Rome, Sept. 3.
A. British aircraft carrier was. hit and severely damaged by bombs "of the heaviest calibre", when Italian planes carried out a "sticcessful" attack on British warships off Malta, the headquarters of the Italian Army' announced here today.
The oMclal communique said Italian heavy bombers and dive bombers Participated in the raids. Three British pursuit planes were shot down in dogiights over the warships, the report claimed.
n addition to the aircraft carrier, two British cruisers and one torpedo boat were claimed to have been severely damaged in the Mahan at-tocks—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.