ON THIS DAY (APRIL 25)

1915: Allied troops land on the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey, beginning the disastrous Dardanelles campaign.

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.

At the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was an unaligned power. While Britain had a long history of interest in the region, Germany had been most active in cultivating a relationship with the Ottomans. At the outbreak of war, the British seized two battleships constructed for the Ottoman Empire which were still in British shipyards, while also refusing to refund payment made on the vessels. 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 Midilli respectively, became the backbone of the Ottoman navy. Through possession of the Goeben, the Ottoman Empire controlled the most powerful ship in the Black Sea.

In October of 1914, the Ottomans 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 Sevastopol were bombarded, a minelayer and gunboat were sunk. Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on November 2, and the British followed suit on November 6. An unsuccessful Ottoman attack on Russia through the Caucasus Mountains was launched in December, leading the Russians to call for aid from Britain in January of 1915.

Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, had entertained plans of capturing the Dardanelles as early as September of 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, the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth and the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible. France supplied a squadron which included four pre-Dreadnought battleships, while Russia provided a single light cruiser, the Askold.

The operation was originally intended to be purely naval due to a lack of spare troops, but by early February the need for regular infantry was recognized. Contingents of Royal Marines were to be supplemented by the last unallocated regular division, the British 29th Division. It was dispatched to Egypt, to join Australian and New Zealand troops which were already undergoing training. At the outset of the operation, the expected role of the infantry was to be the occupation of Istanbul. The taking of the straits was to be accomplished by the Entente naval forces.

1920: Britain is given mandates for the former Ottoman territories of Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Palestine.

Tags: History

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