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The Isle of Man packet boat S.S. Victoria, which was mined on the 27th December in Liverpool Bay, probably by an acoustic mine, had put up seven acoustic mines on her inward and outward runs on the 23rd December. The S.S. Catrine is also said to have detonated four acoustic mines in the same area on the 29th December, one of which damaged the ship.
During the week mines have been swept off Harwich, the Thames Estuary, Dover, Falmouth and Liverpool.
The mine totals are now :-
Acoustic 113, Magnetic 838, and Contact 772.
Twenty-two mines have been swept up in the minefield to the south-west of
Malta.
Enemy Merchant Shipping.
German.
18. The S.S. Kulmerland 7.363 tons, which is reported to have landed survivors on Emirau Island from ships attacked by raiders in the Pacific, was last She was then said to have been renamed the located in a shipyard at Kobe. Tesyo Maru, since confirmed, and to have been transferred to the Japanese flag. She is said to be lightly armed and to carry a seaplane. The S.S. Anneliese Essberger, 5,173 tons, sailed from Kobe on the 29th December. She is reported to have taken on a large quantity of fuel oil before leaving.
Italian.
19. The S.S. Olimpia, 6,040 tons, which sent out an S.O.S. on the 6th December, is now reported to have been torpedoed at daybreak on that date about 40 miles south-west of Durazzo.
Raider Activity in the Pacific.
20. The information obtained from the prisoners who were landed at Emirau (New Ireland) has added greatly to our knowledge of the raider position in the Pacific. There would seem to be two raiders at work in this area and two or more attendant supply ships which may also act as minelavers. The raiders. are said to have a base in the Marshall Island, probably at Maloelap Atoll. The first raider sailed to the Pacific via Cape Horn and arrived in June 1940, when she laid mines off Auckland, New Zealand, and captured the S.S. Tropic Sea, which she sent home as a prize. During July she returned to her base, but was again active off the Queensland Coast and in the Tasman Sea in August, when she sank two ships and shot down an R.A.A.F. aircraft. On her return to her base she was joined by the second raider. During October one ship was sunk near Ocean Island. Early in November both raiders left the base for New Zealand waters, where they were joined by the Kulmerland and sank two ships. Kulmerland had left Kobe on the 9th October, had probably proceeded to the base and loaded mines and laid them in Australian waters during the early part of November. After Kulmerland and the two raiders had joined forces about the 24th November, the three ships proceeded northwards in company to Nauru, where they sank five ships on the 7th and 8th December and then returned to the base to refuel on the 12th December. The prisoners were landed at Emirau from Kulmerland, and the second raider on the 21st December, but it is not clear whether the first raider was present on this occasion. On the 26th December the second raider attacked the phosphate installation at Nauru.
Germany.
MILITARY SITUATION.
21. For the last two months reports have been received of considerable road and rail reconstruction in Slovakia.
The main road, running from Zilina to the frontier of Hungarian Ruthenia, appears to be under reconstruction throughout its entire length, while roads leading northwards over the Carpathians into Poland have been reinforced and widened, and certain road bridges strengthened. The road from Ruzomberok
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