The Washington times., 1915-03-20
ATTLESH|PS RENEW
SMELLING OF STRAIT
Mines in DardaneIIes Greater
Menace to Allied Fleet Than
the Turkish Forts.
Continued from First Page.)

| CONTINUED from First Page.)
patchse to the admiralty state that Fort
Kilid Bahr. which, together with Cha
nak, guards the narrows, was also heav-
| lily damaged.
From Petrograd comes an unofficial
report that the Russian Black Sea fleet
has appeared Off the Bosphorus. The
arrival or the enemy squadron has Gre
ated a panic in Constan tinople, Petro-
grad cables.
The report early today that Vice
ADMIRAL Garden was killed In tho
ausfly the on admr%ltys nnItSHsS anSoGHcei lS5G%sa
ment that Rear Admiral dc Ro-
peck has been placed I'm command
because Garden was, "ill:" Another
that Gardens flagship. the Inhexible.
has been badly damaged by the fire
rom the Turkish forts. shelf struck
IN the forward control. the admiralty
made of the fact that the admirars
cabin was located in that part Of the
ship.
Though shocked at the news OF the
| sinking of the three allied battleshps,
the English press for the most part
took the Dardanelles losses philosophi-
cally today. They had been prepared
to TO- learn OF serious reyerses by previous
Dardanellcs could not be forced except
at heavy cost.
Queen Elizabeth Leads Attack.
Detailed stories of the bombardment
that resulted in the loss of the three
battleships were received here today
They state that the super-dfeadnaught
Queen Elizabeth led the way into the
strait Thursday morning and that her
l0-inch guns scored the most notable
hits. Shortly. before noon. one cor
the weeeS zebh hvy Pro]ss
powder magazine in Chanak fort, send
ing, up column of smoke hundreds of
feet high.
At intervals of two minutes three
exploded in almost the same spot Dense
volumes of smoke obscured the scene
FOR several minutes, but when the
smoke drifted away the Turkish bat
teries were still in action.
Neanwhtle. the allied warshps cruis-
ing In circles around the Queen ELIZA
beth, continued an incessant fire at the
forts on both sides of the strait One
correspondent wires that the Turkish
warship appeared in the narrows near
Fort Kilid Bahr, while the engagement
was In progress, but quickly disap-
peared when shower of shells flew
about her.
Ship Disappears In Smoke.
At exactly 1910 flames and smoke
J were suddenly discovered rising from
the Bouvet. She quit tho line and
moved In toward shore, while other
vessels put over boats to take off her
, | crew.
The Irresistible was badly damaged
and afre before she struck a mine.
, Several shells from Fort Kilid Banr
| exploded on her deck. and she moved
in toward tho Asiatc side. disappearing
in great cloud of smoke.
The Ocean is believed to have gone
down near the same spot. II was grow
sy,er anil he, toryx tva,,, H..
OF water spurted into the sky on either
side Of British battleshlp. From his
point of observation on the hill of st.
Elias, a correspondent cables. he saw
list heavily and then pass out of sight
behind a projecting cape.
The scene was awe-inspiring. cables
the correspondent. THE last touch was
given by an aeroplane. which could be
seen dimly through the smoke wreaths
In the sky. fitting about like some su-
! pernatural object over thesCombat."
All the papers gave the Turks. hither-
to held in contempt credit for produc-
ing one of the surprises of the war.
} Most of the newspapers. however. were
disposed to attribute the loss OF the
three battleships to German tactics.
, They asserted that the Germans un-
questionably schooled the Turks in the
use OF floating mines that resulted In
) the destruction Of the Bouvet. Irresist-
ible. and Ocean.
r The Morning Post even went so far
as to question whether the allied fleet
t can force its way to Constantinople.
! I'VE need not disguise from ourselves
that the Turks have dealt a heavy blow
r to the allied squadron" said tho Post
The losses serve to show that 1t is
still an open question if ships can sue
, cessfully dominate land batteries which
have the advantage OF being unsuitable
But as the squadron is persisting in the
attempt, we may still have good hope
that the operations will be successful
especially when II Is seconded by a
; strong force on land
Greater Menace Than Forts.
, The mines in the Dardanelles have
proved a much greater menace TO the
allied fleet than the numerous forts.
and naval authorities have predicted
that as soon as the strait was cleared
of that danger the passage would soon
4 be forced Grimsby trawlers and French
. fishing boats have been. sent to the
0 scene in large numbers, ad have been
v engaged night and day in sweeping the
channel clear.
n pleted. but the Germans and Turks
adopted the plan of launching floating
3 mines which come down. against the
ships with tremendous force, swept at
the rate of nearly ten miles an hour by
the strong current from the Sea OF
: Marmora.
e Turks Success Great.
There are two currents in the strait
One comes from the Sea of Marmora
and an alternating one from the Egean
The former is much the stronger, but
the exigencies of the situation com
PEELED Admiral Garden to send his
) ships inside when the water was In full
flow and the dangers We're very great
Several narrow escapes have been re.
y ported and number of the mines have
e foated down into the Egean, one even
e peing picked up on the shore of the
Island of Tenedos, five miles from The
entrance.
The loss of the three battIeships
!, while highly regrettable. Is not a seriou.
. blow to the British and French navies
rapidly becoming obsolete They can b,
= replaced. but there is nevertheless &
l Pnnnral faRlinn thaI Ln L.