Evening star., 1939-12-11
Britain Counts Loss
0f5More Ships;
Mine Sinks Sweeper
Nozis Claim Destruction
Of 2 British Tunkers
In English Channel
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, Dec. 1l.-Great Britain
today counted the loss of a mine
sweeper and four merchant ships
while British troops for the first
time in the 100-day- old-war were
reported in action on the western
front.
The total shipping losses were
more than 27,193 TONS
| The mlneSWeeper Ray OF Hope
struck a mine and sank. officials
said. She was the fifth mlnesweeper
lost since the war started. Four Of
I the Roy OF Hopes crew were killed,
! five we're missing and three were
rescued.
The 4,815~ton British steamer
| WilloWpool also sank after hitting
a mine Her crew of So was saved.
Three Overdue Considered Lost.
Three other merchant ships, an
officia. announcement said, were
long overdue and must be consid-
cred lost They were the AXh Lea,
1922 tons: Newton Beech, 1851
tons, and Trevanion, 5,299 tons.
In Berlin the German su-
preme command announced two
British tankers of total ton
mage of $4,000 had been sunk in
the English Channel. They
were not identified.
"A German submarine on return
to port reported it. had sunk
! $4,000 tons of shipping. 1t was
announced. Authorities declined
to say what period was covered
because that was military
secret, or what types of ships
were the victims)
The four minesweepers previously
lost with so lives were the Northern
Rover, Mastlff, Aragon;te and
Washington
The admiralty announcement on
the loss of the Ray of Hope did
not give her tonnage She was one
of scores of such vessels requisi-
toned by the navy for minesweep-
ing.
King Back From Front.
Movement of the Tommies into
action with the enemy occurred
shortly before King George vi Wis
tied observation posts and inspected
great Maginot Line fortresses. The
monarch returned from the front
last night, on the eve of the third
! anniversary of his accession to the
throne.
1t was reported British troops had
been on the front line several days,
but news of the action was with
held until the return of the King.
The Daily Herald commented: !:
''The British infantry is now active
ly engaged with the Germans, and
the British Expeditionary Force
feels that the war has begun at
last"
Attention Diverted From Sea.
The troop action diverted atten-
ton momentarily from the intense
sea war fare, which sent two neutral
ships to the bottom yesterday. The
398-ton Netherlands motorship I'm
mlngham was struck by a mine off
the Northern Holland coast, with
the crew reported rescued; the
1,928-ton Swedish steamer Vinga
sank after an explosion, and the
crew was saved.
The 5,182-ton Belgian freighter
Kabinda broke in half after going
aground on Goodwin Sands, and the
758-ton British steamer Fire King
was reported damaged in a collision
with British freighter in the Irish
Sea.
Discovery of three lifeboats from
the 7,834-ton German East Africa
liner Ussukuma drifting in the At
lantic off the Argentine coast
caused shipping circles to believe
the crew might have scuttled the
ship. A Reuters, British news
agency, report from Capetown
South Africa. December 6, said the
vessel had been captured and the
crew put aboard a British ship
The report said the Ussukuma was
(See LONDON. Page A-13)