Evening star., 1943-02-23
Navy Reveals
Sinking Of Two
Enemy Subs
Allied Ship Losses
Smaller, but Still
Grave, Knox Says
BY the Associated Press.

os lhe ASsoCldteu fTeSS.
The Navy today announced the
sinking of a German submarine
in the Atlantic and a japanese
submarine in the Pacific and
Secretary Knox said every avail
able weapon is being used to
bring the Atlantic U-boat menace
under control.
Mr.. Knox told a press conference
that, generally speaking, losses of
United Nations merchant ships in
the Atlantic have been much lower
in the last three months, but the
submarine, he declared, most en-
phatically still is very grave
menace"
The two sinkings announced to-
day, the Secretary said, are not
isolated cases, but of other subs be-
lieved to have been successfully at
tackled at least a percentage would
have to be classified only as prob
ably sunk" The Navy still declines
to issue the total number of enemy
subs destroyed or believed to be de-
stroyed, for security reasons.
Sub Output Exceeds Sinkings.
Mr.. Knox said he is sure that de-
spite the U-boats being destroyed
the Germans are still building them
faster than they are losing them.
In the present situation, he added,
There is nothing on which to predi-
cate any sanguine hopes for early
stoppage or cure of the menace"
I'VE need to press just as hard
as ever for construction of destroy
ers and escort vessels" he said.
The Secretary also said the CO.
operative use of planes and surface
ships is proving very effective
against submarines and that mo
measures that we are familiar with
which would help reduce the sub
menace are not being used-there
IS no foolish feeling of complacency
about this situation" i 7tJ
OF the two enemy craft announced
today as having been destroyed, the
German U-boat was sunk In a fight
with destroyer in the Atlantic
while the Japanese was wrecked by
the armed guard crew of an Ameri-
can merchant vessel which it had
torpedoed.
Both Actions at Night.
Both actions were at night. One
torpedo was fired at the DESTROYER
but lodged, The Pacific encounter
did not start until the submarines
first torpedo, fired without warning,
hit the heavily loaded merchantmen.
The japanese torpedo struck the
cargo ship on the port side and al
most lifted it out of the water. The
engine room was wrecked the radio
room demolished and the ships
crew and IS passengers prepared to
abandon ship amid the flames,
smoke and debris. They eventually
did abandon but the next morning
the vessel was still afloat and it was
soon recovered and towed to an Al
lied port SO that both cargo and ship
were saved.
The japanese submarine skipper,
the Navy said, made one mistake
it proved to be his last"
Immediately after the torpedo hit
he surfaced his craft and sent
shell from his heavy deck gun over
the forward gun mount of the mer-
chantman. The range was only 200
yards, but the Jap missed. The sub
then opened up with machine gun.
Sinking Vessel Machine Gunned.
n oyln
80, of Nashville, Tenn, commanding
the vessels armed guard, opened
fire with its after gun. Another
gun crewman opened up with the
forward gun.
The guns of the merchantmen
fired only four shells-all they could
obtain quickly from the ammuni-
ton boxes which had been jammed
by the torpedoing. The four were
enough, however, for two were di-
rect hits.
AS the sub began to sink and oil
and debris spread over the water,
1t. Southern and one of his men
started two machine guns going and
poured over 400 rounds into the
sinking vessel.
"She was definitely sunk" the
Navy said.
Capt. Jack Edgerton of San Fran
cisco, Calf, master of the mer-
chantman, gave the order to aban-
don ship because fire was raging in
the engine room and the danger of
explosion was great.
The Navy summed up the incident
this way:
The precious cargo was saved