of stratagem, being only
designed to draw the fire of concealed batteries.

On March 18, 1915, "The Great Effort" was made to force the defenses
with naval operations, all previous work having been preliminary. The
battleships _Agamemnon_, _Prince George_, _Queen Elizabeth_, _Lord
Nelson_, _Triumph_, and _Inflexible_ steamed right up to the Narrows.
Four of them bombarded Chanak and a battery which lay opposite it, and
the forts at Saghandere, Kephez Point, and Dardanos were kept busy by
the _Triumph_ and the _Prince George_. After the fleet had been at it
for an hour and a half they received the support of the four French
ships which steamed in close and attacked the forts at a shorter
range. When the forts ceased firing the six battleships _Ocean_,
_Swiftsure_, _Majestic_, _Albion_, _Irresistible_, and _Vengeance_
came in and tried to carry the attack further. While the French
squadron maneuvered to allow freedom of action for this newer British
squadron the Turkish guns resumed fire. Then came the first of a
series of disasters. Three shells struck the _Bouvet_, and she soon
began to keel over. When the underwater part of her hull came into
view it was seen that she had been hit underneath, probably by one of
the mines which the Turks had floated toward the crowded ships. She
sank almost immediately, carrying the greater part of her crew down
with her. Only two hours later another mine did damage to the
_Irresistible_, and she left the line, listing heavily. While she
floated and while she was under heavy fire from Turkish guns a
destroyer took off her crew. She sank just before six o'clock. Not
fifteen minutes later the _Ocean_ became the third victim of a
floating mine, and she also went to the bottom. Destroyers rescued
many of her crew from the water. The guns from the forts were also
able to do damage; the _Gaulois_ had been hit again and again, with
the result that she had a hole in her hull and her upper works were
damaged badly. Fire had broken out on the _Inflexible_, and a number
of her officers and crew had been either killed or wounded. The day
ended with the forts still able to return a lively fire to all
attacks, and "The Great Attempt" on the part of the allied fleets had
failed.

On the other end of the passage there had also been some naval
operations, when, on March 28, 1915, the Black Sea Fleet of the
Russian navy had bombarded the forts on the Bosphorous. Smyrna was
again attacked on April 6,