The failure of the allied naval Dardanelles campaign explained

Abstract

In November 1914, Britain went to war against the Ottoman Empire. Shortly thereafter, the British Navy attacked Turkish forts in the Dardanelles with the objectives of forcing the Straits, attacking and conquering Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war early. The month-long purely naval attack, however, proved unsuccessful, as the British Navy was never able to silence the forts and force the Straits. Instead, the British aborted their purely naval campaign, opting instead for a land invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula that also failed. This paper documents the multiple strategic, operational and tactical errors made by the British during their naval Dardanelles campaign, concluding that tactical errors loomed large in the campaign's failure.