The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-21
BATTLE IN AIR AND ON SEA IS
 THRILLING ONE
Craft of Five Nations il Memorable Engagement
 Cruiser Lost.

AsASAAAS4 CSA1S A14AS9CNS Cruiser Lost. London, May 19.-A raid by a squad ron of Austrian cruisers, assisted by German submarines, brought on a sea battle in the -Adriatic on Monday, in which cruisers, destroyers submarines | and airplanes of five nations were en- gagged. British, French and Italian cfaft drove off the Austrians, but not I utnil they had inflicted considerable losses on the British mine sweeper fleet.
 The fight took place in the Strait of Otranto between the ''heel' of Italy and the coast of Albania Official ver- sions differ as to the losses of the two squadrons. A German sumbarine tor- pedoed a British light cruiser, un- doubtedly the Dartmouth, but the Ad- m1ralty says she reached port with only 15 casualties. Italian airmen,
 who attacked the Austrians as they withdrew to Cattaro harbor say an Austrian cruiser was sinking. An-
 other is said to have been badly dam-
 aged.
 According to the Austrian statement 1 Italian destroyers,'' numbers not l given, became victims The Aus
 trian statement makes this phrase | became victin1s' apply also to three
 merchantmen and 20 armed guard vessels, which are mine sweepers, or
 drifters. It does not say specifically
 how many ships were sunk, but says l72 English sailors were captured from the drifters. The British Admiralty statement says that IA drifters were iSunk, but mentions no losses Of de- lstroyers or other craft.
 A running fight took place as the Austrians sought shelter in Cattaro in
 which submarines and airmen took part. On nearing Cattaro, Austrian battleships came out and the lighter
 allied forces had to draw off. The
 British official statement follows:
 The Admiralty announces that from reports received from the Rear Ad-
 miral commanding the Adriatic squad ron, supplemented by the Italian of-
 fcial communication, it appears that
 cruisers, subsequently, reinforced by destroyers, raided the allied drifter line and succeeded in sinking IA Brit ish drifters, from which, according to the Austrian communication, 72 pris- oners were taken.
 His Majesty's ship Dartmouth, with
 the Itaian Rear Admiral aboard, and H. M S. Bristol immediately chased
 the enemy off, assisted by French and Italian destroyers. The chase con-
 tinued with the enemy under heavy and continuous fire until near Cattaro,
 when some enemy battleships coming
 in support of their cruisers our ves-
 sels drew off.
 Italian airmen, after a battle in the
 air, attacked the Austrian warships
 outside Cattaro and confidently affirm
 that one of the enemy's cruisers was
 on fire and being taken in tow of Cattaro in g. sinking condition. One
 other of the enemy's cruisers was re- j ported by the British Admiral as badly
 damaged.
 During her passage back the Dart
 mouth was struck by @ torpedo from
 an enemy submarine, but returned tc port with three men killed, one officer
 and four men missing and believed tc be dead, and seven wounded. There
 were no other casualties to our ships The Austrian official story of the l fight follows:
 , On Monday night a detachment o. |. our light sea forces undertook sue cessful enterprise in the Otrantt roads, in which Italian destreyers l three merchantmen and 20 armed | ) two Englishmen of the crews of tn, guard vessels were captured.
 While returning our units had sev eral fierce engagements with superior .1 enemy forces, in which the enemy
 composed of English, French ant Italian vessels, suffered considerabl' damage. / On two enemy destroyer conflragation were observed. ii Participation in the fight by enem. , submarines and airmen was unsuc d cessfuI, while on the other hand oul . seaplanes participated splendly in th' l fighting. They each obtained one hi , on two enemy cruisers and effectivel!
 combatted hostile submarines. Ou uits returned in full number witt { small losses in men and damages. In brilliant cooperation with ou :. naval forces a German submarin' sank by a torpedo hit an Englisl } cruiser with four tunnels.
 The Italian official statement is a l follows:
 II An enemy squadron composed O | cruisers and destroyers, favored 10. , darkness, attacked shortly befor . dawn the 18th a small convoy crossinl the Adriatio under escort. In tn brief unequal fight, one of our escort l ing torpedo boats, one steamer and :, motor fishing boat used as a patro were sunk.
 Italian and British warships and tw , French torpedo boat destroyers cruis
 ing in the vicinity rushed to the seen of action, whereupon the enemy he' northward, pursued by the allied ship | which vigorously shelled them. Two enemy ships, close pressed b 3 Italian light cruisers, succeeded i e gaining shelter near Durazzo unde
 the guns of coast batteries. On tn | other hand, the British cruiser Dart = mouth, on board which was the Italia d admiral commanding the scout di e vision, ahd followed by another cruise . and destroyer, running at high speed - managed to maintain contact wit
 three enemy ships of the Novara typ |. for more than two hours, firing abou = 500 shots, until, arriving in the neigh I borhood of the Cattaro defences, large
 ships came out to their support.
 ] Meanwhile our seaplanes, after re
 pulsing enemy machines, attacked hi
 ships, in1icting serious damage wit
 bombs. The pilots of two of our sea