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On the 27th January 6 Swordfish, escorted by 2 Fulmar aircraft of the F.A.A., attacked a south-bound enemy convoy of 3 ships about 120 miles from Tripoli. A merchant ship of 4,000 tons was sunk and one of 6,000 tons damaged, both by torpedoes.
Air reconnaissance reported that an enemy merchant vessel of about 3,000 tons while approaching Tripoli Harbour on the 29th was seen to strike what appeared to be a mine. There was a large explosion, and the ship was last seen well down by the bows and surrounded by small craft from the harbour.
10. A channel has been swept in Tobruk harbour which is now open to traffic. The Italian cruiser San Georgio and the S.S. Marco Polo (12,272 tons) are completely gutted, and there are a number of sunken vessels in the harbour. The Army is proceeding with the installation of A/A and coast defences, pending the completion of which H.M. Monitor Terror is remaining as guard ship.
11. Three French submarines passed Gibraltar west bound on the 28th, and during the week 9 French merchant vessels passed east bound and 9 west bound, all under escort.
A Glen Martin aircraft reconnoitred Gibraltar on the 20th, 21st and 24th, being driven off by A/A fire on the 20th.
Egypt.
12. The 8th Convoy from Australia and New Zealand, with approximately 16,000 troops, arrived at Suez on the 28th. There were 13 Transports, totalling 153,164 tons.
Other Foreign Stations.
13. An aircraft from a raider is believed to have bombed the British S.S. Mandasor, 5,144 tons, 300 miles East of the Seychelles on the 24th January. A search of the area has been carried out by cruisers, but so far without result.
H.M. Ships Hermes and Enterprise intercepted the French S.S. Sontay, 8,912 tons, proceeding from Saigon to Dakar and Marseilles. An armed guard was placed on board and the ship is being escorted to Simonstown.
The French S.S. Mendoza (intercepted on the 18th) arrived under escort at Ascension Island on the 27th.
The Swedish S.S. Oscar Gorthon sighted an armed raider with a prize in company on the 27th to the eastward of the Ladrone Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Anti-Submarine Operations.
14. During the period under review three attacks on U-boats were made by surface craft, one attack by H.M. Corvette Arabis being promising. Other attacks were made by H.M. Destroyer Antelope and the A/S Trawler Buttermere.
Enemy Intelligence.
German.
15. Weather has been unfavourable to air reconnaissance for the greater part of the past week. The Hipper Class cruiser was last sighted at Brest on the 26th January, when her dry dock was being flooded. A reconnaissance of Wilhelmshaven shows the battleship Tirpitz still in the port.
It was reported that on the 23rd January the battle cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst were seen passing through the Great Belt northward bound, and there have been indications of enemy surface craft to the east of Iceland, but there is no evidence whether these are the battle cruisers or some other units.
Italian.
16. There has been little news of Italian main units in the past week. The battleship Vittorio Veneto, which is possibly the only battleship at present operating, the others being in dockyard hands, was reported to have been at
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