8 / 20
8
BRAW LADDIES AMIDST THE CLASH OF THE EMPIRES
On 18 March the British and French
warships, now under the command of
Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck,made
a fresh attack in three lines against the
fortifications at Kilid Bahr and Chanak
(Çanakkale today) which guarded the
narrows and the entrance into the Sea of
Mamara.The idea was to open fire at long
range and then to reduce the range for
a final onslaught, but this depended on
the successful sweeping
of known minefields in
Eren Keui Bay where
the fleet would begin the
assault.
To begin with the battleships seemed
invincible.Early in the day the fire from
the forts began to slacken, encouraging
hopes of a quick victory but shortly
after two o’clock disaster struck when
the French battleship
Bouvet
hit a mine,
as well being hit by shellfire,and quickly
sank.
At the same time howitzer fire forced
the allied minesweepers to scatter.
It was obvious that Eren Keui Bay was
littered with mines – unknown to the
Allies a Turkish minelayer had carried
out the operation ten days earlier – and
the hidden weapons began inflicting
more losses. Minutes after the sinking
of the
Bouvet,
HMS
Inflexible
hit a mine,
followed in short order by further strikes
on HMS
Irresistible
and HMS
Ocean,
both of which sank after their crews
had been saved. Not
surprisingly de Robeck
called off the attack.
N
ot
only had he lost three
battleships with another
three disabled,but theTurkish forts had
not been destroyed. The land forces,
originally intended to support the naval
attack,now assumed the principal role.
TheTurks had been busy. Beaches had
been wired and mined and ne
w
defensive
positions with deep trenches had been
hurriedly constructed – no easy matter
given the hard unyielding ground.
Only a hand
f
ul of
Bouvet’s crew of seven
hundred survived.
FA I L U R E O F F U R T H E R NAVA L O P E RAT I O N S
FRENCH BATTLESHIP BOU
V
ET CAPSIZED AND SINKING, 1915