TEE DARDANELLES.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 October 1915, Page 5

TEE DARDANELLES.

THE NAVY'S WORK. DESCRIPTION BY MR. BARTLETT. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SUBMARINE. Received Oct. 18, B.fi n.i... London, Oct. 17. Mr. Ashmead Bartlett, in an article in the Daily Telegraph, on the navy's splendid record at the Dardanelles, says thaf the arrival of the submarine as an active factor innaval warfare has entirely altered the role for which other units were originally designed, but the most responsible duty which now devolves upon light cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo-boats is not to attack the eueniy's capital ships, but the protection of our own j battle squadrons against underwater attack. Modern gunnery has already rendered i torpedo-boats obsolete for their original I purpose, namely, as an expensive weapon against armored ships. The only instance in this war of battleships being torpedoed by above-water craft was the unfortunate Goliath and the three others torpedoed in the Dardanelles on May 13 by a Turkish destroyer with a German crew. The precision of modern gunnery has also diverted destroyers from their original purposes of defence against torpedo boats. WORK OF THE DESTROYERS. This war has shown that the destroyer is the only effective antidote against submarine attack. It is not a perfect ideal of defence, but it is the best available, and has performed immense service. The amount of work accomplished by the destroyer flotilla in the Eastern Mediterranean and at the Dardanelles has been stupendous, and their labors are little known by the public, though they are fully recognised by the,army and navy. TWELVE MONTHS PATROLLING. ■ Tho destroyers worked for twelve months almost without a break. Their first job was to watch tho Australian fleet, and then patrol the Adriatic and Eastern Mediterranean, Their most arduous task commenced when Turkey joined in. They kept up throughout the winter an incessant patrol of the Dardanelles and Asiatic Coast. They were terrible gales, and their decks were never dry for weeks. Emerging from the lee of Tenedos the destroyers steamed to the entrance of tho Straits, howling storms blotting out tho view a hundred yards distant. They encountered at the entrance a four-knot current and an east wind, compelling them to steam ten knots ahead in order to maintain their stations. TERRIBLE TRIALS. Lying in the trough of the sea their decks Were swept by huge'green seas until the most experienced seamen were sick from sheer exhaustion. None of the men aboard could keep dry, and the galley Arcs could not be kept alight. Their flocks were frequently covered with ice and the men's oilskins became frozen. Still, despite the awful conditions, the gallant crews never for a moment /relaxed their grip on the Dardanelles. Never, even in the old days before Brest i rid Toulon, have our, navy men shown greater determination and suffered greater hardships,

THE COMING OF SPRING. Spring brought fine weather and sunshiny conditions, but tho work of the destroyers became harder when active operations against the Dardanelles commenced in February. Many destroyers were mine sweeping, after the outer forts had been reduced to ruins, under heavy fire from the remaining forts and concealed batteries. .They were struck and suffered heavy casualties. When it was decided to make a great attempt to force the Dardanelles with the fleet alone, without awaiting the army, the preparatory work fell on the trawlers. The difficulties were almost insurmountable. On March IS, when the great naval attempt was made, the destroyers took a secondary part in tho fighting, but they did splendid work by sweeping ahead of the battleships; and also iu saving the crew of the Irresistible. THE LANDING IN APRIL. The failure of the March attack led to the fleet being temporarily withdrawn to Tenedos and Mudros. The destroyers, during the landing on April 25, carried close inshore a second batch of infantry who were supporting the first landing parties. No one will ever forget the sight of the long, low craft, packed with khaki figures, creeping closer and closer inshore.

ONE OF THE MANY HEROIC DEEDS. The destroyers were ever ready to lend a helping hand. One day two British transports were lying locked together, close to the beach. A shell had damaged a steam-winch, and the transports were unable to raise anchor, when a Turkish battery opened tire. A destroyer dashed in to the assistance of tho transports and placed her frail form between them :ind the enemy, emitting great clouds of black smoke as a screen against the gunners. By a miracle the destroyer | .scaped, but she remained there until I the transports were out of range. SUBMARINE HUNTING. "German submarines arrived about the middle of May, and the most valuable battleships were sent away, only the older craft being kept to protect the army flanks. The destroyer flotilla meanwhile cruised round and round, and searched every yard of water where there was a suspicious ripple, indicating a periscope. Whenever the scar« of a submarine was reported every destroyer dashed at top spa3d endeavoring to ram the underwater craft, while battleships commenced a series of evolutions at top speed. WITHDRAWAL OP BATTLESHIPS. "Even the incessant vigilance of the destroyers was not sufficient to save tho Triumph and the Majestic, and these disasters necessitated the withdrawal of tho battleships which had long chaperoned the army, to protected harbor?. Thenceforward they only came out when required to bombard the enemy's works. For two months theduty of protecting the transports and covering the flanks of the army fell to the destroyers, which frequently tiokled up Turkish Anzac most effectively on the right fknJt,

i in «ww^^ar GREASED LIGHTING. "The amount of work the destroyed did in the summer was amazing. If t ship was submarined or sunk by shell half-a-dozen craft would come uj> like greased lightning from nowhere and pick the men up almost before tb.gr had time to get wet. '~ ii%i THEIR WORK AHEAD. "They are now facing another iff months of "an icy blockade of the Dardanelles, where they will be washed bj, enormous seas, tossed to and fro Hwi corks, and encrußted with ice. Only men of iron can stand the horrible life, but; they will never relax the grip of iron they have obtained on the tottering Turkish Empire." A QUIf.T FORTNIGHT. REPORT FROM LONDON. Wellington, Oct. 19. This High Commissioner reports under date October 17, 4.36 p.m.:— In the Dardanelles the first fortnight of October was calm. Turkish to approach our trenches by mines were stopped by counter-mines. Our artillery) was superior. Our aviators daily su<h cessfully bombarded different establish* ments and camps of the e' TO WELCOME THE GERMANS* i VXM&SL PASHA'S OPTIMISM Paris, Oct. IT. Great preparations are being made to receive the Germans in Constantinople, An immense triumphal areii is being built at San Stefano. Enver Pasha, in an order of th« day, promises that the Turkish soldiers shall spend the winter in the warm climate, of Egypt.