The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-03-20

feet In the strait came in a statement
ron Constantinople oy way OF Ber-
lin. The Turkish Ministry Of Marine
declared that the French batticship
Bouvet had been sunk. Other advices
from Berlin said that the Bouvet
struck a mine shortly after 9 O'Clock
Yesterday afternoon and went down
within three minutes. and that two
British battleships had been seriously
damaged and II British torpedo vessel
had beer sunk. The Turkish ofhc!ai
statement said:
Our fleet early to-day BON.
bardcd the s%hipyards and the
mannuvring place Of torpedo
boats west Of Theodosia. on the
Black Sea in Crimea. and set the
buildings or fire.
The allied feet heavily stclled
the forts OF the Dardanelles. when
replied effectively. sinking the
French battlesbip Bouvct
The mines in the Dardanelles have
proved a much greater menace to the
allied fleet than the numerous forts,
n naval authorities have predicted
hat ~ soon as the strait was cleared
Of that danger the passage would
soon be forced Grimsby traw,ers and
french fishing boats nave been sent
To the scene Ia large numbers and
have been engaged night and day in
sweepins tho channel clear. A. one
lime the task was almost completed.
but the GcrmduS and Turks adopted
the plan of launching f~0dtln= min..
which come down against tbs ships
with tremendous force. swept at ;he
ate of nearly ten miles au hour by
the strong current from he Sea %,
Marinora
There IRE two curren,s IN he
strait. On" comes from The Sea Of
Marmorl and an alternating one from
the .Egcan. The former is much The
stronger, but the eXiEencl,s Of ;hc
situation have compelled ADMIRAL Car
den to send his ships inside wHeu the
water was ~ full fiuw ana the danger
were very srctt. Several narrow
escapes have been reported and a
number ni the Zines have toated
down into the .E.gcau, one even being
picked up on the shore Of The Island
OF Tencdus. five miles from the en-
rance
Tho. loss OF ave threc battlesh!ps.
while highly rcgrettabie. Is not a ser!-
nus blow to the British and French
navics. The lost ships were OF a
class tina; is rapidly becoming OBJ
solete. They can be replaced, out
there is nevertheless Il general feel
ing that the Turks have achieved a
very considerable success. Admiralty
officials consider that the fact that
most of the men on the Ocean and r.
res!stible We're saved partially offsets
the destruction OF the ships. Appar-
emily the British craft did not sink at
once and their companion ships had
time &c take off the crews, although
some OF the men are reported to have
been killed in the explosions. The
Bouvet seems to have gone down al
most instantly with virtually al on
board 1921 men).
The weather conditions IN the Oar
danelles have been very bad during
the past few weeks and the fleets have
had little chance 20 continue the bonn
hardment Of the forts az the Mar
rows. II the ships went down in the
stretch Of water between tn, entrance
10 the strait and Forts Shanak Kalessi
and Kid Bahr they sank in nearly
10 fathoms Of water
Mobile Turkish batteries fired at the
warships protecting min swecpcrs a.
midnight last night. The ships replied
and the firing lasted for W hours
Two batteries were silenCed n sew
cral shells hit the ships. but no dam
age was done.
The Irresistible was a battleship of
1868 toni. commanded 10y Capt. stan
hope Hawke and mad a crew of ESQ men.
She was uVilt In 1897. had u speed Of
1872 knots, mad n main battery Of four
~ inch gus and twelve i inch guns,
and also sixteen . inch guns. six 3
FOUNDERS. two machine guns aud iou?
tOrpedo tubes. She Wa OF about I'll.
same class as lie Nebraska in ;he
United States navy
The Ocean. commanded by Capt.
Arthur Haycs-Sadler. had = tonnage Of
1850, a complement % 150 ana - speed
Of lS.5 knots. She was aid down IN 1897
and had an armament of Iour J. inch,
twelve 8 inch, ten 3 inch, six 8 Founders
and two Intch.I guns, with two torpedo
tubes. Her counterpart In the United
States navy is the ohio.
The French hatt.vship B3uvet was laid
down in 1898. had q tonuage Of l2,uU1
and n complement. e $50 meu iier spec
was IS knot aud her armament was
TWO IL inch, Two los inch, eight 50 inch
eight 80 inch and ten 3 FOUNDER guns
She also had two torpedo tubes, III.
Henri ". which win replace the Bouv.t
Is smaller. having = onnape OF $500 and
carrying two l".s inch. seven "a iaci
ana twelve 3 FOUNDER uns
The bpmbardmeut of the DardHnells IS
was besuu early In December hy ths
allied fleet under Nice-.Admiral Garden
The fleet has rccciNd additions uut!l Il
now includes more than 1870 vessels OF al
classics. the mast powerful being n.
British d~rcadnou%ht Queen Elizabeth
which carries eight ~ inch guns The
attack "u the entrance furts WAS car
RED on Internationally uutil l'@orudr! %
when those dcfeuces wero reduced. T"'
ships then passed into the strait and
began the cduupnadlug Of the scores OF
Turkish forts on both sides, the strong
est group being at the narrovs, aDou'
twelve miles from the ~cntIanc".
The Ocean. Irresistible and Houve'
have been very active In the operations
and have been sent into he strait every
clear day to lombard IN" forts and &
protect the trawlers engaged IN mine
sweeping.
1900 - ---~-~--