Show Japs Claim Damaging g f f A f. f JL Or Off Aircraft Carrier TOKYO From Japanese Broadcast Feb 26 AP AP Im Im Imperial he headquarters declared Thursday that an enemy aircraft carrier rier was severely damaged and set afire on February 21 when en several Japanese naval planes plunged headlong onto her detonating ton ting their still racked bo bombs bs in the crash In view of the extent of the I damage the vessel is believed tobe to be lost although the not confirmed the he announcement c e m men e n t said It pictured the attack as a mass suicidal assault in the tradition of Oriental self The lo locale locale locale lo- lo cale of the attack was given as several hundred hUI miles northeast of New Guinea The announcement said that the sensational raid was carried out despite strong aerial resistance from the fleet In which the aircraft aircraft aircraft air air- craft carrier was traveling The German radio garbling the Japanese announcement declared that the ships were United States naval units and that nine Japanese Japan Japan- ese planes had failed to return from the assault although at least 10 United States planes fell victim to the Japanese attack Tokyo's imperial headquarters in another announcement had said that the nine planes which failed to return were part of a flight which bombed the airdrome airdrome airdrome air air- drome on Java yesterday shooting shooting shoot shoot- ing down 30 lO defending fighters in aerial combat A German radio broadcast later later later lat lat- lat lat- er proceeded to say that the aircraft aircraft aircraft air air- craft carrier set afire and probably probably probably ably sunk was the U. U S. S Yorktown Yorktown Yorktown York- York town tons Such reports are familiar axis tactics in fishing for information There has been no indication from any other quarter quarter ter that the Yorktown had been in action |