Evening star., 1940-03-05

Direct hit on U-bodt
In He|goIand Blight
Claimed by British
Merchontmon Is Sunk,
Two Others Attacked
By Submarines
BY the Associated Press,

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, March 5.-Stroke and
counter stroke in the struggle for
control of the seas today matched a
report Of the probable destruction
Of German submarine by air at
tack against the known loss of q
British merchantmen and possible
loss Of two others.
A Royal Air Force plane scouting
Schillig Roads, German naval
stronghold of the Elbe River in
Heligoland Blight, was reported last
night by the air ministry to have
scored a direct hit on a submarine
lying at the surface of shallow
water.
-Four bombs were dropped, one of
which registered direct hit be-
tween the coming tower and the
stern" said a ministry announce
ment
After the attack the submarine
was seen enveloped in a cloud of
greyish black smoke with only the
upper part of the coming tower
above water"
50 Believed Sunk.
Thus, perhaps, another German
loss could be added to the half
hundred submarines which, accord
ing to unofficial estimate, have been
sent to the bottom by British action
in the half-year-old war.
But against this stroke the Brit
ish had to weight the announce
ment early today that the 6717-ton
motorship Pacific Reliance had been
sunk of the west coast by "enemy
action" and sos messages indi-
eating that the 5,841-ton steamer
Ell Ciervo and the 1O,516-to tanker
Charles F. Meyer had run afoul of
undersea raiders.
I'VE are sinking" concluded the
message from the Charles F. Meyer
after the big tanker reported being
torpedoed so miles southeast of
Hastings in the English Channel.
I'VE are being chased by a sub
marine" said an sos attributed
by Mackay Radio in New York, to
Ell Ciervo from position about 900
miles east of the Virgin Islands
The call indicated that the ship had
sighted submarine at 3:07 pm.
yesterday.
Entire Crew Landed.
The entire crew of 50 from the
Pacific Reliance landed on the Cor
nish coast during the night. Al
though badly holed, the motorship
remained anoat for some time,
enabling the men to escape in six
lifeboats
Four of the boats were guided
to the shore by an r. A. F. plane,
which shuttled back and forth over
them while the occupants of the
other two were picked up by an
other vessel.
The combined tonnage of the Pa
ciflc Reliance, Charles F. Meyer and
Ell Ciervo is many times over the
1886 which the admiralty said was
definitely lost to British shipping in
the week ending March 3. Against
the weeks British sinkings the .ad-
miralty reported that to avert cap
ture the crews of four German ves-
sells, totaling 1890 tons, scuttled
their ships. 49,
Nazi Loss Set at 271,0OO Tons.
An authoritative British naval
source said that in the first six
months of war Germany lost about
27l 600 tons of merchant shipping
out of total of 4,492, ,7O8.
The losses, he said, included %
ships captured. totaling 94,50O tons;
Is scuttled, totaling 154, 900 tons, and
an undisclosed number. of sinkings
by allied action and from marine
causes.
British losses to date as a result
OF enemy action, he said, approxi-
mate 620,00O tons, of which two
thirds has been replaced by new con-
structions and captures. This was
compared with loss of more than
2,000. 900 tons in the first six months
Of 1917, when Germany's war on
shipping reached its World War
climax.