Preparations were now being made for a serious effort against the Narrows.  The date of the attack was fixed for March 17th, weather permitting.  On the 16th Admiral Carden was stricken down with illness and was invalided by medical authority.  Admiral de Roebeck, second in command, who had been very active in the operations, was appointed to succeed him.  Admiral de Roebeck was in cordial sympathy with the purposes of the expedition and determined to attack on the 18th of March.  At a quarter to eleven that morning, the Queen Elizabeth, Inflexible, Agamemnon, Lord Nelson, the Triumph and Prince George steamed up the straits towards the Narrows, and bombarded the forts of Chanak.  At 12.22 the French squadron, consisting of the Suffren, Gaulois, Charlemagne, and Bouvet, advanced up the Dardanelles to aid their English associates.

Under the combined fire of the two squadrons the Turkish forts, which at first replied strongly, were finally silenced.  All of the ships, however, were hit several times during this part of the action.  A third squadron, including the Vengeance, Irresistible, Albion, Ocean, Swiftshore and Majestic, then advanced to relieve the six old battleships inside the strait.

[Illustration:  The loss of the “Irresistible”

During an attack on the Dardanelles the British battleship “Irresistible” struck a Turkish mine and sank in a few minutes.  Severe losses of similar character demonstrated that it would be impossible to force the strait by naval attack.]

As the French squadron, which had engaged the forts in a most brilliant fashion, was passing out the Bouvet was blown up by a drifting mine and sank in less than three minutes, carrying with her most of her crew.  At 2.36 P.M. the relief battleships renewed the attack on the forts, which again opened fire.  The Turks were now sending mines down with the current.  At 4.09 the Irresistible quitted the line, listing heavily, and at 5.50 she sank, having probably struck a drifting mine.  At 6.05 the Ocean, also having struck a mine, sank in deep water.  Practically the whole of the crews were removed safely.  The Gaulois was damaged by gunfire; the Inflexible had her forward control position hit by a heavy shell, which killed and wounded the majority of the men and officers at that station and set her on fire.  At sunset the forts were still in action, and during the twilight the Allied fleet slipped out of the Dardanelles.

Meantime, an expeditionary force was being gathered.  The largest portion of this force came from Great Britain, but France also provided a considerable number from her marines and from her Colonial army.  Both nations avoided, as far as possible, drawing upon the armies destined for service in France.

In the English army there were divisions from Australia and New Zealand and there were a number of Indian troops and Territorials.  The whole force was put under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton.  The commander-in-chief on the Turkish side was the German General Liman von Sanders, the former chief of the military mission at Constantinople.  The bulk of the expeditionary force, which numbered altogether about a hundred and twenty thousand men, were, therefore, men whose presence in the east did not weaken the Allied strength in the west.