Evening star., 1916-10-13
FORCED SURRENDER
0FFLEE[N|PSPL0T
Greek Ships With Anti-Entente
Officers Were to Mass Be-
hind Allied Armies.
ATHENS ISSUES PROTEST

LONDON. October 13.-According to
the Times Athens correspondent.
conspiracy existed in Greece to Of
ficer the Greek fleet with anti-entente
sympathizers and to concentrate In
Thessaly, in the rear Of the allied
armies, troops, guns, stores and ma
terial from Athens and elsewhere. The
correspondent adds that the precau-
itions taken by the allies through an
ultimatum to counteract these schemes
caused no surprise in Athens.
Today was a sad day for the Greek
tars, who are insuff1ciently acquainted
with politics to understand why they
must abandon their ships to foreign
power, says Reuters Athens corre-
spondent. 'Tt was an equally depress-
to watch for three hours this afternoon
their ships being towed away by al
lied tugs.
Precautions Against Resistance.
1.-THE allies took every precaution in
case of resistance being offered Russian
battleships trained their guns on the
cruiser Averoff and the batteships Kilkis
and Lemnos, while French torpedo boats,
ready for action, cruised to and fro.
1.-The ceremony in the early morning Of
ordering the crews to pack their personal
belongings and quit their ships, of which
they were so proud. had been touching
incident The king sent message releas-
ing every man who wished to remain with
his ship and join the allies. 1t is said that
nobody remained.
"The ships officers were the last to leave
| their vessels. taking with them their flags
and the kings portrait which adorned
every wardroom. Admiral Ipitis removed
his flag to the Lemnos and shut himself
| up in the cabin while his fleet was being
towed to the new anchorage. The aid
de-camp Of Admiral Ipitis pointing to the
allied warships remarked as he watched
| the scene, What harm could we have
| done them?'"
Greek Communication.
| The Greek government Wednesday Is
| sued communication in which. after
reciting the demands set forth in the
| ultimatum of Vice Admiral Dartige du
Fournet, commander of the Anglo-French
| fleet, that the entire Greek fleet, except
the armored cruiser Averoff and the bat.
tleships Lemnos and Kilkis. he turned
over to the entente allies. it says:
| Resides these measures (the delivery
|
the allied forces declares 1t indispensa bic
that the breach locks of all batteries o,
Piraeus be removed. which batteries h.
proposes in part to occupy.
The admiral declares he will exer
cse control of the port of Piraeu
through officers he will name. Finally
to guarantee Frances orient armies
1 the admiral demands to exercise
through officers he will appoint, tn.
control of the police and the servfcs
| of the Piraeus-Larissa railway"
Necessary to Submit.
| The governments statement ther
adds:
The Hellenic government. before ths
terms of few hours were allowed tt
expire. replied that it considers 1t its
duty to protest against the exigenciee
formulated. to which. however. it viii
| submit in the circumstances, makine
| of it an imperative necessity"
On the arrival of the crews of ths
| abandoned ships in the capital they
were wildly cheered by the populace.
venizelos Denounces King.
The newspapers today publish an in
terview granted Ward Price, the Official
British press representative by Eliptherios
Venizelos at Saloniki, in which the
former premier denounced King Constan.
| tine as responsible for the present state
of affairs in Greece, and outlined further
plans for the provisional government
which include the raising of an army
corps to fight on the side of the entente
allies against the Bulgarians
| In the interview N. Venizelos declared
it was the intention of himself and his
collaborators to set up a formal govern
ment in Saloniki, exercising all powers
of state, '1evying existing taxes to main
| tain the military service and raise and
equip troops"
| After expressing confidence in the tri-
umph of the provisional government OF
which he is the head, NJ. Venizelos con-
with the allies We hope soon to have
an army corps in the fleld.'