[Facsimile of an advertisement that appeared in The London Times, March 17, 1915.]
Battle of the Dardanelles
The Disaster That Befell the Allies' Fleet
AS THE TURKS SAW IT.
BERLIN, March 22, (via London, 11:33 A.M.)—The correspondent at Constantinople of the Wolff Bureau telegraphed today a description of the fighting at the Dardanelles on Thursday, March 18, in which the French battleship Bouvet and two British battleships were sent to the bottom. An abridgment of the correspondent's story follows:
The efforts of the Allies to force the Strait of the Dardanelles reached their climax in an artillery duel on Thursday, March 18, which lasted seven hours. The entire atmosphere around the Turkish forts was darkened by clouds of smoke from exploding shells and quantities of earth thrown into the air by the projectiles of the French and British warships. The earth trembled for miles around.
The Allies entered the strait at 11:30 in the morning, and shelled the town of Chank Kale. Four French and five British warships took part in the beginning. This engagement reached its climax at 1:30, when the fire of the Allies was concentrated upon Fort Hamidieh and the adjacent fortified positions.
The attack of modern marine artillery upon strong land forts presented an interesting as well as a terrifying spectacle. At times the forts were completely enveloped in smoke. At 2 o'clock the Allies changed their tactics and concentrated their fire upon individual batteries, but it was evident that they found difficulty in getting the range. Many of the shells fell short, casting up pillars of water, or went over the forts to explode in the town.