Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign
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The Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign of the First World War were mainly carried out by the Royal Navy with substantial support from the French and minor contributions from Russia and Australia. The Dardanelles Campaign began as a purely naval operation and, after the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula, naval forces were heavily involved in supporting the ground troops. Throughout the campaign, attempts were made by submarines to pass through the Dardanelles and disrupt Ottoman Empire shipping in the Sea of Marmara.
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Prelude
At the outbreak of World War I, the allegiance of the Ottoman Turkey hung in the balance. While Britain had a long history of interest in the region, it was Germany that had been most active in cultivating a relationship. Anti-British sentiment ran hot when Britain not only refused to deliver two battleships constructed for Turkey but refused to refund payment as well. In response, Germany made a gift of two ships, the battlecruiser SMS Goeben and the light cruiser SMS Breslau, as replacements. While still operated by their German crews, these ships, renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and Medilli respectively, became the backbone of the Turkish navy. The Goeben was by far the most powerful vessel on the Black Sea.
In October, Turkey closed the Dardanelles to Allied shipping. On October 28, the Turkish fleet, led by the Goeben, began raiding Russian assets in the Black Sea. Odessa and Sebastopol were bombarded, a minelayer and gunboat were sunk. Russia declared war on Turkey on November 2 and the British followed suit on November 6. An unsuccessful Turkish attack on Russia through the Caucasus Mountains was launched in December leading the Russians to call for aid from Britain in January 1915.
Winston Churchill, the then First Lord of the Admiralty, had entertained plans of capturing the Dardanelles as early as September, 1914. The Russian plea for assistance, coupled with the growing stalemate on the Western Front and a perception of the Ottoman Empire as a weak enemy, made the prospect of a campaign in the Dardanelles seem appealing.
On January 11, at Churchill's request, the commander of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Squadron, Vice Admiral S.H. Carden, proposed a plan for forcing the Dardanelles using battleships, submarines and minesweepers. On January 13, the British War Council approved the plan, and Carden was supplied with additional pre-Dreadnought battleships as well as the world's most modern battleship at that time, HMS Queen Elizabeth and the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible. France supplied a squadron including four pre-Dreadnoughts and Russia provided a single light cruiser, the Askold.
A driving force behind the naval aspects of the campaign was the British chief of staff, Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes.
The lack of spare troops meant the operation was originally intended to be purely naval but by early February the need for military force was recognised and, in addition to supplying contingents of Royal Marines, the last unallocated regular division, the British 29th Division, was dispatched to Egypt in anticipation. Australian and New Zealand troops were already in Egypt undergoing training and were therefore also available if required. At the outset it was expected the infantry would be required in the occupation of Constantinople, not in gaining the passage of the straits.
Forcing the straits
On November 3, 1914, Churchill ordered the first British attack on the Dardanelles following the opening of hostilities between Turkey and Russia. The British attack was carried out by battlecruisers of Carden's Mediterranean Squadron, Indomitable and Indefatigable, as well as the obsolete French battleships Suffren and Verite. This attack actually took place before a formal declaration of war had been made by Britain against the Ottoman Empire.
The intention of the attack was to test the fortifications and measure the Turkish response. The results were deceptively encouraging. In a twenty minute bombardment, a single shell struck the magazine of the fort at Sedd el Bahr at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, displacing (but not destroying) 10 guns and killing 86 Turkish soldiers. Total casualties during the attack were 150, of which 40 were German.
Dardanelles_defences_1915.png
The Dardanelles were defended by a system of fortified and mobile artillery arranged as the "Outer", "Intermediate" and "Inner" defences. While the outer defences lay at the entrance to the straits and would prove vulnerable to bombardment and raiding, the inner defences covered the Narrows, the narrowest point of the straits near Çanakkale. Beyond the inner defences, the straits were virtually undefended. However, the foundation of the straits defences were a series of 10 minefields, laid across the straits near the Narrows and containing a total of 370 mines.
What was to become the Battle of Gallipoli, a 10-month battle of attrition, began at 7.30am on February 19, 1915. Two destroyers were sent in to probe the straits. The first shot was fired from Kum Kale by the Orhaniye Tepe battery's 24cm Krupp guns at 7.58am. The battleships Cornwallis and Vengeance moved in to engage the forts and the first British shot of the campaign proper was fired at 9.51am by Cornwallis. The day's bombardment lacked the spectacular results of the November 3 test.
Another attempt was made on February 25. This time the Turks evacuated the outer defences and the fleet entered the straits to engage the intermediate defences. Demolition parties of Royal Marines raided the Sedd el Bahr and Kum Kale forts, meeting little opposition. On March 1, four battleships bombarded the intermediate defences.
Little progress was made clearing the minefields. The "minesweepers" were merely un-armoured trawlers manned by their civilian crews who were unwilling to work while under fire. The strong current in the straits further hampered the sweeping process. This lack of progress by the fleet strengthened the Turkish resolve which had wavered at the start of the offensive. On March 4, raids on the outer defences were resisted, leaving 23 British marines dead.
The Queen Elizabeth was called on to engage the inner defences, at first from the Aegean coast near Gaba Tepe, firing across the peninsula, and later from within the straits. On the night of March 13, the cruiser HMS Amethyst led six minesweepers in an attempt to clear the mines. Four of the trawlers were hit and the Amethyst was badly damaged with 19 stokers killed from a single hit.
Finally on March 15, Admiral Carden resigned and was replaced by Rear Admiral John de Robeck who was granted approval to make an all-out assault by daylight with the minesweepers operating under the direct protection of the entire fleet.
The Battle of March 18
The event that decided the battle for the Dardanelles took place on the night of March 8 when the Turkish minelayer Nusrat laid a line of mines in Eren Keui Bay, a wide bay along the Asian shore just inside the entrance to the straits. The Turks had noticed the British ships turned to starboard into the bay when withdrawing. The new line of between 20 and 26 mines ran parallel to the shore, were moored at 2.5 fathoms (4.5 m) and spaced about 100 yards or meters apart.
The British plan for March 18 was to silence the defences guarding the first five lines of mines which would be cleared overnight by the minesweepers. The next day the remaining defences around the Narrows would be defeated and the last five minefields would be cleared.
The battleships were arranged in three lines, two British and one French, with supporting ships on the flanks and two ships in reserve.
| Line A | HMS Queen Elizabeth | HMS Agamemnon | HMS Lord Nelson | HMS Inflexible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| French Line B | Gaulois | Charlemagne | Bouvet | Suffren |
| British Line B | HMS Vengeance | HMS Irresistible | HMS Albion | HMS Ocean |
| Supporting ships | HMS Majestic | HMS Prince George | HMS Swiftsure | HMS Triumph |
| Reserve | HMS Canopus | HMS Cornwallis |
The first British line opened fire from Eren Keui Bay around 11am. Shortly after noon, de Robeck ordered the French line to pass through and close on the Narrows forts. The Turkish fire began to take its toll with Gaulois, Suffren, Agamemnon and Inflexible all suffering hits. While the naval fire had not destroyed the Turkish batteries, it had succeeded in temporarily reducing their fire. By 1.25pm the Turkish defences were mostly silent so de Robeck decided to withdraw the French line and bring forward the second British line as well as Swiftsure and Majestic.
At 1.54pm Bouvet, having made a turn to starboard into Eren Keui Bay, struck a mine, capsized and sank within a couple of minutes, killing 600 men. The initial British reaction was that a shell had struck her magazine or she had been torpedoed. They remained unaware of the minefield.
HMS_Irresistible_abandoned_18_March_1915.jpg
The British pressed on with the attack. Around 4pm Inflexible began to withdraw and struck a mine near where Bouvet went down, killing 30 men. The battlecruiser remained afloat and eventually beached on the island of Tenedos.
Irresistible was the next to be mined. As she began to drift helplessly, the crew were taken off. De Robeck told Ocean to take Irresistible under tow but the water was deemed to shallow to make an approach. Finally at 6.05pm Ocean struck a mine which jammed the stearing gear leaving her likewise helpless. The abandoned battleships were still floating when the British withdrew. A destroyer returned later to torpedo the stricken vessels but despite searching for four hours, there was no sign of them.
March 18 was a significant victory for Turkey. Nevertheless, there were calls amongst the British to press on with the naval attack. With the exception of the Inflexible, the ships that were lost or damaged were old, ill-equipped for modern naval combat and, in the eyes of some, expendable. There have been theories that the Turkish forts had nearly exhausted their ammunition so that if the naval attack had resumed, the Allies would have met little opposition. However, the failure of the March 18 attack led to a plan to use infantry to neutralise the forts.
Submarine operations
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British_submarine_B11.jpg
The British submarine attacks had commenced in 1914, before the campaign proper had started. On December 13, the British submarine B11 had entered the straits, avoiding five lines of mines, and torpedoed the antiquated Turkish battleship Mesudiye, built in 1874, which was anchored as a floating fort in Sari Sighlar Bay, south of Çanakkale. The Mesudiye capsized in 10 minutes, trapping many of the 673-man crew. However, lying in shoal water, the hull remained above the surface so most men were rescued by cutting holes in the hull. Thirty-seven men were killed.
The sinking was a triumph for the Royal Navy. The captain of the B11, Lieutenant-Commander Norman Holbrook, was awarded the Victoria Cross — the first Royal Navy VC of the war — and all 12 other crew members received awards. Coupled with the naval bombardment of the outer defences on November 3, this success encouraged the British to pursue the campaign.
The first French submarine operation preceded the start of the campaign as well. On January 15, 1915, the French submarine Saphir negotiated the Narrows, passing all ten lines of mines, before running aground at Nagara Point. Various accounts claim she was either mined, sunk by shellfire or scuttled, leaving 14 crew dead and 13 prisoners of war.
On April 17, the British submarine E15 attempted to pass through the straits but, having dived too deep, was caught in a current and run aground near Kepez Point, the southern tip of Sari Sighlar Bay, directly under the guns of the Dardanos battery. Seven of the crew were killed and the remainder were captured. The beached E15 was a valuable prize for the Turks and the British went to great lengths to deny it from them, finally managing to sink it after numerous attempts.
The first submarine to succeed in passing through the straits was Australian submarine AE2 which got through on April 26, one day after the army had begun landing at Cape Helles and Anzac Cove on the peninsula. The AE2, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Stoker, was thwarted by defective torpedoes in its several attempts to sink promising targets. On April 29, in Artaki Bay near Panderma, the AE2 was sighted and hit by a Turkish torpedo boat. Abandoning ship, the crew became POWs.
The second submarine through the straits had more luck than the AE2. On April 27, the British submarine E14, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Edward Boyle, entered the Sea of Marmara and went on a three week rampage that was one of the most successful actions achieved by the Allies in the entire campaign. While the quantity and value of the shipping sunk was relatively minor, the effect on Turkish communications and morale was significant. On his return, Boyle was immediately awarded the Victoria Cross. Boyle and the E14 made a number of tours of the Marmara. His third tour began on July 21, when he passed through the straits despite the Turks having installed an anti-submarine net near the Narrows.
Another British submarine to have a successful cruise of the Marmara was the E11, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Martin Nasmith, who was awarded the VC and promoted to Commander for his achievements. He sank or disabled 11 ships including three on May 24 at the port of Rodosto on the Thracian shore. On 8 August, during a subsequent tour of the Marmara, the E11 torpedoed the Turkish battleship Hayreddin Barbarossa.
A number of demolition missions were performed by men or parties landed from submarines. On September 8, First Lieutenant H.V. Lyon from the British submarine E2, swam ashore near Küçükçekmece (Thrace) to blow up a railway bridge. The bridge was destroyed but Lyon failed to return. Attempts were also made to disrupt the railways running close to the water along the Gulf of Izmit, on the Asian shore of the sea. On the night of August 20, Lieutenant D'Oyly Hughes from the E11 swam ashore and blew up a section of the railway line, earning the Distinguished Service Order for his efforts. On July 17, the British submarine E7 bombarded the railway line and then damaged two trains that were forced to halt.
French attempts to enter the Sea of Marmara continued. Following the success of the AE2 and E14, the French submarine Joule attempted the passage on May 1 but struck a mine and was lost with all hands. The next attempt was made by the Mariotte on July 27. However, the Mariotte failed to negotiate the anti-submarine net that the E14 had eluded and was forced to the surface. After being shelled from the shore batteries, the Mariotte was scuttled. On September 4, the same net caught the E7 as it attempted to commence another tour.
The first French submarine to enter the Sea of Marmara was the Turquoise. However, it was forced to turn back and, on October 30, when attempting to pass back through the straits, ran aground beneath a fort and was captured intact. The crew of 25 were taken prisoner and documents detailed planned Allied operations were discovered. This included a scheduled rendezvous with the British submarine E20 on November 6. The rendezvous was kept by the German U-boat, U-14 which torpedoed and sunk the E20 killing all but nine of the crew. The Turquoise was salvaged and incorporated (but not commissioned) into the Turkish Navy as the Onbasi Müstecip, named after the gunner who had forced the French commander to surrender.
The Allied submarine campaign in the Sea of Marmara was the one significant offensive success of the Battle of Gallipoli. Between April 1915 and January 1916, nine British submarines sank two battleships (albeit obsolete) and one destroyer, five gunboats, nine troop transports, seven supply ships, 35 steamers and 188 assorted smaller vessels. The Turks were forced to abandon the Marmara as a transport route.
Supporting the army
The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force had been established on March 12 under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton and comprised some 70,000 soldiers. At a conference on March 22, four days after the failed attempt by the navy, it was decided to use the infantry to seize the Gallipoli peninsula and capture the forts, clearing the way for the navy to pass through into the Sea of Marmara. Preparations for the landing took a month, giving the Turkish defenders ample time to reinforce.
The British planners still underestimated the ability of the Turks and, at the outset, it was expected that the invasion would be over swiftly. A British force, landing at Cape Helles, would advance six miles (11 km) on the first day and, on the second, would seize the Kilitbahir plateau, overlooking the Narrows. As it happened, in eight months of fighting, the British would never advance much more than five miles (9 km) and their first day objectives of Krithia and the hill Achi Baba would remain out of reach.
The Gallipoli landings were the largest amphibious operation of the war. The initial landings were made at Cape Helles by the British 29th Division and at Gaba Tepe by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. In the latter case, the landing miscarried and the troops went ashore too far north at a place now known as Anzac Cove. In both landings, the covering force went ashore from warships with the exception of V Beach at Helles where the SS River Clyde was used as an improvised landing craft for 2,000 men.
In the landing at Anzac Cove, the first wave went ashore from the boats of three Formidable-class battleships; HMS London, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen. The second wave went ashore from seven destroyers. In support were Triumph, Majestic and the cruiser HMS Bacchante as well as the seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal and the kite-balloon ship, HMS Manica from which a tethered balloon was trailed to provide artillery spotting.
The landing at Cape Helles was spread over five beaches with the main ones being V & W Beaches at the tip of the peninsula. While the landing at Anzac had was planned as a surprise without a preliminary bombardment, the Helles landing was made after the beaches and forts were bombarded by the warships. The landing at S Beach inside the straits was made from the battleship Cornwallis and was virtually unopposed. The W Beach force came from the cruiser HMS Euryalus and the battleship HMS Implacable which also carried the troops bound for X Beach. The cruiser HMS Dublin and battleship HMS Goliath supported the X Beach landing as well as a small landing to the north on the Aegean coast at Y Beach, later abandoned.
The role of the navy was to support the landing, using naval guns instead of field artillery, of which there was a severe shortage in 1915. However, which a few spectacular exceptions, the performance of naval guns on land targets was inadequate, particularly against entrenched positions. The guns lacked elevation and so fired on a flat trajectory which, coupled with the inherently unstable gun platform, resulted in reduced accuracy.
The battleship's guns did prove effective against exposed lines of troops. On April 27, during the first Turkish counter-attack at Anzac, the Turkish 57th Regiment attacked down the seaward slope of Battleship Hill within view of the Queen Elizabeth which fired a salvo of six 15-in shells, halting the attack completely. On April 28, near the old Y Beach landing, the Queen Elizabeth sighted a party of about 100 Turks. One 15-in shrapnel shell containing 24,000 pellets was fired at short range and wiped out the entire party. For the rest of the campaign the Turks were very wary of moving within view of battleships.
Also on April 27, a kite-balloon ship had spotted a Turkish transport ship moving near the Narrows. The Queen Elizabeth, stationed off Gaba Tepe, had fired across the peninsula, at a range of over 10 miles (about 20 km), and sank the transport with her third shot. For much of the campaign the Turks transported troops via rail though other supplies continued to be transported by ship on the Sea of Marmara and Dardanelles.
It quickly became evident that the battle for Gallipoli would not be a swift or easy operation. At Helles, which was initially the main battlefield, a series of costly battles only managed to edge the front line closer to Krithia. Through the early battles the navy continued to provide support via bombardments. However, in May three battleships were torpedoed; Goliath in Morto Bay on May 12, Triumph off Anzac on May 25 and Majestic off W Beach on May 27. Goliath was sunk by the Turkish torpedo boat Muavenet while the other two were sunk by the German U-boat U-21. Following these losses, the permanent battleship support was withdrawn with the valuable Queen Elizabeth recalled by the Admiralty as soon as the news of the loss of Goliath arrived. In place of the battleships, naval artillery support was provided by cruisers, destroyers and purpose-built monitors which were designed for coastal bombardment.
Once the navy became wary of the submarine threat, losses ceased. With the exception of the continued activity of Allied submarines in the Dardanelles and Sea of Marmara, the only significant naval loss after May was the Laforey-class destroyer HMS Louis which on October 31 ran aground off Suvla during a gale and was wrecked. The destruction of the stranded ship was accelerated by Turkish gunfire.
See also
External links
- War in the Mediterranean - 1915 (http://www.naval-history.net/WW1AreaMed1915.htm) includes naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaignpl:Operacje morskie w cieśninie Dardanelskiej