London, HE Allied Powe darkest week of sea warfare ince the outbreak of the European hostile passed last night with the loss of two more large Allied ships with heavy loss of life. The Admiralty announced last night that the 16,697-ton British, merchant cruiser Rawalpindi had been sunk and it was feared all, except seventeen men of the ship's officers and company of about 300,, had been lost. The Rawalpindi was formerly a P. & O. mail ship which often called at Shanghai, The other ajar loss was the Polish merchantship Pilsudski, 14,294 tons, whi sank in the North Sea after two explosions, believed from mines.
Eighteen of her crew are missing. Aboard the ship were 173 persons including a Polish captain assisted by' a British captain and fourteen British seamen.. The survivors landed at east coast ports yesterday and many were injured. A British destroyer picked up 79 survivors and a trawler rescued 58 others, Two additional minor sea casual ties were reported and both were Believed to have resulted from mines. The British s. Hookwood, 926 tons, sank on Thursday after striking a mine. "TWwo members of the crew are ing, A British naval vessel Iand-the survivors at a north-east coastal port "Ninetecn members of the crow of the disabled Swedish. vessel Gustaf Reuter also Tanded in England yesterday after being rescued from their ship by a British trawler, There were understood to have been some casualties among the Swedish crew. hele ship. was believed to have struck a mine.
The Wookwood was reported to have sunk in four minutes, trapping two members of the crew in the ship, was about to go below when there was a blinding flash and the ship. seemed to fall to pieces." the Ship's ehier engineer, Mr. John Main, told the press. "E was soon up to my waist in water and then a wave swept me into the sea, Our lifeboats were wrecked by the explosion. All Wwe could do was swim about holding to pieces of timber until we, wore picked tip. about an hour later. T Swam in'my heavy boots but managed to struggle to some wreckage. Timber struck me in the face but seized another and hung on to it until T was picked up."
Over 100,000 Tons Affected More than 100,000 tons of British and neutral shipping were sent to the bottom or captured by Germany In the past week, not including navat Tosses.
Apart from the Joss of the two mers over the week-end, German magnetic mines or naval action dur-Tig. the. week resulted in the loss or capture of at least twelve neutral ships totalling 47,000 tons and thirteen British ships amounting to 25,000 tons.
The Rawalpindi was flying the rit Admiralty fag oe warship tthe time abe was sui" She" was Fecenliy requisitioned by. the. Admiralty" and. fied "outwith. duns ster Being painted battleship res:
The Pisuakl ae one the ost From the ship included 67 Poles and of new liners, "Those rescued
Britons—Unied Pres. her Dutch Liner Sunk.
Amsterdam, Nov. 27. ithe Hiner a deadly og" in the Thames estuary find sank immediately. The crew took the Ifeboats and were picked "uP by seve sels which responded {0 the ship's distress signals. So fa, there are no. further details on the inking, of this ship. 'Che owners of the vessel uve the' Holland-Amerika one passenger, a jard at the time of the disaster, "She took te a lifeboat with members of the crew and was picked up. by a pilot vessel. The mishap took place at 9.45 am. this morning.
The ship. lett New Oreleans on september 22, arriving gt the Downs by the British. control Gctober 10, After her she The ship was constructed placed! On the trans-Atlantic The "German freighter" Gerrit s zen ran aground on the Dutch, {und is considered a total loss.
The survivors were rescued by the German from 'A umber of mines have been sivept towards. the Schelde estuary by a violent storm inthe North Sea and the Channel, creating a considerable threat {0 shipping.
Th the harbour of Flushing, where 'a number of ships-are at anchor, stylet ware had to be Keept in view of the drifting mines, while in order {to avoid accidents the entire waterfront has been closed to motor and pedestrian tram.
Itis learned {rom Northern Hottond that a mine hit the Wadden Dyke on Texel Island and exploded. The blast was so. violent that all windw-panes were shattered in. the neighbouring village of Oudeschil, a mile and a half from the spot where the explosion Nazi Air Attack Fails London, Nov. 27.
It is authoritatively learned that the recent air attack on a British cruiser and a British destroyer In the North Sea, fifteen bombs were dropped by three German machines In one Engagement. In another, seven Ger~ machines were engaged. In neither case were the attacks success ful. The German authorities of frst claimed four direct hits on the British cruiser, described in @ German communique as of the H.M.S. Aurora class. Following the British Admiralty communique that the frulser was not hit, the Germans reneed the claim to one hit The attack considered as an indica aircraft attacks against warships are not likely to be The Fleetwood trawler Will Hum: phelps has been missing since Tues-(ay. Earlier reports were received that the vessel had been shelled by submarine and thirteen men had taken to an open boat.
Twenty men were drowned when pilot boat ran aground in the Mersey River yesterday. morning.
Tt was reported today that the Boulder liner Royston Grange, 6.144- tons, was sunk in the Atlantic." No lives were Tost.
During the last week, eleven Bute ish ships were sunk." "Their total tonnage was 23,787 tons. Four neutral ships, representing 23949 tons, and two French ships, totalling over 3,000 tons, were also sunk. The Ministry of Information announces that the German "magnetic mine" campaign is well in hard. "An appeal' for the volunteer of 2,000 men to man 200 drifting trawlers for mine-sweeping has evoked a greater "number than required. These ships have become naval vessels, classed as the Trawler Reserve.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.