BRITISH OFFICIAL REPORT.

[From The London Times, March 20, 1915.]

_After ten days of mine-sweeping inside the Dardanelles the British and
French fleets made a general attack on the fortresses at the Narrows on
Thursday. After about three hours' bombardment all the forts ceased
firing._

_Three battleships were lost in these operations by striking mines--the
French Bouvet, and the Irresistible and the Ocean. The British crews
were practically all saved, but nearly the whole of the men on the
Bouvet perished._

_The Secretary of the Admiralty issued the following statement last
night:_

Mine-sweeping having been in progress during the last ten days inside
the strait, a general attack was delivered by the British and French
fleets yesterday morning upon the fortresses at the Narrows of the
Dardanelles.

At 10:45 A.M. Queen Elizabeth, Inflexible, Agamemnon, and Lord Nelson
bombarded Forts J, L, T, U, and V; while Triumph and Prince George fired
at Batteries F, E, and H. A heavy fire was opened on the ships from
howitzers and field guns.

At 12:22 the French squadron, consisting of the Suffren, Gaulois,
Charlemagne, and Bouvet, advanced up the Dardanelles to engage the forts