NAVAL ACTION IN DARDANELLES

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1231, 22 January 1918, Page 5

NAVAL ACTION IN DARDANELLES

BRESLAU SUNK AND GOEBEN BEACHED. TWO BRITISH MONITORS SUNK IN THE BATTLE. (A. & N.Z. & Reuter.) LONDON, January 20. A British Admiralty report states: — The German cruisers Goeben and Breslau and destroyers were engaged in action by British forces at the entrance to the Dardanelles on Sunday. The Breslau was sunk. The Goeben escaped, but was beached, badly damaged, at Nagara Point, in the Narrows. She was then attacked by our naval aircraft. Our losses were the monitor Kaglan and another small monitor. The battle-cruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau, both modern Vessels, represented the German Navy in the Mediterranean at the outbreak of the war. They made a demonstration at various rjoints, and then proceeded to elude the British efforts to capture them. By an ingenious ruse they made for the Dardanelles, and reached the shelter of Turkish waters in safety. A little later they were ostensibly "sold" to Turkey, and the transaction played an important part in determining Turkey's particijiation in the war, besides modifying in a marked degree the relative naval strength of the Turkish and Russian Black Sea Fleets. The vessels have taken part in various small engagements, and have several times been reported to have been damaged or allowed to become so much out of repair as to be worthless in battle. The Goeben, a vessel of 28 knots and 22,640 tons displacement, carries eight llin guns. She was built in 1912. Her Turkish name is Yawuz Selim. The Breslau, renamed Midillieh, was a vessel of 4500 tons, built in 1911, and carried twelve 4.1 m guns. Her speed was 27 knots. CRITICAL TIME FOR THE EMPIRE AHEAD. EVENTS OF NEXT THREE MONTHS CANNOT BE FORETOLD. (A. & N.Z.) (Eec. Jan. 22, 8.55 a.m.) TORONTO, Jan. 21. Sir Frederick Smith (British Attorney-General) states that the conditions existing on all the battle fronts at present make it impossible for any of the Allied commanders or General Staffs to forecast in any way the events of the next three months. However, an undoubtedly critical period lies before the Empire.