29th. JANUARY 1943- SCONE ADVOCATE
Read this article carefully, in it Australia's Attorney General, Doctor Evatt, spoke specifically about a heavily damaged US warship being towed to Sydney for repairs. The information came from a radio broadcast in Germany obviously sometime before the 29th January 1943.
They were referring to the USS New Orleans, and the letter Q contained that information as per the earlier post about the New Orleans. The article refers to two men talking on a train giving away the information, that would only have come from the broadcaster, it means that someone was listening to the men on the train and that same someone organised for the information to be passed on to Berlin. Perhaps by shortwave radio to a U Boat waiting of the Eastern shores of Australia.
The date sequence was that the New Orleans arrived very badly damaged on December 24th 1942 and was immediately dry docked ready for extensive temporary repairs. The ship was in fact so badly damaged that it had travelled all the way from the islands in reverse, the bow had been completely blown off by a torpedo. The repairs were started quickly and on Sunday the 7th March, the repaired USS New Orleans headed out to sea and Puget Sound with the HMAS Deloraine acting as a screen.
The date sequence was that the New Orleans arrived very badly damaged on December 24th 1942 and was immediately dry docked ready for extensive temporary repairs. The ship was in fact so badly damaged that it had travelled all the way from the islands in reverse, the bow had been completely blown off by a torpedo. The repairs were started quickly and on Sunday the 7th March, the repaired USS New Orleans headed out to sea and Puget Sound with the HMAS Deloraine acting as a screen.
Knowing what we know now, the Deloraine and the New Orleans Captain's would have been made aware of the German broadcast and that there must have been a significant risk that a U Boat was waiting for them. As it eventuated, the New Orleans made it back to Puget Sound in one piece.