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Unit / Ship / Establishment:
HM Minesweeper Kinross
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Detail : |
| The entry of the Allied Fleet through the Dardanelles By S.E.Brooks The following is a detailed and I trust interesting account of the Allied occupation of the Turkish and Russian waters, and the triumphant entry of the Allied Fleet through the Dardanelles. The dates and times given are absolutely authentic, although in many cases they will not coincide with the previous vague reports. It will probably interest the reader to first give an account of the officers, ships and their bases previous to the commencement of negotiations. The Commander in Chief, Mediterranean, Vice Admiral Sir Somerset A.G.Calthorpe [who will be referred to throughout as the C. in C.] flew his flag on HMS ?Foresight? [Commander F.Chilton] and was based at Malta. The Aegean Squadron was under the command of Rear Admiral Michael Culme Seymour in his flagship HMS ?Lord Nelson? [Captain J.Harper]. The squadron was based at Mudros in the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. [List 1 gives names of the ships comprising the squadron on Nov 11th 1918, the day previous to the entry of the fleet into the Dardanelles.] A small dockyard and a floating dock assisted in making Mudros almost a self-contained naval base. The R.A. was in direct communication with the C in C and England by wireless telegraphy via HMS ?Europa? [Captain C.R.Pearce] who also performed the duties of Depot ship. The following arrivals took place previous to and during the negotiations with Turkey. am 11th Oct, the C in C in HMS ?Foresight? 2pm 21st Oct, HMS Superb [Captain H.Radcliffe] 4.30pm 27th Oct, HMS ?Temeraire? [Captain E.V.Underhill] 7.40pm 2nd Nov, HMS ?Canterbury? [Captain R.M.R.Roydes 1am 4th Nov, Italian ships ?Vittorio Emanuel?, ?Roma? and ?Libia?. 1pm 4th Nov, Greek battleship ?Lemnos? with a Rear Admiral. This ship was sold to the Greek government by the USA in 1914 and was previous to that time named the ?Mississippi?. The Greek R.A. removed his flag to the cruiser ?Averoff? a few days previous to Nov 12th. Between the 1st and 8th November the twin-screw minesweepers ?Aberdare?, ?Kinross?, ?Bagshot?, ?Banchory?, ?Abingdon?, ?Pontypool? and ?Craigie? arrived and were busily employed sweeping up mines en route to Constantinople up to Nov 12th. At noon 31st October the C in C struck his flag on the ?Foresight? and hoisted it in the ?Superb? and took command of the Allied Fleet. The flagships of the French Fleet were ?Diderot? [Vice Admiral] and ?Justice? [Rear Admiral]. The Italian R.A. flew his flag on ?Vittorio Emanuel?. The Allied destroyers were continually arriving and sailing during the few days previous to Nov 12th and it is doubtful what was the ultimate destination of many of the craft. Opening of negotiations Early in October, HMS ?Liverpool? [Captain G Tomlin] proceeded by arrangement made under the auspices of General Townshend to within a few miles of the Turkish coast with a white flag flying. A Turkish tug and monitor met her and 8 Turkish delegates were embarked on board the British cruiser and were taken to Mudros where they were included in a conference held on board HMS ?Agamemnon? [Captain F.S.Litchfield Spier]. This was practically the first intimation of actual negotiations. Movements At different times between the 8th and 11th Nov the following ships left Mudros for Ismid in the Sea of Marmara, the destination of the Allied Fleets after leaving Constantinole:- ?Endeavour?, ?Blenheim?, ?Triad?, ?Bacchus?, ?Queen Victoria?, ?Prince Edward?, ?Aphis?, monitors ?Severn?, ?Humber?, M.No 16, 17, 18 and several colliers and oilers, HMS ?Severn? being established as ?Captain of the Base? At 4pm on 8th Nov The 14? gun monitor ?Abercrombie? left Mudros and was established as ?Senior Naval Officer? at Chanah, a small town on the Asiatic coast of the Narrows. Between 1st and 11th Nov British marines and Indian contingent took possession of all fortified places and batteries in the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus. The Fleet proceeds Early in the morning of Tuesday 12th November the Allied ships began to weigh and proceeded out of the harbour in the following order:- 3.30am British destroyers 3.45am British light cruisers 4.15am British battleships 5.00am French ships 5.30am Italian ships 6.00am Greek ships All navigation lights were burned, for the first time since hostilities commenced and on clearing the harbour bow protection paravanes were streamed. Speed was adjusted to preserve an interval of 2 miles between the units of the British ships and an interval of 7 miles between the Allied squadrons. The route taken is shown on diagram 1. On rounding the island of Imbros from the north-east at 10am, the fighting top and a portion of the tripod mast of HMS ?Raglan? was observed. [ It will be recalled that this 14? gun monitor sank during the action with the ?Goeben? and ?Breslau? in Jan 1918 when the latter was sunk whilst the ?Goeben? crawled back to the Dardanelles]. Nearing the entrance before noon, the British fleet was formed in single line ahead, battleships leading, and at noon the ?Superb? with the C in C passed the entrance followed by the ships in the order shown in List 2. It was then that the largest ensigns carried [generally 25 feet by 12ft 6inches] were hoisted. Passing the entrance, the remains of the River Clyde [the transport] who played such a prominent part on April 25th 1915 during the Dardanelles Campaign, was plainly visible off Seddul Bank. Communication was maintained between the different flagships by wireless telegraphy the whole journey, positions being exchanged so as to preserve relative bearings and distances. One was struck by the formidable appearance of both coasts which were literally a complete line of natural defences, forts of huge structure, guns of large calibre and innumerable earthworks, in brief an elongated Gibraltar. On either side thousands of Indian troops lined the forts and were silhouetted in places against the sky, truly an imposing spectacle. At 2.10pm the bottom of the French battleship ?Bouvet? and our own submarine ?E15? were sighted. The former sank on March 15th 1915, the latter grounded off Kephez Point in an attempt to reach the Sea of Marmara in the same month. This was the scene of many heroic deeds in connection with her destruction by volunteer crews in the picket boats of HMS ?Majestic? and ?Triumph? under Lt Commander C.Robinson who gained the V.C. for this exploit. The impression made on one?s mind during the daylight hours was that it was nature and not merely the Turks that prevented our troops from gaining their objective in 1915. Seaplanes were provided as an escort against possible submarine attack. It was the intention of the C in C to reach Constantinople at 8am and so as to comply with his programme the squadrons were manoeuvred about during the night. The arrival off the capital At 7am Thursday 13th November the picturesque minarets of the capital were first sighted and shortly after 8am the British battleships and light cruisers anchored, followed at intervals by the large Allied ships berthing as indicated in diagram 2. A patrol of destroyers maintained an anti-submarine lookout to the westward of the fleet at anchor. On both European and Asiatic sides, great displays of Allied flags were visible and cheers could be heard from all directions. At noon the same day the Allied Fleet with the exception of the French and Italian flagships weighed and proceeded to the Gulf of Ismid arriving at 4pm. Ismid, situated at the eastern end of the Gulf of Ismid and 48 miles from Constantinople, was prepared as a base for the fleet. At Ismid Little of interest occurred during the ten days stay at Ismid. The C in C left for Constantinople the day after our arrival at Ismid. Other movements being the sailing if HMS ?Liverpool? for Varna, the Bulgarian Black Sea port, at 12.40pm on 20th, the sailing of HMS ?Sentinel? for Sinope at noon on 21st, the sailing of HMS ?Canterbury? for Sebastopol at 10am on 22nd and the arrival of HMS ?Forward? at noon the same day. This light cruiser having broken down on the morning of the 12th did not accompany the fleet to Constantinople. She was however detailed later to proceed to Toranto where she embarked Rear Admiral A.Webb who on his arrival at Constantinople hoisted his flag on HMS ?Foresight? who had left Ismid on the 16th. Ismid to Constantinople On the morning of the 24th, the French ships ?Justice? and ?Democratie? and the Italian vessels ?Roma? and ?Agordat? [torpedo gunboat 1313 tons] proceeded to Constantinople. [The ?Agordat? had relieved the ?Libia? on the station on Friday 22nd]. At 10.04am the ?Temeraire? and ?Skirmisher? weighed and in company with TBDs ?Parramatta?, ?Parthian?, ?Rifleman?, ?Tilbury?, ?Shark?, ?Sikh? and ?Swan? proceeded to Constantinople. It may be worth mentioning that the two latter destroyers together with the ?Senator? had reinforced the squadron a few days previous. Constantinople was reached at 2.40pm without further incident and anchoring in the Bosphorus found the following ships in company:- ?Superb? with C in C on board ?Foresight? with Rear Admiral Webb [SNO of the base] ?Pyramus? moored at Galata And several auxiliaries. Part 2. Occupation of the Black Sea At 8.45am the following day Monday Nov 25th the second phase was begun. The Allied Fleet consisting of the following ships:- British Destroyers ?Shark?, ?Tilbury?, ?Parthian?, ?Swan?, ?Parramatta?, ?Rifleman?. Greek Destroyer ?Panther? French Destroyer ?Dehorter? British cruiser ?Skirmisher? Italian gunboat ?Acordat? French battleships ?Democratie? and ?Justice? British battleships ?Superb? and ?Temeraire? Italian battleship ?Roma? Weighed and proceeded in single line ahead up the Bosphorus in the order given. Paravanes were again streamed, speed and courses being adjusted to preserve a short interval between each ship. The Bosphorus separating Europe from Asia and connecting the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea is 17 miles in length and varies in width from 4 cables to 11/2 miles. Both shores are rocky and interspersed with trees and bushes, the houses built in a quaint and picturesque manner. The city of Constantinople stands on the southern shore of the Golden Horn, the waters of which presented a scene of great activity by the many vessels traversing it. Hearty cheers were received from the American Embassy when the Fleet passed by some hundreds of feet below the building which was surmounted by the now familiar ?Stars and Stripes?. Much excitement prevailed at 9.30am when the ?Goeben? was sighted off the port hand moored in Stenia Bay, a small harbour, an ideal hiding place practically immune from aeroplane attack, about 8 miles from Constantinople. HMS ?Humber? and M18 were also here. The Bosphorus was equally formidable as the Narrows, its high cliffs on both sides bristling with heavy guns. Huge searchlights were also conspicuous in many prominent positions. The strait was cleared at 12.10pm, the Black Sea entrance was observed to be especially well fortified and the fleet formed in order shown ?on the following page? [see below] HMS ?Skirmisher? leading. Skirmisher Agordat Swan Superb Shark Parthian Temeraire Parramatta Rifleman Justice Tilbury Dehorter Democratie Ferax [?] Roma The remainder of the day passed uneventfully and a steady course and a speed of 13 knots were maintained towards the Crimea. The sea was rough throughout the night but eased up at dawn when land was again sighted. HMS ?Adamant? and E21 who had proceeded some hours previous to the fleet were then overtaken. At 8.50am when within gunshot of the historic Balaclava the fleet was stopped and charts were issued to each individual ship by a Russian tug sent out from Sebastopol by HMS ?Canterbury?. The Fleet then proceeded to Sebastopol and entered. Ships secured to burgs[?] about noon being cheered lustily by thousands of Russians who came out in small boats. List 1 British ships Battleships:- Agamemnon, Lord Nelson, Superb, Temeraire Cruisers:- Canterbury, Europa, Foresight, Forward, Liverpool, Pelorus, Pyramus, Sentinel, Skirmisher Destroyers:- Acheron, Acorn, Alarm, Fury, Forrester, Beaver, Hind, Archer, Hornet, Brisk, Goshawk, Tigress, Parramatta, Torrens, Garra, Radpole, Rifleman, Ruby, Nereide, Nymphe, Hope, Lapwing, Hydra, Cameleon, Jackal, Druid, Larne, Parthian, Shark, Tilbury, Tribune Depot ship:- Blenheim, Captain P.Pitts Submarines:- E11, 21,25 and H1,2,4,7,9. Parent ship Adamant, Commander C.S.Benny Surveying ship;- Endeavour, Commander R.Reyne Seaplane Carriers:- Empress, Manzman, Riviere, Vindex Monitors:- Humber, Mersey, Severn, Abercrombie M. no. 16,17,18,19,20,22,29,32,33 River gunboats:- Aphis, Ladybird Twinscrew sweepers:- Aberdare, Abingdon, Bagshot, Banchory, Craigie, Kinross, Pontypool, Widnes Repair ships:- Reliance, Aquarius, Valhalla, Bacchus Ferries:- Barry, Brighton, Gazelle, Heroic, Hazel, Lynn, Prince Ena, Reindeer Yachts:- Triad, Paulina, Sagutta, Saf-el-Bahr Net-layers:- Prince Edward, Queen Victoria French ships Battleships:-Democratie, Tushee Verite, Diderot, Mirabeau, Verignaud Cruisers:- Ernest Renan, Jules Michalet Destroyers:- Aspirant, Herbert, Ensign Henry, Manzini, Bisson, Cimiteree, Dehorter, Commandant Bory, Commandant Riviere Depot ship:- Shamrock Submarines:-Berthaloff, Gay Lussac, Germinal, Gifford, Opale, Rbis, Topaze, Watt |
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