Evening star., 1943-08-16
Navy Reveals Loss
OF Six Vessels, -Four
lin Mediterranean

In Mediterranean
By the Associated Press.
The price America has paid in
the worldwide sea war against
the Axis was brought up to date
today with the Navy's announce
ment of six losses In the last two
months.
A submarine and destroyer topped
the list, which included also the gum
boat Plymouth. the submarine chas-
er PC496, the mine sweeper Sentinel
and the submarine rescue vessel
Redwing.
Commanding the PC496. one of
the larger sub chasefs, was 1t. James
s. Dowdell. Arlington, Va, while the
submarine Pickerel and the DESTROYER
Maddox, were commanded by 1t.
Comdr. Augustus H. Aston. tr..
Augusta, Ca. and 1t. Comdr.
Eugene Sylvester Sarsf1eld, BROOKLYN.
respectively. Both are reported miss
ing IN action while 1t. Dowdell was
among the rescued
No details Of the Pickerel's loss
were given by the Navy which did
not even name the ocean in which
she made her last patrol.
4 Lost in Mediterranean.
However. It was presumed that
the Pickerel was one of the under
sea craft which have been taking
a heavy toll of Japanese shipping
and cutting enemy supply lines
throughout the Pacific. Saturday
the Navy. in report on the sub
marine war against Japanese Ship
ping, reported the sinking of seven
enemy ships and damaging of five
others, bringing to 3O9 the number
Of japanese vessels of all types sunk
or damaged by submarines since
the war began.
Bombs or torpedoes from Axis
planes sank the Maddox in q sharu
battle on the coast of Sicily July 10
Underwater explosions. which
might have come from either tor
pedoes or mines, destroyed the SUBJ
chaser PC-496 on June 6 and the
rescue ship Redwing on June 20 in
the Mediterranean. The mine
sweeper Sentinel was lost July II
in landing operations of Sicily, but
no details were given.
Total Set at ITO.
Another underwater explosion
sent the gunboat Plymouth to the
bottom Of the Atlantic of the North
Carolina coast August 5. Whether
she was torpedoed or struck mine
was not disclosed. Her commander
1t. Ormsby MacKnight Mitchell, jr.
was wounded.
The sinkings brought to 110 the
number Of United States warships
lost since the beginning of the war
OF that total "a have been sunk, II
are overdue and have been listed as
lost, and 9 were destroyed to pre-
vent capture by the enemy. Those
figures include 80 destroyers and II
submarines.
The Pickerel, second submarine of
that name. carried normal compile
ment Of about so officers and men
Built Groton, Conn, she was
launched July 7, 1886, had a stand
ard displacement of l $3.50 tons and q
water line length of 290 feet.
The Maddox, also the second de-
stroyer Of that nance was launched
at Kearny, N. j., September Is, 1912.
She had standard displacement CT
1,7O0 tons, was armed with four s.
inch guns and ten 21-inch torpedo
tubes, and carried normal compile
merit Of about 200 officers and men,
Plymouth Was Former Yacht.
Once reputed to be 'the finest
yacht af1oat," the Navy said the gun
boat Plymouth, formerly the Alva,
was built at Kiel Garden, Ger
many, in 1890 for William K. VAN
derbilt and was designed by him
for explorations and scientific work.
AS a naval craft she carried a
complement Of about 160 officers
and men. She had a displacement
of 2,265 tons and an overall length
of 265 feet.
The PC-496, one Of the larger sub
chasers, carried a complement OF
about IS officers and men. She had
a displacement Of 600 tons and an
overall length OF 165 feet. She was
built at Sturgeon Bay, Wis, in 1941.
The Sentinel was a steel ship OF
600 tons displacement and over
all length of 220 feet, armed with
two 5-inch guns. Commanded by
1t. Comdr George L. Phillips, Oak
wood, Staten Island, N. Y, she had
a normal complement of so men.
Launched in Baltimore in 1919
the Redwing was commanded by 1t
q. g. Martin c. Sibitzky, Pedrick-
town, N. j., and had a complement
of SO officers and men. 1t. Sibitzky
as boatswain's mate won the Navy
Cross in 1899 for extraordinary
heroism as diver during the rescue
and salvage operations after the
- IL u