Evening star., 1943-09-13
DC. Man Only American to See
Italian Ships Give Up off Africa

'COPOH AlIICO
Cunningham to proceed to the ap-
pointed spot.
Comdr. Butcher said 1--WE weren't
sorry to leave. In the night land
ings at Salerno we were attacked
for three hours by German planes
One torpedo missed us by few
yards"
Late Thursday, the news of the
Italian surrender was heard below
decks on the Warsprite and sailor
ran to the bridge, shouting to the
admiral:
The Eyeties ave chucked their
! hand In, sir!"
Thereafter the admiral Informed
the crew of the Warsprite's mission
over an American public address
system installed at Bremerton Navy
Yard, where the Warsprite was re-
paired after being heavily damaged
by German bombs in the battle OF
Crete.
Throughout the trip to meet the
Italians, the crew of the Warsprite
insisted on pointing out to Comdr
Butcher the American parts of their
ship, including deck planning and
| furniture in the warrant officers
mess, saying "The Yanks are in on
this party, too, because this is partly
an American ship"
En- route to their appointment,
the Warspite's officers received word
that two Italian submarines had sur
| faced within 16 miles of them and
quickly flashed word not to bomb
the subs which were surrendering.
Few slept aboard the Warspite
Thursday night as the British force
sped toward the rendezvous. The
crew spent the time recalling high
points in the battles in the Medi-
terranean, remembering friends and
relatives killed, and eagerly antici-
pating the meeting, wondering
whether the Italians would try any
tricks.
The crew discussed the results OF
the Italian surrender, anticipating
| getting a crack at the Japanese in
the near future or being assigned
to slug it out with the German war
ships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst.
The following morning lookouts
spotted the Italian vessels minus the
Roma, and glasses picked up the
black surrender flag The admiral
sent the entire crew to battle sta
tions and trained his guns on the
italians, but, contrary to custom
allowed the crews to man the guns
in tropical white shorts instead OF
flash suits usually donned before
going into action. Sensing that nc
fight was anticipated, sailors pro-
ouced cameras and began shooting
pictures of the historic scene.
Told to Line Up Behind.
Comdr. Butcher said: The admiral
let the Italians come ahead to within
2 or miles of the North African
coast. 1t was a tense moment with
our guns trained on the ships which
the British had waited so long to
see, and everybody wondering what
they would do.
! There was no ceremony and nc
greetings except the hoisting of sig
nal flags instructing the Italians to
line up behind us. The admiral de-
bated whether to place some ships
behind the Italians to keep them
from escaping, but decided not to dc
so inasmuch as they had kept their
agreement.
1T would have been against Brit
ish tradition to show emotion, and
nobody did except to remark in low
voices Jolly good show. Pretty
sight, that
/ THE admiral's reaction was to
ask me to mail letter for him, say
! ing, I want my wife and four daugh-
ters to know about this"
Two British officers, Capt. T. M
Brownrigg and 1t. Seth Smith
boarded launch and headed for
the cruiser Savoia, flagship of Ad-
! miral Romulo Olivia, senior officer
with the Italians after the death OF
Admiral Bagliria. commander of the
entire fleet, aboard the Roma.
The Britons did not carry side
arms and did not wear lifejackets
as the small boat plowed across the
open sea.
Greeted With Courtesy.
Brownrigg and Smith were greeted
with the utmost formal courtesy and
learned that the Italians had put
out from La Spezia at exactly CSC
pm. Wednesday, the hour the armi-
stlce was announced, and succeeded
IN sailing under the noses of the sur
prised Germans.
The Italians apologiZed for the
lack OF fresh fruit aboard, but gave
Brownrigg and Smith the best meal
they had had in many months, in
cluding rare roast beef and three
other courses served by a waiter in
a wing collar in the adrniral's luxur-
lous dining room. The English Of
flcers' quarters included tiled bath
rooms to each cabin.
The dinner conversation centered
on out-of-the-way places such as
China naval stations, scrupulously
avoiding the war or the future, ex-
cept for expressions of hatred for
the Germans, especially for the
sinking of the Roma.
But one Italian officer couldn't
resist remarking: THE Germans
make big mistakes. The Italians
make little ones, but lots of them
We are not very good at anything.
The English officers understood
what he meant when after dinner the
admiral, his chief of staff and the
ships captain all went off to theil
cabins to sleep, leaving the bridge ir
command of junior officers although
1t was one OF the most importan,
nights Of their lives.