Evening star., 1942-06-23
Navy Is Conveying Ships
From Maine to Florida

New sinkings brought the an
ships sunk in the Western Atlantic
since Pearl Harbor to 295 today as
the Navy disclosed it had started
conveying merchant shipping along
the East Coast.
The Eastern sea frontier covered
by the Nays announcement in
cludes all territorial waters from
Maine to Florida.
These waters would be in for re-
doubled submarine activity under
Hitler's directive to his undersea
raiders to intensity their drive, be-
ginning Friday, north of the West
Indies. as we'll as Ireland and east
to Europe.
A brief, official announcement
said:
The Navy has been conveying
merchant ships through the lines
of the Eastern sea frontier for ap-
proximately the last 30 days"
| officials declined to expand on
this disclosure
lildANdVAoAo WCIC VIC
would be expanded as rapidly as
new anti-submarine craft become
available for service
Once these craft are on hand in
sufficient numbers. conveys may be
expected to operate not only in
coastal waters from Maine to Flor
ida. but also inside the Gulf of
Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and
other areas where the U-boats in
recent weeks have found numerous
targets for their torpedoes.
East coast conveys apparently
were ordered by the Navy High
Command after about four months
of hurried preparations-U-boats
first appeared in mid-January-in
construction of a variety Of sub
chaser ships ranging from 83foot
Mosquito" boats to 183-foot vessels,
all armed with depth charges.
Escorts of these craft. augmented
when necessary by blimps and
planes, have been described as espe-
cially effective in combating subs
attacking with torpedoes.
officials conservatively predict
that the convoy system will have
the result of greatly reducing the
number of successful U-boat as
saults in the areas so protected.
One of four recent sinkings re-
ported yesterday was that of large
American merchantmen which cap
sized and sank in 3 minutes after
striking a mine off the Virginia
coast last Wednesday.
Third Mate Irving C. Leetz. one of
"A survivors landed at an east coast
port, told newsmen he had learned
from the crew of his rescue vessel
that nine mines, apparently planted
by lurking subs, had been swept up
the day before his ship fell prey to
another mine.
Three men were missing after that
explosion. They were H. w. Kelly
and Emerson H. Church. messmen.
and Vasil Papathanas. fireman, all
of Baltimore. The survivors in
cluded a nine-man Navy gun crew
Capt. Eric Nyborg of Baltimore and
First Mate D. NJ. Bailie of New York
were hospitalized here for treatment
of leg injuries.
Buenos Aires reported the sinking
of the 4,800-ton Argentine freighter
Rio Tercero. victim of either a tor
pedo or a mine, and Belem. Brazil,
reported the torpedo of the
4,954-ton United States ship Colum-
bian and the Panamanian ship
Cardina
The Rio Tercero was the third
casualty of neutral Argentina since
the war started.
Thirty-four survivors of the $685.
ton Cardinal arrived in Belem.
Brazil, from the coastal city of
Salinas. where they were landed by
the Brazilian ship Commandante
Ripper, which picked them up after
they had been forced into lifeboats
twice by torpedo attacks.
They said they took to lifeboats
when their ship was attacked June
IS by large submarine, but re-
turned when the ship did not sink.
The submarine re-emerged seven