The Colorado statesman., 1914-12-12
FLEET REPORTED DRIVEN BACK
BY DEFENSE CANNON NEAR
CALAIS.
THREE SAID TO BE SUNK
NuRNsERe SENT TO BoTToM BY
ENGLISH SHIPS AND DRESDEN
coRNERED AT MAGELLAN.
Western Newspaper Union News Service.

London, Dec 11.-Half a dozen Ger
man submarines made an attempt |
Thursday morning to enter the admir- |
atty harbor of Dover, according to a |
Dover dispatch to the Exchange Tele- |
graph Company, and for half an hour |
the batteries kept up furious fusil- |
lade firing at least 200 shots.
1t is reported that two or three of
the submarines were sunk but no con-
frmation of this can be obtained. The |
attempt was made under cover of early |
morning darkness and during a heavy |
rainstorm. The first alarm, says the
dispatch, was given by the firing of a
naval gun, and soon all the batteries
were in action.
Dover is opposite the French town |
of Calais and is one of the chief ports |
of communication between England |
and the continent. Tho admiralty har-
Dor, comprising an area of 610 acres, Is
the finest harbor of refuge in the chan
mel. It's construction was begun in
1898 and completed in 1900 at a cost of
$17 100000. The western limit of the |
older commercial harbor and the ad-
miralty harbor is the admiralty pier.
The commercial harbor is bounded on
the east by the Prince of Wales pier,
while the east arm of the admiralty
harbor is built out from shore to the
east of Dover Castle. There are nu-
merous forts guarding the entrance.
The night was very dark and a, heavy
rain and haze made searchlight work
difficult where the attack was report
ed to have been made. Fortunately the
forts were put on the alert about a.
m. by the appearance off the harbor
entrance of an unidentified steamer
which refused to stop until shot was
fired across her bow. This vessel then
retired. She is believed to have been
the tender of the submarines. Half
an hour later, it is-said, single sub
marine was sighted and one of the
heavy guns in the harbor fired at her.
This submarine, which evidently was
the advance scout, disappeared, but
at $50 the observers sighted what
they believed to be a fleet of about
six submarines, several miles out in
the channel. The channel forts COM
menced firing in the direction of the
supposed submarines and kept it up
or almost half an hour. At the same
time a torpedo boat destroyer flotilla
put to sea where it remained all day.
Large crowds gathered on the water
front in the early morning hours and
watched the searchlights and artillery
fire.
German Ship Doomed in Straits.
Buenos Ayres.-The German cruiser
Dresden, the only warship of Admiral
Count Won Specs squadron to escape
after the battle with the British
squadron, under command of Admiral
Sir Frederick Sturdee, has been cor
nered in the Straits of Magellan, ac
cording to advices obtained through
well-informed circles.
The naval division commanded by
Admiral Sturdee is understood to in
clude nine warships, notably the Brit
ish battle cruisers Lion and Inde.
fatiga BILE.
The battle cruisers Lion and Inde-
fatigable displace 26,35O tons and 49,
75o tons, respectively.
The Lion was built in 1910, is $50 |
feet long. S6lA feet beam and has |
draft of 30 feet.
The Lion carries eight 13.5-inch |
guns and sixteen 4-inch guns and is
equipped with three 21-inch torpedo
tubes. Her complement consists of
1000 men and she is capable of tray
cling 2S knots an hour.
The battle cruiser Indefatigable is
57S feet long, 79h feet beam and 27&
feet draft. She was constructed at
Davenport in 1911 and has a speed of
26 knots. The Indefatigable's arma-
ment consists of eight 12-inch guns,
sixteen finch guns and three 21-inch
torpedo tubes. She has complement
of 800 officers and men. The official
bureau announced that the German
cruiser Nurnberg, one of the warships
which escaped from the English in the
engagement of the Sth, had been sunk