASTERY OF SEAS
Referring to German: claims to the mastery of the peas, Mr. Churchill sald Britam had begun the war with 21,000,000" tóns "őf merchant shipping, out of which they had lost during three months, about 340,000 tons.
Against this they had gained by the transfer from foreign flags, by prizes taken from the enemy and by new vessels building on a large scale,
ter.
Reu-
LIGHT SWITCH OUT OF ORDER Mr. H. F. Phillips, of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corpora- tion, was this morning cautioned by Mr. Q. A. A. Macfadyen at Kowloon for failing to carry front lights whilst driving in Nathan Road at 9.20 p.m. on November 10. Mr. Phillips stated that the light switch was out of or- der.
money at it. One art dealer gave an exhibition of his works. It was a great financial failure,
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Churchill was made First Lord of the Admiralty for his spooláť, capacities so a ilår. Never in K life has he heard the whizz off bullet.
on the general question of the Minis- try of Supply.
He suggested Tuesday or Thurs day next week.
It will be recalled that the Com- mons will hold a secret session, with the same question as the subject of discussion, next Wednesday.-British Wireless.
M. SURITZ ATTENDS GENEVA MEETING
(SPECIAL TO "CHINA MAIL")
Geneva, To-day,
*M. Jacob Suritz, -Soviet | Ambas-- sador in Paris, and a member of the Red délération to the League of Nas tions, yesterday attended the meethig And, of course, Churchill sank the for the League's budgetary committee. Athenia! ·
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The League'sTM budret estimates have been reduced to 21,000,000 Swiss Grant Goebbels this: he does try francs, against 32,000,000 in 1939. hard.
Havas.
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