Dardanelles

The Dardanelles is a narrow strait in the northwestern area of Turkey that connects the Aegean Sea with that of the Sea of Marmara. Roughly 38 Miles (61 kilometers) long, it varies in width from 3/4 miles at its narrowest to 4 miles at its widest (1.2 to 6 kilometers). The strait connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea; in addition to this it separates mainland Europe (on the western side of the Gallipoli peninsula) to that of mainland Asia (on the eastern side).

Timeline

The following timeline provides a simple chronological listing of events relating to Dardanelles.

1914

1 October	Closed by the Turks.
3 November	Forts bombarded by the Allies.

1915

19, 20 and 25 February	Outer forts bombarded by warships.
25–26 February	Anglo-French squadron destroys four entrance forts.
2–4 March	After bad weather, bombardment of inner forts and Bulair.
5–7 March	HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Ocean and HMS Agamemnon shell Narrows forts from the Gulf of Saros.
18 March	The big attack fails; HMS Ocean, HMS Irresistible and the French battleship Le Bouvet are sunk by mines; HMS Inflexible and the French battleship Gaulois are damaged.
20–30 April	Expeditionary Force (120,000 men) including six Divisions under Sir Ian Hamilton and a French force under General d'Amade, lands early in April; British submarine exploits.
25–26 April	Landing of forces at Cape Helles and Anzac Cove.^[a]
12 May	HMS Goliath sunk by torpedo destroyer.
26–27 May	HMS Triumph and HMS Majestic torpedoed.
5 June	Optimistic view of the operations taken by Winston Churchill in his speech at Dundee.
19 July	Number of casualties are announced: approx. 8,000 killed, 30,000 wounded and 11,000 missing.
6 August	Suvla Bay landing takes place.
16 August	Large number of reinforcements are refused.
2 September	Four Turkish transports are sunk by British submarines.
16 October	Sir Ian Hamilton is relieved by Sir Charles Monro.
Withdrawal is being considered during the autumn. The decision to evacuate is made in November.
18–20 December	Evacuation of Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove successful.

Notes

↑ See Gallipoli for events pertaining to land fighting.

Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Index.

Text has been transcribed from two out-of-copyright sources: Chronology of the War (1918-1920), and History of the Great War – Principle Events 1914-1918 (1922). Spelling of place names are original to British use at the time. Some typos have been altered or corrected for consistency. Duplicate or identical events between these sources have been amalgamated; as a result the date and wording may differ to the original texts.
Images come from scans or photographs of original sources, Wikimedia Commons, and the Imperial War Museum's online collections under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence. Attribution is given separately to the latter and do not come under the general licence of this site.
Advisory note: The information in these sources may not accurately represent up-to-date histories, present-day spelling of place names, or geographical boundaries. In some instances the language used may appear sexist or derogatory to the modern reader, and in rare cases, images may depict distressing scenes.
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[1] See Gallipoli for events pertaining to land fighting.

[a]