the war. She had a complement of 296 officers and men, and was armed with ten 4.1-inch, eight 3-pound guns and two 17.7-inch torpedo-tubes. From August 8 until September 15, 1914, she had captured or sunk ten ships, mostly small trading craft, taking her prizes into the ports of German East Africa. On her return to Zanzibar on September 20, she surprized the British light cruiser Pegasus, which she disabled with a loss of twenty killed and eighty wounded. The Pegasus had returned from destroying the wirelessplant and floating-dock at Das-es-Salaam. The Pegasus, an old "P"-class cruiser of 2,000 tons, carrying eight 4-inch. old-pattern guns, was no match for a German craft of 1907, altho she finally forced the latter to retire. The disabling of the Pegasus caused the British squadron to seek out the Königsberg and, on October 30, she was discovered hiding in shoal-water about six miles up the Rufiji River.

A German fleet consisting of nine of the older battleships, twelve cruisers, and a destroyer flotilla attempted, early in August, 1915, to force the southern channel which leads to the

Gulf of Riga, but the attempt was for a time defeated, probably by Russian submarines and smaller craft. On August 16 it was renewed with determination, and the German fleet engaged the Russian at the mouths of both

channels, but their attacks were again repulsed. Next day when a thick fog had settled over the water, the Germans were able to sweep the mines from the entrance, and the Russian light craft retired into the Gulf, while the larger units remained outside. In such weather a general action was impossible. When the Germans moved in they were apparently under an impression that the Russians had withdrawn from the Gulf altogether, and on the 19th began preparations for a landing at Pernau, a town in the Gulf unfortified but connected directly with Petrograd. Four large flat-bottomed barges laden with troops moved in shore, and on the 20th attempted to land. Conditions for this would be favorable only on the assumption that no Russian craft were near, for the shoal-water forbade ships to approach the shore. Here was a fine opportunity for Russian light craft, and quickly they seized it.

Meanwhile, the Russian fleet joined battle with the Germans, the heaviest fighting being in Mohn Sound, where retreating German vessels were caught by Russian destroyers. One old gunboat, the Sivoutch, engaged a German cruiser while escorting torpedo-craft. The action began at a range of about 1,200 yards. "The Sivoutch," said the Russian Admiralty report, "wrapt in flames, and on fire fore and aft, continued to answer shot for shot until she went down, having previously sunk an enemy torpedo-boat." This was the only serious Russian casualty. Eight German destroyers and two cruisers were either sunk or put out of action; a submarine was driven ashore and it seems probable that an auxiliary cruiser was destroyed. The accounts were conflicting, the Germans denying that they had had serious losses.

The Russian squadron maneuvered to intercept a retreat, and were attacked by German destroyers with gunfire and torpedoes, but none of the projectiles found their mark. The destroyers then retired before salvoes from the Russian guns. Half an hour from the beginning of the action, the German light cruiser Augsburg abandoned her slower consort, the Albatross, and made off to the south, the fog, which had by this time become dense, enabling her to escape. To save the Albatross, which was already showing signs of distress, the destroyers poured forth thick volumes of black

smoke from their funnels, thus interposing a screen between the Russians and their quarry. About nine o'clock the foremast of the Albatross went by the board and clouds of steam rose from the mine-layer. At the same time, she began to list slightly to starboard. Describing several circles and hauling down her flag, the Albatross then made for the coast. As she was damaged and rapidly approached neutral waters, the Russians ceased fire, and shortly afterward she was seen to run ashore on the coast of Gotland behind the Ostergarn lighthouse.

The Russian squadron continued its course northward. About ten o'clock the smoke of several approaching ships was sighted to starboard. As the distance lessened, the vessels which were German were seen to consist of an armored cruiser of the Roon class, a light cruiser of the Augsberg class, and four destroyers. The Russians immediately joined battle, and half an hour later the German ships began to retreat southward, after having been accompanied by submarines which unsuccessfully attacked the Russians. The Russian battleship Rurik, bringing up the rear of the squadron, was ordered to attack, and in a quarter of an hour was engaged with the two cruisers. The fire of one weakened, as her four 8-inch guns were silenced one after the other, till only one replied, while flames, bursting from their decks, showed that fire had broken out on board. The two cruisers finally withdrew from the contest and disappeared rapidly in the fog, pursued by the Rurik. Toward the close of the action the Rurik was again attacked by a submarine, but beat off her assailant.

About this time, there were naval activities elsewere in the Baltic. The German battle-cruiser Moltke, a sister-ship of the Goeben, which took part in the raid on Scarborough, and was damaged in the battle of January 24, was torpedoed by a British submarine under Commander Noel Laurence. She was struck in the bows, and, altho she succeeded in escaping, she was put out of action for a time. The Moltke was of 23,000 tons displacement. Completed in 1911 at a cost of £2,200,000, she carried ten 11-inch guns, twelve 6-inch guns, twelve 24-pounders, and four torpedo-tubes. She was armed amidship with 11-inch Krupp steel. Her engines of

70,000 horse-power were designed to give a speed of 27 knots. Like the Goeben, she was supposed to embrace in her design the most recent inventions, German and others, for securing stability, immunity from fire, and a maximum of resistance to gunfire and torpedo attack. She was in the action against Admiral Beatty's squadron, which resulted in the sinking of the Blücher. The Sivoutch was a vessel of 960 tons and 12 knots. She carried a crew of 148. Her captain was Commander Tcherkasoff, who had made a record in the Japanese War at Port Arthur.

The purpose of the Germans in the Gulf of Riga was not only to obtain mastery in the Gulf, but to effect a landing at Pernau. If the plan had succeeded, the communications of Riga with Petrograd would have been cut, and a further advance on the capital facilitated. But it was necessary, first, to obtain command of the waters of the gulf. It was insufficient for the Germans to sweep a passage through mines and fixt defenses, provided the mobile defenses could not also be accounted for. That was where the German scheme failed. So long as the defenders were there in force every attempt at a disembarkation could be made only at great peril. Russian torpedo-craft and a gunboat flotilla, skilfully handled, made a landing of German soldiers hopeless. The affair was regarded as an illustration of the weakness of an attempt to carry out an invasion oversea, before control of land-communications had been obtained.

The most severe fighting appeared to have taken place in Mohn Sound, where the Russians lost the Sivoutch. Slow but well-armed for her size, the Sivoutch was a useful vessel, but the Russians had many more such gunboats. The Germans claimed to have sunk the Koreets, a sister-ship of the Sivoutch. The four remaining German battle-cruisers were the Von der Tann, Seydlitz, Derfflinger, and Lutzow, of three distinct types, the first-named being armed with eight 11-inch guns, the second with ten 11-inch, and the others with eight 12-inch. This news, coming to the Russians after their great retreat following the fall of Warsaw, was of much value in raising their spirits. Had the Pernau landing succeeded, and an advanced German base been established there, the successful Russian defense of the

Dwina would have been nullified and the retirement of their right must have been gravely compromised.

With the Medilleh, formerly the Breslau, reported sunk in action off the entrance to the Dardanelles late in January 1918, and the Goeben driven into the Straits and beached at Nagara halfway up to the Sea of Marmora, the Turkish Navy had been so reduced that it could not even send a squadron to sea. The German Admiral, Souchon, could command only a flotilla of small nondescript Turkish ships and a few destroyers and submarines. Turkey's losses at sea had included before this the battleship Messudyeh (10,000 tons), torpedoed by the British submarine B-11 in the Dardanelles; the battleship Kheyr-ed-din (9,000 tons), torpedoed by the British in the Sea of Marmora; the cruiser Medjidieh (3,300 tons), sunk by a Russian mine in the Gulf of Odessa; six small gunboats of which the British accounted for four and the Russians for two; two destroyers, the Yadikar Millet and the Yar Hissar, both torpedoed by British submarines; one torpedo-boat interned at Chios and another driven ashore on the Greek coast. addition seven transports had been sunk and one, the Rodosto (6,000 tons), captured by a Russian submarine. The last eight months had seen the sinking also of minor warships, transports, and supply-vessels. Turkey had been. planning a modern navy in 1913. On paper her complement was impressive, including 30,000 sailors and 9,000 marines. But, with the exception of the small cruisers Medjidieh and Hamidiyeh, there were no modern ships. Two dreadnoughts, the Osman (bought of Brazil) and the Reshadieh, were building in British yards when Germany began the war, and a third, the Faith, had been ordered. The Goeben and Breslau had, therefore, been a lucky acquisition for Turkey when they steamed into the Dardanelles in 1914. They gave the Turks the upper hand in the Black Sea.

In

The reported sinking of the Breslau and beaching of the Goeben, seemed the greatest triumph for the British sea forces for many months of weary waiting. Both were new in 1912; both were swift, altho they had deteriorated in Turkish waters; the Goeben's batteries of 11-inch guns had made her supreme in the Black Sea. Escaping from close