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Order Of Battle - The Navy

The Royal Navy Order of Battle - This list shows the order of battle for naval operations between February 19th to April 25th, 1915.

The Royal Navy at The Dardanelles

from Naval Operations, Vol. II, chapter IX, page 144

(February 19^th, 1915 - the bombardment of the entrance forts)

FIRST DIVISION

Inflexible

Agamemnon

Queen Elizabeth

SECOND DIVISION

Vengeance

Albion

Cornwallis

Irresistible

Triumph

THIRD DIVISION

Suffren

Bouvet

Charlemagne

Gaulois

from Naval Operations, Vol. II, chapter X, page 170

(March 2^nd, 1915 – the attack on Fort Dardanos and in the Gulf of Xeros)

DIVISION I

1^st Sub-Division

Queen Elizabeth – Captain G. P. W. Hope

Inflexible (flag) – Captain R. F. Phillimore

2^nd Sub-Division

Agamemnon – Captain H. A. S. Fyler

Lord Nelson – Captain J. W. L. McClintock

DIVISION II

Vengeance, Div. Flagship – Captain Bertram H. Smith

3^rd Sub-Division

Ocean – Captain A. Hayes-Sadler

Irresistible – Captain D. L. Dent

Majestic – Captain H. F. G. Talbot

4^th Sub-Division

Canopus – Captain Heathcoat S. Grant

Cornwallis – Captain A. P. Davidson

Swiftsure – Captain C. Maxwell-Lefroy

5^th Sub-Division

Albion – Captain A. W. Heneage

Triumph – Captain M. S. FitzMaurice

Prince George – Captain A.V. Campbell

DIVISION III

Suffren (flag) - Admiral Guépratte

Bouvet – Captain Rageot de la Touche

Gaulois – Captain Biard

Charlemagne – Captain Lagrésille

There were also four light cruisers:-

Dublin – Captain John D. Kelly

Sapphire – Captain P. W. E. Hill

Minerva – Captain P. H. Warleigh

Amethyst – Commander G. J. Todd

from Naval Operations, Vol. II, chapter XIII, page 213,

(March 18-24, 1915 – the attack on The Narrows)

FIRST DIVISION

1^st Sub-Division

Queen Elizabeth (Admiral de Robeck)

Inflexible

2^nd Sub-Division

Agamemnon

Lord Nelson

SECOND DIVISION

3^rd Sub-Division

Ocean (Captain Hayes-Sadler)

Irresistible

Albion

Vengeance

4^th Sub-Division

Swiftsure

Majestic

5^th Sub-Division

Canopus

Cornwallis

THIRD DIVISION (Admiral Guépratte)

6^th Sub-Division

Sufren

Bouvet

Gaulois

Charlemagne

7^th Sub-Division

Triumph

Prince George

from Naval Operations, Vol. II, chapter XVI, page310,

(April 19, 1915 – in preparation for the landings)

Fleet Flagship: Queen Elizabeth

Commanding: Vice-Admiral (Act.) John M. de Robeck

Chief of Staff: Commodore Roger J. B. Keyes

Captain G. P. W. Hope

FIRST SQUADRON

Rear-Admiral Rosslyn E. Wemyss

2^nd in command: Rear-Admiral Stuart Nicholson

Battleships:

Swiftsure (2^nd flag) – Captain C. Maxwell-Lefroy

Albion – A. W. Heneage (Captain 'S'), Acting Captain, Commander H. L. Watts-Jones

Lord Nelson – Captain J. W. L. McClintock

Implacable – Captain H. C. Lockyer

Vengeance – Captain B. H. Smith

Prince George – Captain A. V. Campbell (attached to Rear-Admiral Guépratte's squadron

for the landing operations of April 25^th)

Goliath – Captain T. L. Shelford

Cornwallis – Captain A. P. Davidson

Cruisers:

Minerva – Captain P. H. Warleigh

Euryalus (flag) – Captain R. M. Burmester

Talbot – Captain Fawcet Wray

Dublin – Captain J. D. Kelly

Six fleet-sweepers

SECOND SQUADRON

Rear-Admiral Cecil F. Thursby

Battleships:

Queen (flag) – Captain H. A. Adam

London – Captain J. G. Armstrong

Prince of Wales – Captain R. N. Bax

Triumph – Captain M. S. FitzMaurice

Majestic – Captain H. F. G. Talbot

Cruiser:

Bacchante – Captain The Hon. A. D. E. H. Boyle

Adamant, submarine depot ship – Commander F. A. Somerville

Ark Royal, seaplane carrier – Commander R. H. Clark-Hall

Manica, balloon ship – Lieutenant D. H. Metcalfe

Eight destroyers – Captain C. P. R. Coode (Captain 'D')

Four trawlers

THIRD SQUADRON

Captain Heathcoat S. Grant

Battleship:

Canopus – Captain Heathcoat S. Grant

Cruisers:

Dartmouth – Captain Judge d'Arcy

Doris – Captain F. Larken

Two destroyers

Two trawlers

FOURTH SQUADRON

(Attached to First Squadron)

Cruisers:

Sapphire – Commander P. W. E. Hill

Amethyst – Commander G. J. Todd

Twelve trawlers

FIFTH SQUADRON

Captains H. A. S. Fyler and A. W. Heneage (Captain 'S')

Battleship:

Agamemnon – Captain H. A. S. Fyler

Ten destroyers

Three French minesweepers

Two trawlers for net-laying

SIXTH SQUADRON

Rear-Admiral P. F. A. H. Guépratte

Battleships:

Jauréguiberry (flag) – Captain A. R. Beaussant

Henri IV – Captain G. F. C. Varney

Charlemagne - Captain J. A. E. Salaun (did not take part in operations of April 25^th)

Cruisers:

Latouche-Tréville – Captain C. H. Dumesnil (did not take part in operations of April 25^th)

Jean D'Arc – Captain M. F. A. Grasset

Askold – Captain S. Ivanov

Savoie – Captain Tourrette

Seven destroyers

Five torpedo boats

SEVENTH SQUADRON (Smyrna blockade)

Captain C. P. Metcalf

Four destroyers

Triad, armed yacht – Commander A. L. Ashby

On This Day...

Monday, 17 May 1915

GALLIPOLI - Flight Commander Reginald Marix and his observer Charles Samson were involved in an interesting mission on 17 May 1915. That morning Marix....

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GALLIPOLI - Flight Commander Reginald Marix and his observer Charles Samson were involved in an interesting mission on 17 May 1915. That morning Marix had noticed an unusual degree of activity at the port sighting four transports and several smaller craft visibly unloading stores and troops at the small port of Ak Bashi Liman.

Aerial Samson
Photograph: Taken by Squadron Commander Charles Samson on 17 May.

He also saw a large camp filled with soldiers further inland. He returned in the afternoon with Samson as his observer. They took the opportunity to try out a new aircraft as Samson would later recall.

"On May 17th Marix had his big Breguet ready for action. As our principle objective with this aeroplane was an attack on Constantinople, we had to test it out well before allowing the attempt to be made, so in order to see what it could do I made one of my infrequent trips as passenger. We carried no less than one 100-lb and fourteen 20-lb bombs, and also a Lewis gun, a pretty formidable amount for those days. Off we set with the idea of giving Ak Bashi Liman a look-over. Arriving there, we found the place a scene of great activity. We let go all our bombs and created complete panic, and also did a lot of damage. I have since talked with Turks who were actually on the spot at the time, and they all said that we put a complete stop to work for two days, as the labourers fled to the hills. The loss of life was severe, thirteen killed and forty-four wounded. Marix and I came back delighted with the Breguet; but rather doubtful if the engine was reliable enough as it was missing fire most of the time." (Squadron Commander Charles Samson, No. 3 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service)

The two then carried out a more detailed reconnaissance and when their reports reached the GHQ it was concluded that a new Turkish division (it was the 2nd Division) was in transit and would be launching an attack on Anzac in the near future. Warnings reached the trenches on 18 May and as a ressult the Turks would be slaughtered when they launched mass attacks on the early morning of 19 May.