The Wilmington morning star., 1940-11-14
BRITISH BOMBERs
DISABLE HALF or
1TALY'S WARSHI,
Continued From Page on.

was sunk outright and two -.
were seriously fired ana V2a11 y
most certainly sunk" WHY I
fourth escaped behind
screen, according to the adc,;..S3 GaSa
Destroyers Escape
Both destroyers escaped h..
was damaged. The British ao11 S.
ledged no casualties or 6sn,.
Almost as though rea.o. .a
these reports of naval vjcto,,'
the British government annoYsa
extension of the blockade n \
clude Syria, French West A., ~
Liberia, Portuguese Guinea. My MW.s]
gascar and Reunion island,
Blockade vessels were ora.,
to halt ships in sea zones off ~, :,
territories, on three sides NJ ~ ,s|
ca, unless the vessels have r.~]] "~
certs, or certificates of priv y!
spection and approval of Their a.
goes by the British.
The biggest and newest NJ j
battleships reported crippled IN "
Commandment at laramie, tbs \
miralty said, was one of The Al
000-ton Littorio class. She lis ID
ly down by the bows, her fo,1
castle is under water and she ii
"a heavy list at starboard," Il
communique related.
Italy has two newly comnisa,,
ed ships of this class, the Littorl
and Vittorio Veneto, and thev Il
among the most power full bstr]
wagons in the world, each mon|
ing nine 15-inch guns.
Battleship Blocked
"One battleship of She CswI
(23, ,622-ton) class has been beach
ed and, from her stern up to sr]
including the after turret, is m6a
water" the admiralty went o]
The ship is listing heavily to sta5
board.
'It appears probable that
second battleship of the CavosI
class also has been severely dan|
aged"
Italy has four of this class batNs
ship-the Conte Di Cayour, Giul
Cesare, Caio Duilio and Andre
Doria-with main armament Of te1
1876 inch guns each.
These are the ships which Id
British warships have reporte!
spotting only at a great distance
and then always heading at forcet
draft for the protection of thel
shores and coastal guns.
But the bombers hunted then
out at fortified and guardec
Taranto, the admiralty asserted
smuggling behind their shore de
fenses.
The nation just had been told d
the valiant death fight of the arm
ed merchant cruiser, Jervis Bay
which, in mid-Atlantic, saved q
out of a convoy of 3S ships from
the guns of a German raider
Nov. 5.
Churchill, today, paid equal tri
butte to this 'forlorn and herol!
action.
At the time Churchill spoke th'
Jervis Bay was known only q
have helped 29 of the 36 convoye1
ships to escape but a few noun
later it was announced that s7
more ships of the scattered convo?
had reached port, thus accolnIn4
for 30.
"a Ships In Port
AlthoufI 20 ships were KNOW
yesterd o be safe, only "A the1
were in port. The arrival OF u1
six more reported today thus oooS]
ed the total to 80 and left elsn
still missing.
The bombing of laramie is y
pected to release some po"el7
units of the British Mediterranes7
fleet to hunt down this ralos]
which may be a German pocks1
battleship. Only three ships IN "
British navy, the battlecrOlse']
Hood, Renown and Repulse, are AZ
counted fast enough and poWeTl]
enough to catch and defeat one
these 1O,O0O--ton craft. German
has two pocket battleships left u
Admiral Scheer and the LuetzOa|
The crippling of half OF Il Duce]
capital ships strength-allnous]
Italy's greatest naval strength ns]
been in smaller vessels-may pea|
on both the Italian olel]
sive in Egypt and the afeau|
troubled Greek campaign,
Italy has placed greater reilaAI1
in submarines, destroyers ana las1
light cruisers than in capital sn!p'j
Thus the halving of battleSlj
for Italy may not hlss-I
what it would to other ha'al
powers.