The Dardanelles

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 247, 27 March 1915, Page 5

The Dardanelles

FLEET RE-ENTERS THE STRAITS,

BRAVE MEN ON THE- BOUVET.

VIVE LA PRANCE"—THEN DEATH.

Paris, March 2o

A dispatch from Tenedos states that the warships and mine-sweepefs re-en-tered the Dardanelles., on Tpesday.Paris, March "23.

The Bouvet crossed, two mine fields approaching the exit to the' Straits. The commander cleverly avoided two mines, which the destroyers blew up amidst cheers. The third struck near th c The com'mander set the example, and the men and officers stood at attention, saluted the flag, and ail cried "Vive la France" as the ship went down. The Gaulois, which was following the Bouvet, and Tiring all her guns, went, full speed in the "hope of rescuing her crew, but her own injuries forced her to anchor.

THE DARDANELLES FORTS.' Discussing the attack on the Dardanelles forts, A Naval Officer writes' in the Sydney Morning Herald: —"We know the great 15in guns of the Queen Elizabeth —guns which throw a projectile some sft long and some ISOOIb in weight—have been used. to silence the forts at the entrance, and to cover the operations of the smaller' ships and the minesweepers; but, quite apart from the possibility of striking a mine, thefe' are some powerful forts which occupy an impregnable position against attacks from battleships going up the straits. To attack them successfully these ships, owing to the natural obstacles, would require to reach a point which would place them within range of the enemy's guns. What is happening is that the Queen Elizabeth and some of the other great battleships have been bombarding the forta in the straits from the Gulf of Saros, firing over the 'Gallipoli Peninsula, while other vessels were making a simultaneous attack upon the strait itself, and reporting the effect of the shots across the peninsula. The Chanak Fort and that of Hamidieh, about, half a mile to the south, would be the principal objective, together with the Fort of Kilid Balir, on the opposite side. When these forts were reduced the ships in the strait, assisted in their operations by land parties, would ■(jroecea to the attack of Nagara and Bokali, and the snips in thc Gulf of Saros would move further up the Gulf with the same object in view. The Gallipoli Peninsula is about 10 miles wide at hoth of these points; it is narrower in other parts."