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The Wilmington Morning Star
Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina
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US Navy Secretary Knox reports the French fleet, including Dunkerque and Strasbourg, is bottled up in a harbor with escape impossible due to blocked entrance; 64 vessels listed, some immobile; unconfirmed tales of ships firing on each other to sink irretrievably.
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entrance, and thereby bottled up the rest of the fleet units.
Knox said the Navy's information on ships in the harbor showed there the Dunkerque and Strasbourg, capital ships; the old battleship Provence; four heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, 18 destroyer leaders which range in size up to 2,800 tons, 15 ordinary destroyers, and probably about 21 submarines--a total of 64 vessels.
However, Knox said, some of these ships have been stripped of parts to furnish replacements for the other ships and were therefore immobile.
He described as interesting but without confirmation by the Navy here various reports which he said had "come over the wires."
One dispatch, he said, related that the French ships had fired at each other to blast holes into the hulls near the water lines. The reason for such an action, Knox explained, would be the fear that if the ships were sunk merely by opening their sea cocks the enemy would be able to raise them.
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fleet bottled up in harbor with entrance blocked; some ships immobile due to stripped parts; unconfirmed reports of ships firing at each other to sink properly.
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The escape of the French fleet is said impossible as the entrance to the harbor is blocked, bottling up the rest of the fleet units. Navy information lists 64 vessels including capital ships Dunkerque and Strasbourg, old battleship Provence, four heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, 18 destroyer leaders, 15 ordinary destroyers, and about 21 submarines. Some ships have been stripped of parts and are immobile. Various unconfirmed reports include French ships firing at each other to blast holes in hulls near water lines to prevent enemy salvage if sunk by sea cocks.