London. May 30.
More than 100 officers and men from the German 30,000-ton battleship Bismarck were picked up by British forces and are prisoners of war, stated an Admiralty communique, which said that the attack on the Bismarck, it which the destroyer H.M.S. Sikh took part in addition to the ships already announced. resulted in the speed of the Bismarck being reduced and the steering gear being put out of action; Both the main and secondary armaments however remained effective.
Shortly before 9 a.m. on May 27. the battleships King George V and Rogney engaged the enemy with their. main armaments.
"The gunfire of these two battleships silenced the enemy," said the communique. "The commander-in. chief then ordered the cruiser Dorsets hire to sink the Bismarck with torpedoes."
"On the day after the sinking of the Bismarck." continued the communique, "some of our naval forces which had taken part in the operations leading up to the destruction of the German battleship were heavily attacked by German aircraft. During these attacks H.M.S. Mashona (1850 tons), a destroyer of the Tribal class, was hit. The Board of the Admiralty regrets to announce that she subsequently sank and that one officer and 45 ratings are mising. The next of kin of the casualties are being informed as soon as possible."—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.