London, Apr. 23.
RITISH seamanship and fighting prowess were displayed by the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in its attack on German forces at Narvik on April 10, according to an Admiralty bulletin giving the first detailed description of the fierce battle, in which four of the five attacking British destroyers, and four of the six large German destroyers in the harbour, were either sunk or badly damaged. The Flotilla consisted of the destroyers Hardy, Hotspur, Hostile, Havock, and Hunter.
Describing the entrance of the channel west of the fjord, the communique says it is easy enough in daylight with good visibility, but passage is not lightly to be undertaken ab night in a heavy snowstorm, with strong enemy forces in the vicinity. On April 9 the Hardy approached the pilot station at 'TTranoy, at the head west of the fjord, and landed two officers to seek information. They learned that Narvik was strongly held by the Germans, and that at least six destroyers, larger and more powerful than the Hardy and her consorts, were in the Ofot Fjord, This intelligence was communicated to the Admiralty, who told Captain Warburton Lee that he must be responsible whether to attack or not.
"At dawn the next day, the Flotilla proceeded Into the narrow channel Heading to the Ofot Fjord. It was and snowing heavily, and keep touch with one another.
In the words of one officer of the Hardy, which led the Flotilla: "We never saw either side of the {Jord at all, except when we nearly hit it"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.