The Dominion. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1915. THE ATTACK ON THE DARDANELLES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2415, 22 March 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1915. THE ATTACK ON THE DARDANELLES

It is difficult, if not impossible, to attempt to balance the losses and gains of the great attack by the Allied Fleet on the Dardanelles on Wednesday last. We have lost two British battleships of old type and the French have' lost one still older, while two later types have been temporarily disabled. The majority of the crews of the British vessels were saved; unhappily the French warship; owing to an internal explosion, went to the bottom so quickly that barely one-tenth of her crew escaped. That is the dark side of the picture. On the other hand, we have had another demonstration of the splendid efficiency of our fighting ships, and more especially of the overwhelming- power of the great guns on the newest type of battleship in the British fleet; we have caused immense damage to two more of the most powerful of the Turkish fortresses, as well as destroying batteries of field guns; and our vessels at latest advice still occupy the straits and the bombardment is proceeding. In such an undertaking as that being attempted at the Dardanelles the Allies were almost inevitably bound to suffer severely. To expect otherwise would be to ignore all that modern gunnery and the deadly lessons of the -submarine mine have taught us. The only questions to be considered were whether the end in view justified the risks undertaken, and if so whether the losses suffered have been compensated for by the advantages gained. The latter question, as before stated, cannot be confidently answered on the information available; the former, it would seem, can be answered in the affirmative. The successful forcing of the passage .of the Dardanelles would not only strike at the heart of Turkey in a military sense, but would also exercise a tremendous moral influence throughout the Balkan States, Italy, Greece, and Egypt, likely to be of far-rcaching importance in its effect on the people of those countries and their attitude towards the war. In addition, it would serve the important purpose of enabling the Allies in the West to establish connection by sea with their Ally in the East, and release ten million quarters of Russian wheat which Russia is just as anxious to sell as her Allies are to buy. It will thus bo seen that the control of tho Dardanelles, and all that such control implies, was worth risking a good deal for, and tho operations of the Allies in this quarter arc therefore not difficult to understand. What must occasion some surprise, however, is the fact that in the class of work involved in such restricted waters any first-class fighting ships should have been employed. Old battleships of the Irresistible and Ocean class with a few big guns and strong secondary batteries are effective, and can be risked without seriously imperilling Britain's naval superiority; but the Queen Elizabeth is the very latest of Britain's battleships—probably, with her sister ship, the Warspite, the most powerful vessel afloat The Inflexible, too, ranks fairly high. 'No doubt the Queen Elizabeth was sent out to the Mediterranean to participate in the bombardment of the Dardanelles as an experiment, and she would seem to have clearly demonstrated the terrible efficiency of her enormous guns. So far as can bo gathered, she has done most of her work at long range, and out of reach of the danger of drifting mines; but it is a striking tribute to the strength of the British Navy and to the confidencc of the Admiralty authorities that such a vessel can be spared from the North Sea. and risked in operations of the nature now. proceeding at ihc Dardanelles,