Evening star., 1941-09-16
Great Night Battle
Of Tanks HurIs Back
Nazis, Soviet Says
Naval Successes Claimed,
Sinking Of 10 German
Vessels Is Reported
ss the Associated Press.


MOSCOW. Sept. 16-A gigantic
night battle of heavy tanks for IAN
important point on the approaches
of Leningrad" was reported by the
newspaper Red Star today to have
ended in a complete rout of the
Germans, who left hundreds of dead
on the field.
The Red defenders captured 25
heavy tanks. three armored cars and
nine field guns, the dispatch said,
following up Soviet successes in the
Barents and Baltic Seas against
German naval operations.
Succeeding communiques of the
Soviet Information Bureau told of
the sinking of 10 Nazi vessels-seven
troop transports and three escorting
warships-in northern waters.
Torpedo boats and a submarine
.ank two large German transports in
the Barents Sea north of Norway
and Murmansk, one Soviet COM
munlque said
Previous reports had told of a
transport and escort sunk in the
northern waters of Petsamo Bay, off
Finland, and four transports and
two destroyers sunk in an attempted
German landing on the fortified
island base of Oesel off Estonia.
Nazis Hurled From Islands.
In another sector of the gigantic
battlefield about Leningrad, fierce
Red Army counterattacks hurled
the Germans from string of islands
In river IN" Red Star reported.
This dispatch said the Nazis were
preparing to force the river from
their positions in the islands. But
after night-long preparations, Soviet
troops reinforced by citizen volun-
teers stormed the islands.
The Germans held on under
hurricane of machine-gun, rifle and
trench mortar fire, Red Star re-
ported, but in the end were forced
to retreat, leaving hundreds OF killed
and wounded and many weapons.
The islands now are held securely
by the Russians, Red Star said, hav-
Ing been converted into an i'm
pregnable series of fortresSes."
Fierce air fighting also was re-
ported, the Soviet communique an
nouncing that 20 German planes
were destroyed in fights on the
northwestern sector four days ago,
and is destroyers on the south
western front the same day. The
next day, it was said, II Nazi planes
were shot down.
Three Rumanian Cities Bombed.
The Soviet Information Bureau
also reported the bombing of three
Rumanian cities, in addition to the
naval engagements.
The Communist organ, Pravda.
said seven cutters and two barges
were sunk by the Red air force one
night in the Gulf of Finland.
Hundreds of German officers and
men who planned TO land In the
vicinity of Lenlngrad were drowned.
Fravda said.
Despite heavy autumn rains. cold
and darkness, fighting is raging "on
land, in the air, on the water and
under the water at swift and I'M
believably tense pace, Pravda added.
The thunder of big guns at Kron-
stadt naval base rolls across the
area. Pravda said, while new naval
detachmentS join the land forces
vowing that here we were born.
here we grew up, here we fought and
here we shall stand to the last"
Galati, Rumanian oil center, and
the ports of Con.tanta and Sulina
were the Rumanian cities reported
. to have been pounded by Russian
flyers. apparently to impede German
operations in the Black Sea.
Troops Fight "Stubbornly."
Land operations yesterday were
covered by the early morning COM
munique with the repetitive declara-
ton that our troops fought stub
bornly against the enemy on the
entire front"
A noon communique said fighting
also continued all along the battle
line during the night.
A previous communiQue told of
heavy fighting on the southern
front. At besieged Odessa, it said,
Black Sea fleet guns backed land
units in repulsing repeated at
temps of German and Rumanian
troops to break through the defenses
Saturday and Sunday.
I'm the combat" the communique
reported. "the 4th Rumanian In
fantry Regiment was dispersed and
one battalion of this regiment was
DESTROYED"