That magnificent Naval Victory; March 18...

France-Marseille...

It is 10:00 in the morning.

British Secretary of State for War General Sir Ian Hamilton was working in his office at the port of Toulon. There was a knock at the door. The aide-de-camp of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener entered. He saluted and said that Lord Kitchener was waiting for him in his office.

Kitchener was a staunch Turkophobe. General Hamilton, having received the order, stood up immediately and went to Kitchener's office.

He entered saying, “Good morning.”

The cold-faced Kitchener was writing at his desk, scribbling something. After a while, he looked up and stared at Hamilton, who had arrived;

- We are sending a military force to the Dardanelles to strengthen the Royal Navy there. We have appointed you to lead that force, he said.

He lowered his gaze back to his desk and reviewed what he had written. After a while, Kitchener looked up again;

- Is that understood? he declared.

Ian Hamilton was not expecting this assignment.

Furthermore, he did not know the Turks he would be fighting. But it was military duty. He had to accept it. Kitchener wrote the war order on the paper in front of him. According to the order he wrote, General Ian Hamilton had become the “Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.” The size of his force was around 80 thousand. After Hamilton took over the new duty from Kitchener, he stood up, turned to the door, and as he was about to leave after a military salute, Kitchener called out to him;

- If you pass through the straits with the British Royal Navy and take possession of Istanbul, you will have won not only the Dardanelles campaign but also the World War.

What he called the “World War” was the First World War.

Hearing these words, a strange excitement filled Hamilton. He saluted and left the room. He had now become the Commander of the Mediterranean Forces. As he walked, he thought about the mission he had received and the weight of this duty. The world's most powerful warships were under his command. At the same time, he had a large land force under his command. He would pass through the Dardanelles, win the war, and become a hero not just for England, but for the whole world. He was extremely confident. He would definitely, absolutely win the Dardanelles Campaign.

General Ian Hamilton set off immediately. The target was the Dardanelles. He arrived at the island of Lemnos via the Mediterranean on the warship named Phaeton.

He did not waste any time. He held an urgent meeting with the ship commanders. He reviewed the attack decisions and preparations himself and gave his final order to Fleet Commander Admiral de Robeck. The attack would take place on March 18. Under de Robeck's command were 14 British, 4 French warships, 4 cruisers, 14 destroyers, 6 aircraft, 1 aircraft carrier, 7 submarines, 21 minesweepers, and more than 30 gunboats.

It was exactly 101 pieces.

Admiral de Robeck would first silence the batteries with high-firepower warships, then open a path through the 403 mines the Turks had laid in 18 lines with minesweepers, and pass through the Dardanelles. As the meeting ended, the self-confident Admiral de Robeck said these final words;

“Tomorrow, I will cross the straits.”

The weather was sunny on March 18.

Dardanelles Fortified Area Commander Cevat Pasha arrived in Maydos early that morning. But he was unaware of what was about to happen. He was going to inspect the precautions Mustafa Kemal had taken on the shores. Mustafa Kemal, who was still at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel that day, had placed troops at critical points and had conducted a defense exercise for the soldiers on March 16.

They met with Cevat Pasha in Maydos and set off together towards Alçıtepe. On the way, Mustafa Kemal was informing Cevat Pasha about the measures he had taken, saying that the enemy would definitely land troops, and claiming that the landing points would be Kabatepe and Seddülbahir. Mustafa Kemal also said that Seddülbahir was open from north to south, and that if the enemy took this region under fire and landed troops, they would easily capture Alçıtepe. Cevat Pasha, however, did not think it likely that the British would land at Seddülbahir and Kabatepe.

They went to Kirte together.

It was around 10:00.

Suddenly, fire was opened on them. While they were trying to understand what was happening, they saw a large number of warships coming from across the way, towards the Straits. The shells had passed over their heads. From the formation of the warships, it was understood that they had come for a major attack.

The war had begun.

The first attack was on Seddülbahir. The warships were coming in three groups under the command of Admiral Sir de Robeck. Since the batteries at the entrance of the straits had been silenced earlier, they advanced by firing towards the interior. At the very front was the world's most powerful warship, Queen Elizabeth. Triumph was right next to it. Other ships were following them.

The ships all arrived at Kepez Point together at 11:15.

Kepez Point meant a short distance to the Dardanelles. When Cevat Pasha left Mustafa Kemal and arrived at the Dardanelles, British warships began to rain bombs on the Anatolian Hamidiye and Çimenlik castle right next to the city. While the warships were pounding the batteries, minesweepers were clearing a path in the straits.

At exactly 11:45, a tremendous explosion sound was heard in the Dardanelles. Queen Elizabeth had fired a shell at the city center, and some neighborhoods had started to burn. Also, a shell hit the ammunition depot of Çimenlik castle, and it exploded.

The Hamidiye and Namazgah barracks were destroyed and razed to the ground.

The Turks, who did not respond at first because the range was short, suddenly fired their cannons in the batteries around 12:00. Because the enemy ships had now entered their range. The Mesudiye and Dardanos batteries had risen from the ruins and aimed their barrels. The sound of mutual cannon fire shook the earth and sky. The straits turned into a place of fire again. British and French warships were bombing, burning, and destroying Turkish batteries with their high-fire barrels.

The Turks, on the other hand, were trying to resist with broken cannons, emerging from among the destroyed batteries. But the rifle bullets fired by the Turkish soldiers on the shore were also raining down on the British and French ships like rain. The ammunition depot of the flagship Queen Elizabeth was also damaged due to the shells falling on it. Another shell shattered the ship's crane mechanism. There were also many dead and wounded among the British. Admiral de Robeck was quite surprised by this sudden fire from the Turks. But he did not take a step back; he pushed his other ships forward. He wanted to get very close to the Turkish batteries and forts and destroy them with precise hits.

An hour passed.

The scene suddenly turned into a place of horror. British warships were keeping the shores under bombardment, while minesweepers were clearing the mines and opening the Straits. The Turks, meanwhile, were raining bombs and shells on the warships that entered their range.

At noon, the war intensified.

The Turks at the Dardanos Battery hit the Agamemnon ship in its funnel. The ship began to flee. The battleship Gaulois had also been hit and was wounded.

At that very moment, a tremendous explosion sound was heard in the middle of the sea. The deck of the Bouvet had been blown up, and the shaking ship had tilted slightly to the side. And two minutes later, it capsized and sank in the deep waters of the straits. The number of those who drowned was exactly 639 crew members.

When the British got over the Bouvet shock, they increased the intensity of the attack in the afternoon with six large ships. The war flared up again around 15:00. The Agamemnon warship began to pound the Anatolian Hamidiye battery with fire again. At 15:15, a shell that fell on the Namazgah barracks burned the barracks in a terrible way.

Five minutes later...

At 15:20, the personnel of the Anatolian Hamidiye battery seemed to come back to life among the ruins. They began to aim at the Irresistible warship. The mutual fire continued between 15:00 and 16:00. The battleships Ocean, Irresistible, Albion, Vengeance, Swiftsure, and Majestic bombarded the Turkish batteries until 16:00.

They had practically pounded the Turkish batteries with bombs.

After a while, the sound of the Turkish batteries first decreased, then stopped. The Dardanos, Hamidiye, and Namazgah batteries were heavily damaged. Then, the minesweeper ships were activated. However, when these ships entered the Turkish range, the Turkish artillery opened fire again. As a result of these shots, the Vengeance and Majestic ships were damaged. The battleship Suffren had taken 14 hits in 14 minutes. It could have sunk.

It had to flee by maneuvering backward.

At 16:30,

A fire was seen on the starboard side of the Inflexible ship. The ship had taken three hits in 10 minutes. The fire grew before long.

It had also started to take on water from the shell holes. The Inflexible was a new and very valuable warship. It was fast and had heavy weapons. When the ship started to list, it wanted to withdraw. Admiral de Robeck could not risk the loss of this magnificent ship after the damaged Queen Elizabeth ship. He ordered it to leave the area quickly. Inflexible meant 'Unbending'. It bent before the Turks and left the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the Irresistible had also hoisted a green flag on its mast. Because the Anatolian Hamidiye Battery had practically resurrected from among the ruins and had fired at the Irresistible one after another since 15:20. The green flag was an emergency signal. It too had been hit by the skillful shot of Lieutenant Fahri at the Mecidiye Battery and had drifted to the shore.

It was wounded.

The daily balance sheet was quite heavy.

The Bouvet had sunk, the Inflexible had left the region, and the Irresistible had drifted to the shore. Yet this region had been cleared of mines.

A day earlier, reconnaissance planes had flown over the straits, and it had been determined that the mines had been cleared up to Kepez Point. Even if the cannonballs fired from the batteries were accurate, they could not have caused this much damage. So why had they suffered so many casualties? Admiral de Robeck was thinking, but he could not find the reason.

Yet the reason for this was the Nusrat Minelayer.

The returning, maneuvering enemy ships were hitting the mines it had placed in Karanlıkkoyu and were being damaged. The warships, which resembled huge fortresses, were exploding one by one, and the British were experiencing a great shock. British Admiral de Robeck reported that he could not continue the war under these conditions.

And at 18:00, he gave the order to withdraw.

He also assigned the battleships Ocean and Swiftsure to rescue the Irresistible. However, the Ocean was bombing the Turkish batteries, and the destroyers were trying to rescue the Irresistible. If they could not rescue it, they would torpedo and sink it so it would not fall into the hands of the Turks. The Ocean ship came next to the Irresistible warship. The torpedo boats also helped. They also rescued a large part of the personnel. As a result of the work done, the listing and drifting of the Irresistible slowed down a bit, and it was decided to tow it with a destroyer at night.

But the final act had not been played.

At that moment...

At that very moment, the ships complying with the withdrawal decision continued to bomb the Mecidiye Battery, which had caused them so much difficulty, as they were leaving.

The Mecidiye Battery was razed to the ground.

As the soldiers were running to the shelter, the ammunition depot blew up. The soldiers were thrown and tumbled to the ground. Some were wounded, and some were martyred. Corporal Seyit was also among those thrown. But he had not died. He had staggered and lost consciousness. He got up. His friend Ali from Niğde was in front of him, he shouted, “Where are the others?” Ali said; “Only the two of us are left.” Unfortunately, they had all been martyred.

Corporal Seyit looked at the enemy ships unconsciously. He was not in his right mind. Then he looked at the ammunition depot. Only three shells were left. He turned to his friend; “Come on Ali, let's load this shell into the barrel,” he said. Ali was surprised. Because the shell was exactly 276 kilograms. The lever had broken. He would have to lift it himself.

-You can't lift it, Seyit, he said. But Seyit was determined.

-Let's just try, they said. They tried.

And with extraordinary effort, they lifted it. Corporal Seyit took the shell on his back. He grasped it with both hands, staggered, and moved towards the cannon. He put his foot on the ladder. He gathered all his strength, brought the huge shell up, loaded it into the barrel, and closed the breech. He had succeeded. He turned the barrel towards the ship, adjusted the estimated distance, said “Bismillah,” and fired the cannon. He hit the stern of a ship.

The ship he hit was the Ocean, one of the British's largest warships. The Ocean began to spin uncontrollably in the middle of the straits, burning. Along with the Ocean, the Irresistible was also burning.

When the ships were damaged and sank, the crew who could save their lives also managed to reach the shore. 20 British soldiers from one of the sunken ships managed to reach the shore. They were led by Lieutenant Andre Leomine. The group of 20 people who reached the shore surrendered immediately. They were exhausted and tired from swimming. They were trembling with fear. They thought the Turks would kill them. The Turks took these soldiers prisoner. They took them to a hut behind a hill. They told them to take off their wet clothes. And they gave them dry clothes. They lit the stove for the shivering captive soldiers and gave them bread from their own daily rations. And then they left. The British soldiers were not expecting such treatment from the Turks.

After a while, a Turkish lieutenant entered. He spoke French very well. The Turkish lieutenant said to Andre Leomine, “The war is over for you.” After pausing for a moment, he said, “It was in your destiny to be a prisoner. You are no longer enemies, but guests. We are not rich. My soldiers could only host you this much.” Upon these words, the British captives were astonished. And years later, in Paris, Andre Leomine would say the following to a Turk he encountered;

“I cannot forget the greatness of the Turks!..”

It was evening.

There was a sharp smell of gunpowder and smoke in the straits. The British-French warships had suffered a great defeat. They all left the straits together. And they went without even looking back. The Turks watched the fleeing warships with great pleasure around 18:00. When the last warship disappeared on the horizon, Fortified Area Commander Cevat Pasha said these words;

“They are gone! They could not pass! They will not be able to pass!”

March 18 was a victory. It was a tremendous naval victory, the likes of which had never been seen in the world. Mustafa Kemal and Cevat Çobanlı had great contributions to this victory. The two had worked together.

That day, the warships Bouvet, Ocean, and Irresistible had sunk, the Inflexible, Gaulois, and Suffren had become unusable, and the Agamemnon had been heavily damaged. One-third of the fleet that entered the straits had been ruined.

The Turks had 79 martyrs that day, while the British-French soldiers had 800 missing soldiers. More than 4000 cannonballs were fired just around the Dardanos Battery from the Turkish batteries. There was no limit to the total number of shells fired.

The British and French could not get over their astonishment. They looked for someone responsible and guilty. French Captain Gueprette, the minesweeper officer who could not notice the mines in Karanlıkkoyu, was seen as the person responsible for this defeat. Immediately after March 18, he was tried in a court-martial. At the end of the trial, he was sentenced to death, and Captain Gueprette was hanged right there on the mast of the warship Suffren. He was not pardoned.

The judge who gave the decision was the biological father of the hanged captain.

The place that was bombed the most was the Rumeli Mecidiye Battery. When Cevat Pasha learned that this place had been heavily damaged and had given many martyrs, he went to this battery. The battery had turned into ruins. Cevat Pasha saw a soldier waiting under a tree there. His condition was remarkable. He went up to him;

-What is wrong with you, my son, he asked. The Turkish soldier who heard the voice stood up immediately. He had understood that the commander had arrived. However, there was a strange situation. The soldier's eyes were closed;

-Did something happen to your eyes, my son? Cevat Pasha looked carefully; the soldier had lost his eyes and had gone blind. Cevat Pasha was very sad. He could not bear it, he cried. This time, the soldier began to console his commander;

-Do not be sad, my Commander, these eyes have seen what they needed to see, he said.

What he had seen was that magnificent March 18 Naval victory.

Source: “Immortal Turks”-Ilgaz Publications