The Fight for Constantinople: A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula

d for

posedly impregnable Dardanelles. In addition to the ships of the Mediterranean Fleet, battleships and cruisers were ordered

was hinted amongst the officers that there was a big surprise up the sleeve of

h is saying much; for the youngsters let off a cheer that, if it did not equal the volume of sound emitte

sturbing the superiority of power in home waters, was silently and rapidly concentrating to match its strength against the vaunted Ottoman batteries on both sides of the Dardanelles. For this purpose the older type of war-ships

ree to return and take another battleship clear of the Channel. No doubt several huge grey-painted war-ships had been observed through the periscopes of these hostile under-water craft, but the presence of the swift, alert destroyers w

g the white ensign. Under cover of complete secrecy, battleships and battle-cruise

-cruisers that enabled Admiral Sturdee to avenge the Monmouth and Good Hope swiftly covered the 6500 miles between the Falkland Islands and the Pir?us; the Triumph, after doing yeoman service at Kiao-C

he force that held the Austrians under the guns at Pola and Trieste, had arrived to join hands with the former traditional enemy and no

Balkan War, was on the point of committing national su

n. She was bowling along at a modest sixteen knots, a rate that, considering the conditio

e, who was on duty on the fore-bridge, was talking with

liar about the appearance of the masts, for one was a tripod, the other one of the ordinary pre-Dreadnought type. The only battleships that sported th

t's the Queen Bess but for two reasons: first, she's not ready for sea; secondly, she's to

t a tremendous rat

ng upon definite instructions, owing to the "tapping" of important messages by the e

ne. "Ask them what they make of yonder craft. Stay! Send one of the mid

teel cylinder, formed the only means of personal communication with the fire-control platform. The interior of the Hammerer's hollow masts, which were originally fitted with lifts to co

exterity acquired by long practice, never halting till he disappeared from v

ck, young Maynebrace made his way; then, cool and collected i

d name by which the British seamen already knew the wonde

verbial biscuit. That's a nasty slight upon poor old Tirpit

em up with her fifteen-inchers," said Maynebrace. "There'll

e limits of the ?gean Sea, the Queen Elizabeth's presence was totally unexpected. The mere fact of her being sent out to the Near East

guns showing conspicuously against the skyline, the Queen Elizabeth overhauled

ed; then, amid the outspoken and admiring criticism of the Hammerer's

n addition there were numerous trawlers-vessels that a few weeks previously had been at work off the coasts of Great Britain. Now, under conditions of absolute secrecy, these small but weatherly craft had risked the danger of a passage across the Bay i

on the quarter-deck for prayers. It was a fitting prelude to the work in hand

As the crew trooped aft, each man decorously saluted the quarter-deck and fell in; seamen, stokers, and marines forming three sides of a squa

he Captain gave the stereotyped order "Carry on"; the Commander, taking his cue, gave the w

or stowed out of sight. Hoses were coupled up, ready to combat the dreaded result of any shell that might "get home" and cause fire on board. All superfluous gear aloft was sent below; shrouds were frapped to resist shell-fire, and the fore-top-mast

ured box containing one of the secondary battery guns, capable of being trained ne

bes communicating with the conning-tower, the magazine, and other portions of the ship, while in addition was a bewildering array of switches and cased wires in connection with the lighting of the casemate and the firing mechanism of the gun. Buckets of water, for use in case of a conflagration,

s always his pal or some of his shipmates. It is an optimism that is shared equal

nt of manoeuvring, for the aperture was barely sufficient to allow the chase of the gun to protrude, w

were steering in double column, line ahead. Preceding the squadron were

the highland was in Europe, part in Asia, but where the line of demarcation existed the Sub was unable to determine. Somewhere

isty outlines of the Queen Elisabeth, Agamemnon, Irresistible, and the French bat

t when they see this little

?" asked

fter all this trouble. The Turk is a funny chap. See how he

"Under European officers these fellows will fight pretty gamely, and from all accounts there's a good leavening of

d a grand thing then. In '78, when Hornby went through, the case was different. The Turks didn't ope

a peculiar screech that sounded almost

officers exc

hell from the batt