The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1896-02-27
FORTIFIED BY NATURE.
But Little ArtiGce Needed to Make Com
stantinoplo n stronghold.


stantinopio stronghold.
At a time like the present when diff
ficulties surround the Turkish Empire
on all sides. it is interesting to note
what protection is provided for the
Turkish capital Constantinople is
very much favored by nature, and the
strategists art had but little to add to
the natural resources at his disposal.
Coming from the Aegean Sea, ship
passes up the rapid current of the Oar
danelles Strait. The strongest of the
fortifcations along this strait are erect
ed where the strait narrows down to a
little less than 1000 feet in width; or
the one side is Fort Sultane-Kaleh
(Sultan's Castle), and on the other
Kilid- Bahr Uock of the Sea- The Oar.
danelles proper are protected by three
lines of defense, an outer, a centre and
an inner line. The batteries of these
forts are provided with Krupp guns Of
large calibre, there being sl4 of these
guns distributed along the lines of for
tification. The points of defense have
been so well selected that passing ves-
sells, who have to pay full attention to
the rapid current and the frequent
turns in the channel, may be taken into
cross-fre at almost any point within
a stretch of more than three miles. The
greatest weakness of the Notifications
along the Dardancles consists in that
they are almost defenseless from the
land side. and. during the Russo-Turk-
ish war, of 1S77-7S. they were in danger
of being taken by the Russians. Since
the Dardanelles were fortified they
were forced but once, in 1907, by the
English Admiral. Dalltworth, and then
only on account of the miserable ar
mament in use. At the present time
these forts are positively impossible
for no matter what man-of-war. ac-
cording to the judgment of experienced
German artillery officers. who are now
In the Turkish military service. After
the Dardanelles are passed, the Sea of
Marmora may be passed without inter-
ruption; at the entrance into the Bos-
'phorus, strong forts on rocky cliffs
guard the gateway. Altogether, this
narrow strait. which winds in seven
sharp serpentines, is but fifteen miles
long. Eleven forts and nineteen bat
-teries, with 633 guns and fifty-one NOR
tars. protect this northern gate of Con-
stantinople. Upon the land side. this
city is enclosed by a wall, varying from
twenty to forty-two feet in height In
the southwestern part of the city the
Citadel of the Seven Towers" is erect
ed and near the point of the peninsula,
which forms the city proper the Serag-
lilo is also protected by batteries, and
the so-called Leander Tower. which is
about seventy-five feet high This
tower stands at the furthest seaward
point of the peninsula, and just across
the Golden Horn is the Marine Ar
senal Tophane. From the land side
Constantinople is amply protected by
Its walls, and an attack upon the city
could not possibly be successful without
a simultaneous attack from the sea.
The most serious defect in the defense
of the Turkish capital is the absolute
absence of outlying forts and works,
and the fact that there is no source of
fresh water within the city walls. In
former years. when difficulty of COM
munication on the land side arose. Con-
stantinople has always been supplied
with water from Scutari, on the Asiatic
side of the Bosphorus. The current in
the Bosphorus is very rapid and
treacherous; there are many well-pools
and eddies, so that the Turks them
selves have named it the Devils Cur
rent" All things considered, 1t must
be admitted that it would be a difficult
matter to take Constantinople by force,
and even the combined navies of sew
oral European powers could not force
an entrance through the Dardanelles,
nor is it likely that Russian men-of-
war could enter the Bosphorus from
the North with success.