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The Dandarnelles Disaster

Page 29

by Dan Van der Vat


  Breslau, SMS (later Midilli;

  German/Turkish light cruiser) 26, 27, 38, 44, 130, 160; in Black Sea 59, 70, 74, 96, 182; coal shortages and coaling 31–2, 34, 43; escorted through Dardanelles 45–6; exchange of shots with Gloucester 45, 50; movements in Mediterranean 31–2, 34–9, 44; renamed 52, 53, 55; sights British battle cruisers 35

  Brighton Beach (Gallipoli) 152

  British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 61, 66, 72, 81, 114, 167

  Bulair 145–6, 148; Allied feint 110, 111, 115, 150, 153

  Bulgaria 10, 14–15, 28, 58, 90, 130, 197; and Great War 54, 81–2, 87, 130, 170, 207; peace 201; threat to Constantinople 26–7

  bungling in high places 136, 141, 191

  Canopus, HMS (battleship) 17, 73, 109, 111, 115, 116, 153

  Cape Helles (Gallipoli) 76, 100, 101, 105–6, 111, 146, 151, 154–5, 159

  Carden, Vice-Admiral Sir Sackville 95, 124, 140, 178; Churchill presses on minesweeping 116–17; Keyes assessment of 114–15; and naval-only assault 83–6, 169–71, 172; plan for Dardanelles assault 100–13, 105–13, 120, 121; replaced by de Robeck 120; requests air support 112; shelling of Dardanelles 75–6; takes command of Mediterranean Fleet 56, 68

  Caucasian campaign 186–7

  Cefat Pasha, Major General 3–4

  Cemenlik 125

  Central Powers xi, 13, 54, 178; outflanking 89–91, 102, 136, 140, 170, 177

  Chanak 4, 17, 52, 80, 83, 105, 111, 115, 125–6, 146–7, 149, 160, 201

  Charlemagne (French battleship) 126, 128

  Chocheprat, Vice-Admiral P L A 33–5 Church, Captain W D 52, 53

  Churchill, Winston 74, 157, 181, 182, 206; administrative and managerial style xi, 67, 75–6, 142; ambivalent orders to Milne 39–41; career and character 88, 139–40; creates Royal Naval Division (RND) 62; and Dardanelles campaign 72, 77, 82–6, 103, 130, 132, 134, 136, 169–71, 177–80; and Dardanelles Commission 163–4, 170; exclusion from Admiralty xii, 137–8, 143–4, 193; and Fisher 173–5; flanking strategy 140; and Gallipoli campaign 168; and Iraq 204; and Kitchener 163, 167–8, 176–7; meets Enver 23; orders Milne to engage Goeben 36; persuasive skills 87, 90, 133, 142, 175; and preparations for Dardanelles campaign 171; presentations of naval assault plans 87–9, 174–5; relations with Fisher 139–40, 141–2; relations with Turkey 23–4; responsibility for escape of Mediterranean Division 51; sequesters Turkish battleships 23–4, 55; and troops to support naval assault 101, 103, 114, 116–17; and War Council 164–6

  Committee for Union and Progress (CUP) see “Young Turks”

  Committee of Imperial Defence (CID - later War Council); strategy for forcing Dardanelles 20–2

  Constantine I, King of Greece 71, 195–6, 201

  Constantinople xii, 71, 72, 89, 102, 110, 195, 198; British plan to capture 17–22, 84; occupation 200; strategic importance 9–10

  Coronel, Battle of (1914) xi, xii, 64, 65, 70, 74

  Courbet (French dreadnought) 33, 35 Cradock, Admiral Sir Christopher G F M 64, 67, 70–2, 74

  Crimean War (1854–56) 2, 10, 19, 22

  Cromer, Lord 162, 165

  Ctesiphon, Battle of (1915) 183

  Curzon, George Nathaniel, Lord 199–200

  d’Amade, General Albert 118–19, 121, 152

  Dardanelles: defences 1–5, –5, 57, 76–8, 80, 126–7, 129, 132, 135, 141; international conventions and control 19, 200; naval blockade xii, 52, 57, 78–9, 182; strategic importance xi–xiii, 17–19

  Dardanelles, Treaty of (1809) 19

  Dardanelles campaign 95–113; accounts of assault 121–5; adverse weather 18, 91, 103, 104, 107, 108, 113, 125, 131; ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) 109, 114, 118; assault on Narrows 111–13; bombardment of forts 121–9; Bulair feint 110, 111, 115, 150, 153; casualties and losses 127–8, 180; causes of defeat 135–6; dispatch of troops to support 177–9; failure of naval-only bombardment xii–xiii, 130, 141; and French support 86, 99, 108–9, 112–14, 117–19, 126–7, 130, 131, 172; importance to outcome of war 103; landing 118–20; leadership 135–6; minesweepers and minesweeping 80, 100, 105, 107–8, 112–13, 115–18, 121, 124–5, 135, 141, 189; observation posts 109–12, 118, 121; pin-prick raids 106, 107–8, 110–11; planning and preparations xii, 20–2, 71–2, 84–5, 100–13, 175–6, 206; political consequences of failure 136–7; trial bombardment 75–8, 168; Turkish defence 110, 111, 125, 129, 132, 135; and 29th Division 90, 102, 104, 113–14, 118–19, 131–2, 148–9, 152, 153, 157, 175–7, 179

  Dardanelles Commission 3–4, 82, 87, 161–80; conclusions 179–80; on conduct of war 163–6; and discrepancies in official accounts 162–3; on efficacy of modern artillery 172–3; on failures of war leadership 161–2; on Fisher’s resignation 171; on naval-only strategy 168–70, 175–8; and role of expert advisors to the War Council 164–6; on War Council 171

  Dardanelles Committee 3, 157

  Dardanos 106, 107

  de Robeck, Admiral John 99, 101, 106, 107, 110–11, 115, 117, 127; Churchill presses to renew assault 133; and Dardanelles campaign 120–7, 177; and Dardanelles Commission 132, 162, 178; and Gallipoli campaign 148, 149, 151, 160; need for military support 131–2; orders withdrawal of Queen Elizabeth 141; replaces Carden 120; subsequent career 188–9; warned about U-boats 159

  Demir Hissar (Turkish torpedo boat) 148–9

  Doris, HMS (light cruiser) 79

  Dresden (German light cruiser) 65, 74

  Dublin, HMS (light cruiser) 39, 41–2, 44, 50, 74, 78

  Duckworth, Vice-Admiral Sir John 17–19, 89, 95, 136, 178

  Eberhard, Vice-Admiral A E 96, 110

  Edirne/Adrianople 15, 28–9, 197

  Egypt 10, 22, 72, 102, 184

  Emden (German light cruiser) 64, 65, 66

  Entente Cordiale (1904) 12–13, 67, 70–1, 84

  Enver Pasha, Lieutenant-Colonel 15, 53, 95, 133, 145–6, 150, 178, 186, 187–8, 196; allows Souchon entry to Dardanelles 39; career and character 23, 25, 28–9; expulsion of British naval mission 54–6; orders general mobilisation 30; and domestic unrest 15, 28–9, 206; and Turkish intervention in the war 58–9, 182

  Erenkeui Bay 3–5, 121, 127

  Erin, HMS/Reshadieh (British/Turkish dreadnought) 23–4

  Euryalus, HMS (cruiser) 150, 152

  Falkenhayn, General Erich von 185, 191, 194

  Falkland Islands xii, 73–4, 100, 161

  Fisher, Admiral of the Fleet John Arbuthnot, 1st Baron 15–16, 40, 88, 134; career and character 19–20, 138–40; and Churchill 133, 137, 139–42, 173–5; and Dardanelles Commission 162, 164, 165, 174, 180; on Milne 41–2, 68; and naval-only assault 21–2, 85, 86, 130, 132, 169, 171; orders Sturdee to South America 72–3; plans of attack on Dardanelles 72; resignations xii, 85, 138, 141–4, 173; return to Admiralty xi, 67; role in Dardanelles disaster 180; strategic priorities 82–4; France see also Dardanelles campaign; Gallipoli campaign; alliances 11, 12, 18; army 72, 114, 152, 157; communications with British Mediterranean Fleet 34, 41; declares war on Turkey 60, 70; failure to intercept Goeben and Breslau 32–5; naval presence in Mediterranean xii, 16, 27, 33, 53, 56; transport of Army of Africa (XIX Corps) 32–4, 40–1

  French, General Sir John 21, 72, 81, 84

  Gaba Tepe 111, 146, 152, 153, 159

  Gallipoli campaign and failures xi–xiii, 20, 71, 72, 76, 108, 137, 145–57, 167–8, 185–6; adverse weather 151; ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) 90, 102–4, 110, 114, 116, 148, 151–6, 176, 184; casualty figures 141, 154, 155, 158, 180; evacuation of troops 157–8, 189; French support 145, 148, 151–3, 156; landings 103–4, 151–7; Mustafa Kemal Pasha at 193–4; naval support 134–5, 148, 150–1; planning 81, 82, 90–1, 145, 147–8, 171; Trojan horse 147–8; troop availability 114; Turkish defences 145–7, 156; underwater campaign 158–60

  Gaulois (French battleship) 79, 105, 126, 127

  General, SS (German liner) 31, 37, 38 George V, King 67, 189; and Fisher’s final resignation 143

  Germany xi see also Dardanelles campaign; Imperial German Navy (IGN); alliance with Aust
ria-Hungary 11–12; military mission to Turkey 10, 25–6; navy 4, 12, 13, 20–1, 26, 36–7; prestige in Turkey 28; reaction to Dardanelles bombardment 129–30; and Russian access to Mediterranean 25; secret pact with Turkey (1914) xii, 29–30, 32, 39, 56–8, 181, 206–7; woos Ottoman Empire 11–12, 25–8

  Gloucester, HMS (light cruiser) 41, 53, 74; exchange of shots with Breslau 45, 50; patrols Messina 42–3; shadows

  Goeben 44–5, 50, 53; sights Goeben and Breslau 43

  Goeben, SMS (later Sultan Yavuz Selim German/Turkish battle cruiser) 26–8, 70, 85, 88, 96, 99, 130, 160, 170; ammunition shortages 35; in Black Sea 182; boiler trouble 37, 54; bombardments by 32, 34, 59; damaged in action 59–60, 96–7; escape through Dardanelles 51–2, 66, 68, 71, 77, 172; exercises in Black Sea 58–9; movements in Mediterranean 31–2, 34–9, 44; ordered to Constantinople 30; range and speed of fire 35–6; renamed 52, 53, 55

  Golden Horn 17, 26, 30, 89

  Goltz, Lieutenant-Colonel (later Field-Marshal) Colmar Baron von der 10, 96–7

  Gough-Calthorpe, Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur 197

  Grant, Captain Heathcoat 73, 116

  Great Britain see also Royal Navy; alliances 12, 13, 21; army 21–2, 118, 154, 155, 157–8; British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 61, 66, 72, 81; and coalition Cabinet 142, 143, 201; declares war on Germany 30–1; declares war on Turkey 60, 70; demonstration against Turkey 81–5, 102, 168, 169, 178, 182, 190; relations with Turkey 22–4; response to closure of Dardanelles 57–8; safeguarding oil supply 182–4; War Office 17, 22

  Greece 9, 14, 15, 71, 195–7

  Greene, Sir Graham 145, 167

  Grey, Sir Edward 14, 21, 36, 142, 165, 168

  Guépratte, Rear-Admiral Emile 79, 99, 105, 121, 126–8, 150–1

  Hafiz Nazmi Bey, Birindji-Yuzbashi (Lt-Commander) 1

  Hakki Bey, Yuzbashi (Lieutenant) 1, 4 Halil Pasha 28

  Hall, Admiral Sir Reginald 133

  Hamidieh I 111, 125

  Hamilton, Admiral Sir Frederick 142–3, 145, 177

  Hamilton, General Sir Ian Standish Monteith 118–20, 146, 147, 154; and Dardanelles Commission 177–9; Gallipoli Diary (1920) 13, 118, 190; and naval assault 122, 131; planning for landings 148

  Hankey, Lieutenant-Colonel Maurice 20–2, 72, 82–3, 136, 140, 143, 164, 172

  Hatuse (Japanese battleship) 2

  Haus, Admiral Anton 27–8, 39

  Hayes-Sadler, Captain Arthur 115, 121, 126–7

  Heireddin Barbarossa (Turkish battleship) 159

  Henri IV (French battleship) 130

  Hermes, HMS (seaplane carrier) 65, 66

  Hersing, Lieutenant-Commander 158, 159

  Hindenburg, Field-Marshall Paul von 62

  Hipper, Rear-Admiral Franz von 97–9

  Holbrook, Lieutenant Norman 80, 122

  Hornby, Sir Geoffrey Phipps 19–20

  Humann, Commander Hans 37, 45, 95

  Hunter-Weston, Major-General Aylmer 118, 152

  Ievstafi (Russian battleship) 96

  Imperial German Navy (IGN) xii, 3, 42 see also Breslau, SMS (later Midilli; German/Turkish light cruiser); Germany; Goeben, SMS; High Seas Fleet 12, 16, 26, 63, 97, 137, 142; Mediterranean Division xii, 4, 16, 26–8, 30–1, 44, 51–2, 57–9, xii; threat to North Sea shipping 137; U-boats (submarines) xiii, 57, 62, 64–6, 79, 89, 97, 98, 135, 137, 158–60, 189, 191

  Indefatigable, HMS (battle cruiser) 35–8, 49, 56, 68, 74, 78

  Indomitable, HMS (battle cruiser) 35–8, 49–50, 56, 68, 74, 99

  Inflexible, HMS (battle cruiser) 49–50, 68, 73, 100, 101, 115, 120, 127–8, 138

  Invincible, HMS (battle cruiser) 73, 138

  Iraq 201–2, 204 see also Mesopotamia (modern Iraq)

  Irresistible, HMS (battleship) 106, 109, 123, 126, 127

  Italy 14, 27

  Jackson, Admiral Sir Henry 89, 175; appointed First Sea Lord 144; and naval-only assault 169–70 Javid Bey 28

  Jean Bart (French dreadnought) 97–8 Jellicoe, Admiral John, 1st Earl 64–5, 76, 85, 98–9, 142

  Jemal Pasha 28, 29, 54, 184; names Souchon fleet commander 55; unseats Kemal Pasha 15

  Jevad Pasha, Major-General 129

  Joule (French submarine) 158

  Kars, Treaty of (1921) 188

  Kelly, Captain Howard 43, 45, 50, 53, 74, 79

  Kelly, Captain John 42, 44, 45, 50, 74, 79

  Kemal, Colonel (later General), Mustafa (Atatürk)147, 154, 156, 157, 181, 188, 195, 198–203; subsequent career and death 193–4

  Kemal Pasha, Grand Vizier 14–15

  Kennedy, Captain Francis 36, 49

  Kephez Point 105, 106, 108, 128, 149

  Kettner, Commander 31, 35, 36

  Keyes, Commodore Roger 121, 122, 124, 128; and Dardanelles campaign 114–17, 120, 132; subsequent career 189–90

  Kilid Bahr 111, 151

  Kitchener, Field-Marshal Horatio Herbert, 1st Earl 88, 138, xi; and Dardanelles campaign 170; and demonstration against Turkey 169; and Gallipoli campaign 168; offers 29th Division 90, 104, 113–14, 131–2, 175–7; persuades Fisher not to resign 173; plan for supporting military operation 131–2, 145; and recall of Queen Elizabeth 141; relations with Churchill 176–7; subsequent career and death 190–1; vacillation about sending troops 72, 81, 84, 87, 102, 103, 122, 133–4, 136, 175–6, 179

  Kopp, Georg 38

  Kress von Kressenstein, General Friedrich 90, 184

  Krithia 155

  Kum Kale 76, 100–1, 105–7, 111, 146, 148, 151

  Kut 183–4

  Lapeyrère, Vice-Admiral Augustin Bouè de 27, 171–2; transport of Army of Africa (XIX Corps) 32–4

  Lausanne, Treaty of (1923) 201–2

  Lawrence, Colonel T E 203, 204

  Lemnos 4, 20, 21, 87, 89–90, 102, 104, 109, 119, 122, 146, 195

  Liman von Sanders General (later Field-Marshal) Otto 10, 154, 185, 194; commanding role in Turkish Army 30; and Gallipoli campaign 153; and Ottoman army 55, 146–7; protests against massacre of Armenians 181; subsequent career and death 191; on Suvla landings 156

  Limpus, Rear-Admiral Arthur Henry 10, 54, 162; meeting with Enver Pasha 55; naval adviser to Ottomans 23

  Lloyd George, David 72, 76, 142, 190, 192, 197, 200–1

  London, Treaty of (1913) 14, 15

  London Straits Convention (1841) 19

  Lone Pine, Battle of (1915) 155–6

  Lord Nelson, HMS (battleship) 84, 112–13, 120, 123–4, 125, 160; removed from Dardanelles 137

  Ludendorff, General Erich 182

  Magdeburg (German light cruiser) 66

  Mahmud Sevket Pasha, Grand Vizier 15, 28

  Majestic, HMS (battleship) 105–6, 126–7, 159

  Mallet, Sir Louis 28

  Malta 10, 56, 78

  Manitou, SS (troopship) 148–9

  Maude, Major-General Sir Stanley 158, 183–4

  Maxwell, Lieutenant-General Sir J G 103–4

  Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) 119, 151–5, 158

  Mediterranean Fleet (GB) xii, 10–11, 16, 27, 32, 51, 64, 189; Carden takes over 68; keeps watch on Dardanelles 56; offers help to Lapeyrère 34

  Megiddo (Armageddon) Battle of 185, 191

  Mehmet V, Sultan (Rashid) 14

  Mehmet VI, Sultan 198, 200

  Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) 183–5

  Messina 32, 33, 38–9, 42–3, 49

  Messudieh (Turkish battleship) 80

  Midilli see Breslau, SMS (later Midilli; German/Turkish light cruiser)

  Milne, Admiral Sir Berkeley 27, 45; abandons pursuit of Goeben 50; ambivalent orders from Churchill 39–41; ambivalent orders to Troubridge 42–3; background and career 41–2; links up with Troubridge 51; offers help to Lapeyrère 34, 41; ordered away from Italian waters 42; ordered not to engage a superior force 68; ordered to follow Goeben 50; replaced as Mediterranean Fleet commander 56; and sighting of Goeben and Breslau 43–4, 49

  Montenegro 10, 14

  Mountbatten, Vice-Admiral Lord Louis 190

  Muavenet-i-Millet (Turkish torpedo boat) 159
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  Mudros Bay 4, 87, 108, 115, 116, 120, 122, 124, 131, 135, 146–8, 150–2, 159–60, 197, 210, 212

  Murray, General Sir Archibald 166, 184–5

  Murray, Sir James Wolfe (CIGS) 164–5

  Narrows (Dardanelles) 3, 4, 80, 100, 105, 110–13, 115, 125, 127

  Nasmith, Lieutenant-Commander M.E. 159, 160

  Nelson, Horatio, Admiral Lord 88, 173

  New Zealand see ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps)

  Nicholas, Grand Duke 81–5, 102, 168, 169, 182, 190

  Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia 9, 25

  Novorossiysk 59, 70

  Nusret (Turkish mine-layer) 1–5, 127, 129

  Ocean, HMS (battleship) 115, 121, 123, 126–7

  Odessa 59, 70

  Oliver, Admiral Henry 86–7, 167, 169–70

  Orkanie (Dardanelles) 100–1, 105–6, 111

  Otranto 53

  Ottoman Empire 181 see also Turkey; decline 11, 13, 185; and European expansionism 9–14, 194, 199–200, 203; seeks German protection 12

  Palestine 184–5, 204–6

  Palmer, Lieutenant 149–50

  Paris, Treaty of (1856) 19

  Paris Peace Conference 199–200

  Petropavlovsk (Russian battleship) 2

  Phaeton,HMS (light cruiser) 118–20, 123

  Phillimore, Captain R F 128 Port Said (Suez Canal) 131, 145

  Prince George, HMS (battleship) 123, 125, 127

  Queen Elizabeth, HMS (battleship) 84, 85, 88, 95, 99–100, 105, 110–13, 115, 120, 125, 131, 147, 158, 170; withdrawn to safety 134–5, 137, 141

  Rapallo, Treaty of (1922) 187

  Rawlinson, Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred 200

  Reshadieh/Erin, HMS (Turkish/British dreadnought) 23–4

  Rio de Janeiro/Sultan Osman/Agincourt, HMS (Brazilian/Turkish/British battleship) 23–4

  River Clyde, SS (collier) 147–8, 151, 152, 154

  Robinson, Lieutenant-Commander E G 106, 149

  Romania 10, 15, 54

  Room 40 (naval intelligence) 66, 97–8, 132, 142, 159

  Royal Flying Corps (RFC) 184, 192

  Royal Marines (GB) 101, 104, 110–11, 145, 175–6

  Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) 184, 192

  Royal Naval Division (RND) 62, 89, 90, 114, 118, 119, 122, 152, 176

  Royal Navy 101, 206 see also under name of ship; demonstration against Turkey 81–5, 102, 168, 169; East Mediterranean Squadron 74; Fleet Air Arm 192; Grand Fleet 23–4, 63–4, 66, 84, 85, 97, 98, 134, 137, 139, 189, 191; Harwich Force 63, 66, 98; Mediterranean Expeditionary Force 151–5; Mediterranean Fleet 10–12, 16–19, 27, 32, 34, 51, 53, 56, 64, 68, 189, xii; Naval Intelligence Division (Room 40) 66, 97–8, 133, 142, 159; Northern Patrol (formerly Tenth Cruiser Squadron) 63; South American Squadron 64; strategic advantages 64, 66, 79–86, 88–9; submarines 158–60; Tenth Cruiser Squadron (later Northern Patrol) 63; wireless communications 50–3

 

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