18 FEBRUARY 1938, Page 21

TORPEDO OR MINE?

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In your issue of February nth your Parliamentary Correspondent has misrepresented Mr. Duff Cooper's reply to me on February, 9th, which was to the effpg.that there was no evidence whatever that the Endymion ' was sunk by a torpedo anelf•that the depth of water precluded the alternative of a moored mine. This does not exclude the drifting mine, which is the more likely as the ship was not, or barely, under way when the explosion occurred, and there are other alterna- tives. What was the cargo ? We do not know. Was it insured ? We do not know. On whose behalf was it sailing and to whom chartered ? We do not know. Because Barce- lona jumps to conclusions there is no reason why we should do so. On the last occasion when a torpedo attack against one of H.M.'s ships was reported it was found on inquiry to be groundless. In the case of the Alcira ' the evidence is conclusive. In that of the Endymion ' with an all-Spanish born crew, there is none.—Your obedient servant, The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, S.W. I. ARNOLD WILSON.