London, Dec. 14, HM, Duchess, 1,375-ton destroyer, was' sunk afler & Collision with an= other British warship, which was hot damaged, the Admiralty announced today, The only survivors: of BINIS, Duchess were "one officer and 22 ratings, The exact "number of the personnel carried by the Duchess was not available at present, but naval circles said that she carried anywhere from 130 to 160. men, They. pointed dut that in wartime a destroyer usually carries a few more men than in peacetime, but probe ably not more than a dozen, The Duchess was well-known in the Far East, having been involved in several notable incidents in China waters in 1938 and 1939. She was a familiar sight on the Whangpoo River in Shanghai, She was well-known in Shanghai for possessing Some excellent rugby players.
She was moored at Hongkong in 1938 after being damaged above the waterline following a collision with a Japanese steamer.
Last May she figured on the front pages of the world press by rushing. to the rescue of the P. and O, liner Rampuro, which was "halted by a Japanese' cruiser four miles from. Hongkong.
The arrival of the Duchess caused the Japanese cruiser to leave imme~ diately, and the Ranpura was allowed to proceed,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.