NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15218, 4 March 1915, Page 7

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

It may be doubted whether any attempt will be made to land troops in the vicinity of tho though it was mentioned yesterday that a warship rounded the Gallipoli Peninsula and bombarded the coast of tho Gulf of -Saios. This may be held to bo preliminary to an attempt to land troops on the north-west coast of the peninsula, and occupy that narrow neck of land. Tho Peninsula of Gallipoli, running to the south-west from tho mainland, is separated for a length of forty-seven miles from tho coast of Asia Minor by tho narrow channel of tho Dardanelles. Tho Gulf of Saios lies between the peninsula and the mainland of Europe. The Peninsulaof Gallipoli is only'four miles wide." between the Gulf of Saras and the point where tho Dardanelles opens out into the Sea of Marmora ; it has an extronio width of thirteen miles at a point about half, way along the Dardanelles, and ith total length .v, sixty-three miles.

At the present tirpo the Allied Fleet is engaged in reducing the forts commanding tho Kilid BaJir-Chanali Strait, tho narrowest part of tho .Dardanelles. It may !><\ somo days before any substantial progress us made here, as the fcits aro numerous and wellconstructed, and the mine-sweepers ■ will be kept busy clearing tho channel of hidden and floating dangers. Hound the bend formed by the promontory of Kilid Balir a Nagara. on the Asiatic shore, a naval base, -well fortified ami protected, -which will occupy tho attention of tho Allied ships for some time. After that the chief remaining obstacles to their entry into the Spa of Marmora will bo tho fortresses of Gal- " lip-oli, and of Lapsaki on the Asiatic iide of the channel, which is here two miles' wide. Gallipoli, on tho narrow-' " est part of the peninsula on the northwestern extremity of tho Dardanelles, '• >- lies 131? miles west-eouth-wost of Constantinople, and 90 miles sonth of "-■ '. Adrianoplo. It has tAvo good' harbours, and is tho nrincipal station for the Turkish fleet. From its position as the key of the Dardanelles, it wn.s oecu- ' pied-by the allied British and Frcuciii- - armies in 18,54. Then the isthmus, a few mile> north.of the town, between;, it and Hulair. was strongly fortified, - tho work;; being renewed" and on-' larged in 1878, when tho Russians were " throatomne Constantinople. The'guns of Gallinoli command the Dardanelles ' ' mst before the strait joins tho Boa of '• '■ Marmora. Tim town itself ie not very -" strongly fortified, tho principal fortifi- ."' cation? being those on which the Allied warships aro now opera ting. After a loi.g silence of nearly three. - months, tho despatches of Vice-Admiral " Sir F. (J. Doveton Sturdee covering the \ j engagement in which the German-Pad- - '* He Squadron was ai.nihiiated off ' the "' *U Falkland Islands on December Bth, have beeisr published, and wo aro en- ■ ! abled to publish a, brief Mimmary of - them to-day. Tho most remarkable. 1 feature about tho engagement was the- ""- ' absolute secrecy in which the British "- ' operations were earned out. -Few ' > people outside the Admiralty and those ' actually on board the ships concerned -' were awnre that Vico-Admiral »Sturdec, - holding tho appointment of Chief of the War Staff, had left England to avenge tho .sinking of the Good Hope and Monmouth. He had under his com- - mand two battl<M.-ruispn>, Invincible r and Inflexible, which wore sighted, but not reported by a liner homeward' bound from New Zealand, a little north of tho Equator. His rendezvous was Port Stanley. Falkland Island*, ; where> ho was joined by the old battleship Cai.opus. tho armoured cruisers Carnarvon and Kent, tho light cruisers Glasgow ;\nd Bristol, and the armoured liner Macedonia, on December 7th.

Approaching Port Stanley nest morning, evidently with the object of irle-:-etroying the wireless station and probably i.ot expecting to meet anything more than the Canoptis. and one or two light cruisers, a terrible surprise awaited the German squadron. The appearance of tho battle-cruisers told thenV that they wero trapped, and what followed, is toihcly described by Vjoe-Ad-miral .Sttirrlee, victory resting with the overwhelming gunfire, of hfs siMps. The Invincible and Inflexible are sister ships of 17,2-30 tons displacement, and 25 knots .snec-d, and arc armoured with eiuht 12in and sixteen 4in guns each. Tfirt Kent is a lister s>hip to the ill-J fated Monmouth, 0800 tons displacement. 22 knots ?:pccd, and, anncti witli fourteen Gin guns, and twenty-one , fiuiall quick-firers. The Glasgow is a light cruii-er of 48C0 tons and 26 knots spood armed with two 6in. ten 4in. ati t l five quick-firing gun*'; Tho Bristol is similar in all reJpects .-.to the Glasgow, but it> slightly faster. The Carnarvon is an armoured cruiser of ■ 10.>>Q tons displacement niid 23} knots sno<xl. and mounts four six Gin, and twenty-two quick-firing guns. The Macedonia is. of course, the well-known P. and O. liner, a vessel of 10,- r >l2 tons , registfr nrvd 18 \ knots rtowl. She was coramissioited as an auxiliary cruiser on August Bthj 11-'lt. by Captain Br.rtram S. Evans, J.X .