Evening star., 1942-11-18
Pacific
Continued From First Page.)

sunk, five destroyers sunk, eight
transports sunk, one battleship dam
aged, six destroyers damaged and
tour cargo transports destroyed.
Today's japanese announcement
as broadcast by Domei follows:
Imperial headquarters announced
at $3.50 pm. today that imperial
naval forces in the third Solomons'
naval battle from November IL to
November IA sank eight enemy
cruisers and four or five destroyers
and heavily damaged two battle
ships, three cruisers and three or
four destroyers.
The announcement reads:
Imperial naval units continu-
Ing hostilities since November II
carried out a fierce attack on the
enemy air base on Guadalcanal
Island the night of November 13
and inflicted heavy damages on the
airfield and its facilities.
On November IA, while escort
Ing our transport fleet in the face of
a fierce counterattack by enemy air
craft, imperial naval forces en-
countered an enemy reinforcement
fleet with two battleships and more
than four large-size cruisers at a,
point northwest of the island and at
night, after a heated encounter, de-
stroyed the maj jor part of the enemy
auxiliary units and heavily damaged
two large battleships, routing the
enemy fleet in a southern direction.
Composite war results from No.
vember II to November IA so far as
are known and our losses and dam
ages for the same period follow:
Firstly, losses and damages of
enemy warships: Sunk-Eight cruis-
ers, including three new type Five
of these cruisers we're instantly
sunk. Four or five destroyers One
transport. Heavily damaged-TWo
battleships, three cruisers, three or
four destroyers and three transports.
Secondly, losses of enemy air.
craft-63 planes shot down and
more than 10 (others) destroyed.
Thirdly, our losses and damages:
One battleship sunk; another battle
ship damaged; one cruiser sunk;
three destroyers sunk and seven
transports damaged Thirty-two
planes dived into the enemy and
nine (otheD planes failed to re-
turn"
Battleship Sinking Claimed.
While the imperial headquarters
announcement gave no names the
Toxic radio earlier had broadcast a
claim that the 35,000-ton United
States battleShip North Carolina
and the 33 .400-ton Idaho fled after
receiving terrific damage at the
hands of the Japanese Navy" last
Saturday night in the Solomons.
There has been no United States
announcement or any other Allied
information that those two vessels
were in the Southwest Pacific.
The same broadcast had publicized
The imperial headquarters announce
ment in advance as one that would
mot only reveal startling war results
10 discredit the United States Navy,
but will amount to telling the world
that the japanese naval victory was
so overwhelming that United States
attempt at counter offensive in the
South Pacific rae a thing of the
past"
The Toxic radios claim of terrific
damage" inflicted on the U. S. S.
Idaho betrayed cross wires in the
Axis propaganda.
The German controlled Paris radio
said October % that survivors of
Thea Idaho had been landed at
Gibraltar. Previously, the Italians
mad claimed on october to have
sunk the battleship 800 miles off
FreetoWn, West Africa.
There has been no confirmation
from any source for any of these
claims, German, Italian. or Japa-
neSe.