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[Page 43]
Dardanus in the Dardanelles. As she lay quite helpless the forts opened a heavy fire on her, completing her destruction. If there had been any chance of saving her this would not have been done. Five of her crew were killed and many wounded with shell fire. Even when the enemy saw what a total wreck the E 15 was they still continued firing from the forts. Quite a number of riflemen on the beach had good practice at the ship wrecked men and joined in with the forts in trying to wound and kill them as they were swimming about and clinging to wreckage.
There was an officer on board, Lt Palmer who had before the war, been the British Vice Consul at the Turkish town of Chanak. He held the rank of Lieutenant on E 15 as an additional Intelligence Officer and spoke Turkish very well. When the prisoners were marching through this town he was recognised by Turkish officials and was immediately seized and threatened with death as a spy. However the sentence wasn't carried out, because he held a commission in the Royal Navy.
E 7 Trying to enter the Dardanelles one morning, she got caught about 7 a.m. in one of the many nets which made a successful entrance nigh impossible. All day long the crew tried to get free but she had too many wires around her propellers and unfortunately ran out of power. Her plight was made known to the many patrol boats by the violent moving of the floats attached to the nets. When night was drawing on the enemy dropped two heavy gun cotton depth charges (These depth charges or bombs were a British invention and were first used in the North Sea against German Submarines. Depth charges were not in use by the enemy at this time, but it was probably some small explosive charge which they dropped. Had it been depth charges it would have sunk the boat.) close to the entangled boat battling for her life. This was quite sufficient warning to the officers of E 7 to know they hadn't a fighting chance: and not wishing to waste human life they came to the surface, after having planned for the immediate destruction of their ship, which became a total wreck soon after they were taken prisoners.
The first boat to try and force a passage through the Narrows on January 15th 1915 was the French submarine Sapphire. She was unsuccessful being sunk ½ way through, opposite the town of Chanak right in the Narrows.
Marriott met her fate just below Chanak- just after the AE 2 had been lost- crew prisoners.
Turquoise which was working in conjunction with British Submarine E 20 ran aground in Sea of Marmora. Everything was captured- ships papers, log, instruments etc. The information gained by the enemy showed the rendezvous selected for this boat and E 20. The E 20 came to the spot unsus-