Evening Star Newspaper, January 4, 1942, Page 22

Large British Convoy Fights Off U-Boats 5 Days, Sinking 3 Two Warships Are Lost In Atlantic Fight, Two In Mediterranean By the Associated Press LONDON, Jan. 3—Britain told the story today of this winter's first great engagement in the battle of the Atlantic—how the Roval Navy, with sea and aircraft units made in America, brought a great convoy to port over 90 per cent intact after blowing at least three Nazi U-boats to bits in a five-day fight. The convoy's protectors lost H. M. S. Stanley, which was the ‘or- mer U. S. destroyer McCalla, and an auxiliary catapult warship which, ironically enough, was converted from the ex-German merchantman ‘Hannover, salvaged and taken as a prize by a naval patroi in the West Aalantic in March of 1940 atter her crew had tried to scuttle her. These were not the only losses which the Admiralty srnounced to- THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON D. C, JANUARY 4, 1942. HONOLULU.—INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE—Members of President Roosevelt’s committee investigating the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor paused briefly for this photograph in the lobby of a hotel here. Left to right: Admiral William H. Standley, Associate Supreme Court Justice Oglen J day. It disclosed also that the 7.175- ton British cruiser Neptune and the | 1600-ton destroyer Kandahar had | been destroyed in a Mediterranean | minefield. | Four Warships Lost | Thus the Britisn ackncwledged | the sinking of a total of four of their warships: & cruiser, two de- | stroyers and a converted prize of | war. Of the convoy's more than 30 merchantmen, two, totalling but 6,193 tons, were sunk in the Atlantic battle. Added to the three German sub- marines known to have been sunk in the convoy fight—prisoners were taken from each—was the destruc- | tion of two German Focke-Wulf bombers and serious damage to a| third. The Admiralty said also that | American-made Liberator (Consoli- | dated) bombers of the British Coastal Command joined the naval | escort in the last of its counter- attacks, during which more U-boats | may have been sunk. | The converted auxiliary that was | sunk had been re-named the Auda- | city. The Germans, in reporting | its destruction the day before Christmas, first referred to it 2s a 33,000-ton aircraft carrier, then as the 14,500-ton naval air supply ship, Unicorn. Never, apparently, did they recognize it as their own former freighter, or at least they did not want to tell the German people so. | Battle Began December 17. The Admiralty, recalling that the Germans claimed that nine mer- chant ships totalling 37,000 tons were sunk out of the convoy, re- | marked that this was better than | 600 per cent exaggerated. Its communique, Roberts, Admiral Joseph N. Reeves, Brig. Gen. Joseph T. McNarney and Maj. Gen. Frank R. McCoy. Aufo Requisifioning NotBeing Considered, Henderson Indicafes Such a Step Is ‘Possible’ Rather Than ‘Probable,’ 0. P. A. Director Says The automobile industry and the driving public, thrown into confusion by the O. P. A. order freezing automobile sales and announcing vehicle rationing, this week will seek to iron out the problems which have | grown out of the far-reaching order. | the The O. P. A. took the first step yesterday to reassure the driving | public. A statement by Leon Hen- | pointed out. | The automobile industry, which | will be allowed to produce cars this month under a curtailed program | was facing many serious problems. derson, O. P. A. director, inter- preted as hinting at the possibility of seizure of private automobiles for Government use, was clarified. Mr. Henderson explained that such seizure was in the realm of “the possible” rather than the “probable” and indicated that no such step was even remotelv under consideration. Even in Germany and England, with fewer cars than here, commandeering has not been necessary. Officials of the O. P. M. and the automobile manufacturing industry were scheduled to meet here to- | morrow, and the rationing program reflecting the | was scheduled for discussion. Both | their workers” do not question Lhe’ necessity for these steps. The order freezing sales of x\.ew‘l cars was clarified by a statement from official sources yesterday. Dealers, who had been selling 1942 | model cars which had a few hundred | miles on them, were informed that | the sale of all 1942 cars--even dem- onstrators—was forbidden, Seizure Prospects Faint. The public, meantime, was as- | sured that the prospect of seizure of their cars was faint indeed. The American Automobile Association | issued a statement, quoting Mr. Henderson as saying that ccm- mandeering was not in prospect. The A. A. A. warned the public| that some few unscrupulous used- | car dealers were trying to get people to sell their cars for low prices on threat that the Government | going to seize the cars. Such | | claims are utterly false, the A. A. A. | was placed in Washington and New| York papers, charged that 250,000 auto workers were idle. | The union said that 400,000 would be added to the unemployed when the month's production was over and charged that the unemploy- | ment was due to failure to turn| auto plants to war production long | months ago. | W. P. A. Prepares to Help. ‘The W. P. A. was preparing to | oonfidence which Prime Minister | management and labor are to be|adjust its program so as to provide Churchill and other leaders have ex- | pressed in the favorable allied posi- tion on the Atlantic bridge of ships, began with the sentence: “Week after week our convoys continue to arrive, bringing vital supplies to our shores.” It did not give the actual scene of the fight, save to indicate that it ended within bomber range of British shores. The Germans, earlier, said the convoy was attacked be-| tween Gibraltar and Britain. The battle began on December 17, | on the morning of which the first | represented. Dealers Seek to Cushion Blow. Dealers were seeking some cushion to soften the blow which has hit them. Some 44.000 dealers in the country and their 500.000 employes are faced with the possibilitv of failuire and unemplovment as a re- sult of the conversion of the auto- mobile industry to defense work. L. Claire Cargile. oresident of the National Automcbile Dealers Association. vesterday outlined a program which he said would save ers who lose their jobs because of | the war program. | F. H. Dryden, acting commissioner | of Works Projects. said the W. P. A, | now operating under a curtailed program, would do everyvthing with-' in the limits of its resources to meet such problems as those created by | the curtailment of automobile and | tire production. As an initial step, W. P. A. ar-| ranged to provide work for about 40,000 workers in automobile plants | | i help for automobile and other work- | | | big guns British Coast Shelled A SOUTHEAST COAST ENG- LISH TOWN, Jan. 3 (#).—German French coast fired acros§ the strait for 15 minutes tonight. - g Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, conmander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, poses with his staff dur- ing his first press conference held aboard a submarine at Pearl Harbor. Left to right (facing camera), Capt. W. W. Smith, assistant chief of staff; Admiral Nimitz and Rear A@mlral T ‘Withers, commander, Submarine Scouting Force. —A. P. Wirephotos. along the Naszi-held LILLY LEXTRO Plain or Ferrous Bottle of 84 Standard’s Low Price L WE AGE CEACCUAGTERS PARKE-DAVIS ABDOL 30 COPPERIN B Standard's 83 Low Price Capsules Box of 25 STAND- ARD'S LOW PRICE B-boat was sunk on the surface by | the dealers from complete ruin. He | 0 Michigan, half of them in the | i i Detroit area. gunfire. It was December 21, the |@sked that price ceilings for new | Admiralty said, when the last at-|and used cars be reasonable, if es- | Theuwinp'mf-hh“ & reserve of tackers were routed. tablished at all; that the Govern- | Projee! chigan and a wide The C. I. O, in paid advertisements | ’ Destroyer Rams U-Boat. The convoy was under a veteran eommodore, Vice Admiral Raymond Pitzmaurice, who now is Sir Ray- mond, since he was knighted in the | New Year honors list. The senior | officer of the convoy escorts was| Comdr. F. J. Walker, in H. M. S. Stork, a 1.190-ton escort sloop. | Comdr. Walker was given the Dis- | tinguished Service Order for his part | in the battle. On the afternoon of the 17th after the first U-boat had been| forced to the surface and then| blown apart by destroyers’ guns, | two Focke-Wulf bembers were driven | off by naval planes from the Auda- | eity. The next day the U-boats eame back to their work. A second was forced to the surface by depth charges and sunk. | A few hours later the Stanley. which had aided in the destruction | of the second submarine, was tor- | pedoed and went to the bottom | The other members of the escort | blasted away again below the sea | and finally a third U-boat bobbed | up. H. M. S. Stork came about swiftly and rammed the submarine head-on, breaking her up. Liberator Bombers Aid. On December 19 the Focke-Wulfs came back, and the Audacity’s Naval | Planes again took to the battle. ‘Two of the German bombers plunged | into the sea; a third, said the Admiralty, limped away badly hurt. For two more days, then, U-boats | came again and again to the attack, | and finally the Audacity was sunk. “Throughout these two days, the remaining U-boats were relentlessly | hunted and heavily depth-charged | by convoy escorts.” said the com-} munique. “On December 21 the attack was finally driven off. Ameri- | can-built Liberator aircraft of the | Coastal Command of the R. A. F, Jjoined the convoy at this stage and | Dlayed a conspicuous part in the | final series of counter-attacks which | eventually freed the convoy from futher pursuit.” Cruiser Lost in Mediterranean, | There was no estimate of the number of men lost in the sinkings | of the British ships. | In reporting the loss of the Nep- | tune and the Kandahar in the| Mediterranean the Admiralty quoted enemy statements that some of their | crews had been rescued and im-| prisoned. Although the Admiralty said both were lost as a result of striking enemy mines, the Italian high command had claimed they were among “five cruisers” torpe- doed in the central Mediterranean in mid-December. Including today’s losses, the British have acknowledged the des- truction of 12 cruisers and 57 des- troyers since the start of the war. ‘When the war began the British had available 81 cruisers either in serv- ice or building. plus 222 destroyers. Fifty more destroyers, including the Stanley, were obtained from the United States in the defense base trade. Striking at the best-known Nazi submarine and naval bases on the French coast, the R. A. F. last night bombed Brest and St. Nazaire snd laid mines in ‘enemy waters, the Air Ministry announced. ment pay for cars at regular price: with no discounts. and that distr bution of all cars be made through | dealers. The dealer’s association made clear the hardship wkich was being | imposed on_ their group but said, “these are the fortunes of war,” and declared that “loyal dealers and Parisian Press Bitterly Critical Of Petain Talk By the Associated Press. VICHY, Unoccupied France, Jan. 3—The Paris press laughed out with unusual bitterness at Chief of State Petain’s New Year Day speech, which heretofore had been com- pletely suppressed in the occupied French capital. Concerted attacks were directed by the German-controlled Paris newspapers at the marshal's address to the French nation in which he termed government critics “de- serters” and expressed hope for re- laxation of Germany's armistice terms “so that France's dignity can be restored.” Marcel Deat’s newspaper L'Oeuvre expressed surprise that the most important personage of the French state should add to what it called “De Gaullist libels.” In the same vein, Le Matin and La France Socialiste asked bluntly: “Where are the deserters?” Le Matin said, “This injury hits not only Parisian journalists, but also ricochets and hits all who are favorable to a French-German un- derstanding.” | 1 variety of these are expected to be[ opened to provide the new jobs quickly. ‘Big Oil Tanker Launched | CHESTER. Pa. Jan. 3 (# —The {' | 14,000-ton oil tanker Kentucky was - launched today at the yards of the | Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. | Captable of 16 knots, the new tanker can carry about 4,200,000 gal- | ' LEDERLES VITAMIN B COMPLEX BOX OF 50 Standard's Price ; lons of oil and gasoline and is ex- | pected to be ready for trial runs in April. c = Low ASSUME 3 TO 9 MONTHLY PAYMENTS ON A SPINET PIANO Without Carrying Charge fenox Spinet ester Spinet Oleum Percomorphum 10 cC Standard’s | Low Price small: assume 3 mos. assume _ 4 Emerson Spinet Channing Spinet: Betsy Ross Spinet LR Betsy Ross Spinet; assume 9 LESTER PIANOS, INC. 1231 G Street N.W. HALIBUT LIVER 0IL socc 81 37 | | Lost and Found | Lost Ads and Death Notices | may be pluced in The Star up to 12 noon—Lost and Found Ads cre on page 3 every day. 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