New-York tribune., 1915-03-25

TGrtl0 w
nnts were on the water front several
large shells exploded 100 yards away
and splinters from them filled the ar
This attention from the British gun
ners was due to the fact that the party
Of correspondents was moving along III
the centre of n body of soldiers.
The fire from the warshlps soon pe
came general. One shell buried ltselt
in the ground close to the group .!
observers; fortunately in exploding IL
Aid no damage. The hillside toward
which the correspondents were making
their way was finally reached at about
1890. Ii was then seen that the Brit-
ish had concentrated their hre upon
the forts. The noise of the explosions
and the replies of the Turkish pat.
teries were deafening. The area oil
fire was so extended that at certain
times the correspondents were unaDIe
TO find cover anywhere.
Eye-Witnesses Well Placed.
A certain vantage point, however,
was finally decided upon, and from TINS
position the observers looked upon a
wonderful assault-the concentrated
attack of large group Of modern bat,
tleships against we'll built and wei
defended land fortifcations. OIL,
The British ships were firing heavily
and continuously. At times the smoke
was so thick that il completely Dlotted
out the horizon and totally enveloped
the particular Turkish fort under hre.
One would get glimpses of the forth-
cations lifting their higher points out
of clouds of gray smoke. The severity
of the fire led one to think the Tort
had been blown away. but time and
again the smoke cleared and showed
the Turkish position virtually undam-
aged.
The fire Of the Turks was rapid and
accurate, so much so that the nre from
the allied warships began TO be erratic;
Many shots flew high, while others zen
short. One result of this was tnat lne
town of Chanak-Kalessi, behind Forts
Hamideh and Chemenlik, had VIDE ave-
nues cut through 1t.
The bombardment reached ITS great
est intensity at 3:l5 O'Clock IN the al :
ternoon, when Of sudden the french
hattleship Bouvet was observed by ne
Associated Press correspondent 10 De
riding low by the stern. The next MN
ute she swung little to port. Az the
same moment her afterdeck dlsap-
reared under water. For about two
water nearing her coming tower.
Then she settled completely by the
stern. her bows clear of the water and
rointing toward the sky. The next IN
slant the waves closed over the Ill fated
vessel. On shore it was understood
she had struck a mine. Boats rushed
TO the rescue, but only few men were
saved.
Ships Foremost Blown on.
few minutes later The Associated
Press correspondent was watching
British vessel, believed to be the IRE,
sistiblc. He saw large Turkish smell
strike her deck. When the smoke OF
the explosion had died away II was
seen that the vessels foremast had
Eeen cut off near the crows nest ana
bent to one side. The mast rigging
was hanging down in tangled mass.
This same shot apparently also dam
aged the machinery, for 1t could De
seen that the vessel was experiencing
difficulty in gaining the open sea.
But the greatest tragedy came at
about a quarter before in the after
noon. when a British warship was so
badly damaged that she was obliged to
run ashore within range Of the Turkish
guns. For one hour, until quarter be-
fore 6, warships Of the Allies stood by
and protected their stranded compan-
ions with a heavy fire on the Turkish
forts, but the coming of night obliged
them TO withdraw, leaving behind them
t fated vessel.
The Turkish gunners directed an ac-
curate fire against her and she was
still holding out at the time this dis
patch was written and started on its
way to Constantinopie. The CORE
spondent saw eight shots strike the
vessels deck full and square in space
| of about ten minutes. Nevertheless
she continued to return this terrific
! fire TO the best of her ability. But hei
shots had no apparent effect upon the
fort. As night came oL the Turkish
guns seemed to be giving the fna
| touch to their work.
The British battleship Queen Eliza
beth was hit five times by howitzel
shells and the battle cruiser 1nfexibl'
/ atx,,oG four tipnaa