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Show SEA Hffll OFF DAMIANELLES Former German Warships Breslau and Goeben Sunk or Beached by British. 'LONDON. Jan. 20. In a naval action ac-tion between British and Turkish forces at tho entrance to the Dardanelles, Darda-nelles, the Turkish cruiser Midullu, formerly tho German Breslau, was sunk and the Sultan Yawuz Sellm, formerly the Gorman Gqeben, was beached. Th'is announcement was mado by the admiralty tonight. Tho official statement says: "Tho Goeben and Breslau -Turkish names Sultan Yawuz and Midullu with destroyers, wero in action with the British forces at the entrance to the Dardanelles this (Sunday) morning. morn-ing. The Breslau was sunk. Tho Goeben Goe-ben escaped, but has been beached, evidently badly damaged, at Nagara point, in the narrows of the straits. "Tho Goeben is now being attacked by naval aircraft. "Our losses reported are the Monitor Moni-tor Raglan and a small monitor, the M-28." The German cruisers Breslau and Goeben were in tho Mediterranean sea at the outbreak ot the war and fled into the Dardanelles, seeking safetly from the British and French warships tho ennrrht thplr flnstrUCtion. Since then their activities in tho Dardanelles, at the Black sea entrance to the Bosphorus and in tho Black sea along tho Turkish Asiatic, tho Russian and tho Rumanian coasts havo brought them fame for intrepidity and audacity audac-ity as sea wolves Hk6 the Dresden, Seeadler and tho Karlsruhe. Reaching Constantinople intho middle mid-dle of August, 1914, the British government immediately protested against tho German warships being accorded refuge. Turkey promised that they would be internod, and placed out of "commission until the end of the war. Later, however, it was announced announc-ed that Turkey had purchased tho cruisers and given them the new names of Midullu and Sultan Yawuz Sellm. Activity In Black Sea. Then followed frequent reports of the activity of the warships in the Black sea, bombarding enemy land positions po-sitions and engaging or being engaged by ships of the Russian Black sea fleet Although the Turkish and German Ger-man war statements frequently announced an-nounced victories for tho recristened Germans, the Russian admiralty on numerous nu-merous occasions told of how Russian warships had sent them scurrying from the Black sea into the Bosphorus, damaged,-on-flro and showing the wounds the Russian shells had given them. Shortly afterward, however, the Midullu Mi-dullu and her sister ship again would appear, and the game of hide and seek between them and the Russians would go on again until another battle took placo, the Turks In the meantime always al-ways having been successful In sinking sink-ing numerous cargo boats, ranging from the smallest fishing craft to goodly good-ly sized steamers. Hit by Alr.men. The latest account of the Sultan Yawux Sellm was In July of last year, when tho British .admiralty reported that British airmen had dropped bonibs on tho vessel during an air attack at-tack on the Turkish fleet off Constantinople, Constan-tinople, In the Golden Horn. Direct hits were observed on the Sultan and other vessels, aboard which explosions occurred and fires broke out Tho admiralty ad-miralty report said the former German . man cruiser was tho center of tho at-i at-i tack, and that it was safe to presume 1 she would be out of action for several ; months as a. result of her Injuries. ! Tho prediction proved true, as the Sultan Selim since then has not been mentioned in any of tho reports as being be-ing engaged. The last account of the Midullu was in June, 1917, when the Turkish war offlco reported that vessel ves-sel In a successful engagement, together to-gether with other Turkish units in the Black sea, against Russian land positions posi-tions and small war craft. Considerable criticism of British and French naval commanders has at times been expressed over their failure fail-ure to prevent tho Goeben and Breslau Bres-lau from getting out of the straits of Messina at the outbreak- of the war ' and reaching a port of safety in Turkey. |