Evening star., 1942-03-25
Tells
How Batt|eship
asDamaged
$50 Bombers Also
Beaten OF in Attack
On Malta Convoy
Earlier Story on Page A-10
BY PRESTON GROVER.


ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, March
25.-With a valor matched not
even in the most romantic fic-
ton, light squadron of British
cruisers and deStroyers sailed
head-on into an overwhelmingly
powerful Italian feet in the CEN
trail Mediterranean, three times
drove it away from a British
convoy, and ultimately delivered
the supplies to the beleaguered
little island of Malta.
1t was battle which will 90 down
in naval annals. For not in the
recollection Of any officer present
had such prolonged fight been won
by so small a force against such
great odds.
On London the Admiralty an
nounced British forces set fire to
an italian battleship of the 35,-
00O-ton Littorio class with gun
fire, rammed her with a torpedo
amidships and damaged two Ital-
ian cruisers. The Admiralty
acknowledged damage to one
British cruiser and three de-
stroyers. with light casualties
among their crews In a later
phase of the battle $50 Axis
bombers were bea ten off,
Battle Began Sunday.
saw the battle With another
American correspondent, Richard
Mowrer of the Chicago Daily News,
was aboard one of the cruisers which
charged straight into the guns of the
enemy, cuffed him off, rained shells
on and around him. and finally
pulled the convoy to safety.
1t did so right Que Of what had
appeared certain destruction not
only for the freighters but for the
bulk Of our thin-walled fighting YES
sells as we'll.
The battle occurred last Sunday.
beginning in the early afternoon
and ending only after dark, when
the italian f1eet-puzzled, whipped
and wounded-finally withdrew.
In the italian feet were one bat
tleship of the 35,0O0-ton Littorio
class with 15-inch guns; two cruis-
ers with 8-inch guns of the Trento
class: four 6-inch cruisers of the
Condottieri class and a screen Of
destroyers.
Against them We had a 6-inch
cruiser, anti-aircraft cruisers whose
heaviest guns we're 525-inch and
destroyers.
No British Warships Sunk.
There wasn't a single gun in the
British squadron which could make
more than a minor dent in the
Italian battleship. 1t was like
throwing a handful of nails at a
rampaging elephant. And yet at
the end of the battle every British
warship was afioat.
Moreover, at the end of the battle
one British destroyer reported it had
slammed one torpedo for certain
into the battleship and possibly had
hit it with more CThe Rome radio
claimed today the Littorio had suf-
fered only grazing hit by a me-
dium -caliber shell on one of ID
turretsD
Nor did the British ships fight
only surface vessels. Throughout
the battle. as we'll as long before
hand, Axis dive-bombers had at
tackled the convoy and its escortiny
vessels necessarily. At times uldi-
vidual British ships were firing
simultaneously both at the enemy
battle fleet and at the bombers as
the battle ragged over a 4O-mile
westerly course.
Spotted by Nazi Planes.
Just at dusk March 81 five Ger
man transport planes escorted by a
Messerschmitt spotted us as they
flew from Libya toward Crete.
That was bad. 1t meant that We
would be dive-bombed the next day
and that the Italian fleet would
have time to put to sea to intercept
us. 1t was grim prospect and
none of the officers aboard would
PoAiV looy PlOopCCt.
Neither I. Mowrer nor the British
newsreel cameraman, David Prosser,
the three noncombatants aboard,
gave ourselves the remotest chancs
of getting back to Alexandria alive.
The next morning at 9:35 am.
the air raiding began with torpedo
bombers swinging in from all sides.
One narrowly missed a swiftly
swerving destroyer. Throughout the
forenoon these torpedos kept coming
in, but repeatedly the planes were
driven to dropping their torpedoes
from a high level or great distance.
Then at 2:25 pm. came the omi-
lSea NAVAL Donn