The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-01-10
LOST BY T|M|D|TY.
An Early British Naval Failure at
the Dardanelles.
GOT HIS FLEET INTO A TRAP.
Admiral Duckworth Could Have Won
Had He Aessd Promptly but He Hes.
itated, Gave the Turks Time TO Arm
and Was Bombsrded Back to the Sea,

Had He Acssd Promptly, but He Hes.
itated, Gave the Turks Time TO Arm
and Was Bombarded Back to the Sea.
The unsuccessful campaign at Cal
lipoli when the forces Of the allied
powers failed IN their attempt to reach
Constantinople after Turkey had ar
rayed herself on the side of Germany
recalls the time when Sir John Duck
worth sailed through the Dardanelles
and then turned round aud sailed ont
again 1t was in 1907, when Napoleon
was ut war with more than half
world and when England hud on the
throne king with an infirm brain and
IL ministry called that Of "aIl the tai
ents,' which in spite of its name was
wretchedly inefficient
The French were trying IL come 10
an understanding with the irresolute
Sultan Selim. which was greatly dis
quietng to the car since in view of
the great victories of the Little Cor
poral' in Prussia he could ii afford t.
spare any forces from the Russian
frontier So he asked the British to
send feet to the sublime porte and
compel Selim to make terms with Rus.
STA and England,
Accordingly Sir John Duchtforth was
ordered to join Admiral Louis in the
Aegean sea and lead the combined
fleets up the Dardanelles TO the Turk
ish capital, where, after securing the
safety of Mr.. Arbuthnot. the British
ambassador, he was to dictate terms to
the sultan.
1t is harder to sail up the Darda-
nelles than to sail out becau there is
a powerful current that flows con
stantly from the Black sea to the
Aegean. There were no great steam
cruisers then, and Sir John had to wait
several days for favorable conditions.
Meantime one of the largest of the
ships, the Ajax, carrying seventy-four
guns. unaccountably blew up, and some
$50 Englishmen We're killed.
On February morning in 1907.
however, seven battleships sailed into
the mouth of the ancient Hellespont
and bore their way up the strait They
encountered only light and ineffect-
ual fire from the forts. There was no
effective preparation for defensive &C.
ton on either the European or Asiatic
side from the mouth of the Darda.
Ielles to the city of Constantine.
Had Sir John given the sultan a
~ tttt ;rta.t ftRt nn.I
trained his guns on the citadel he need
not have fired shot. He would have
accomplished the purpose for which he
had come and could have sailed out
with his ships unframed and himself
covered with glory. But he was seized
to negotiate and temporize.
General Sebastiani, the clever agent |
af Napoleon at the sultans court, en-
Geuraged Duckworth's irresolltion and
FED him on from day to day with spe-
eious promises
Meanwhile men, women ald chill !
dren, Christians and Mohammedans, /
were working day and night to erect !
suitable defenses along the famous /
waterway. until in no long time tho !
whole shore, as well as the forts of the
Dardanelles, was bristling with guns
Duckworth's opportunity had PASSED
Re had made the fatal mistake of Civ
ing the Turks time to find their leader
For two weeks the parleyings went
on, while the fleets officers through
their glasses could see the constant ar.
rival Of cannon, ammunition and
troops. At last Sir John awoke to the
fact that he was In trap and had
barely time to get out. Fortunately the
wind was in his favor. and the seven
battleships began their ignominious re
treat.
What contrast between the coming
In and the going out,
For sixty miles they ran the CANT
let Of continual and heavy fire. II
was incessant and CALLING in the sea Of
Marmora, and in the Darlanelles II
was terrific. There stone balls, weigh.
ing 700 and 800 pounds, snapped the
rigging, broke down the masts and
crushed in the decks. The roll Of the
artillery was deafening, and the smoke
hung over everything in dark, impene
trable folds.
The Inundated admiral could do |
nothing but run, and as the current |
was with him he finally reached the |
Aegean sea, although with badly bat.
tered fleet.
1t has always seemed curious to thu
reader of history that Duckworth es-
capped the fate of Admiral Byng who
was court martialed and shot fifty |
years before for just such another
lamentable error Of judgment The |
only explanation appears TO lie that |
this was time of such multiplied |
fears and panics that even so serious
q matter rs this was soon forgotten in
the more absorbing and importunate |
problem of national defense against |
the designs OF Napoleon. -Youth's Com
DapiOufk