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Besides this, British strategists had for many years before
the war believed that the best defence of Egypt and the
Suez Canal was an attack on Turkey.
The British Royal Navy could have gone a long way towards
achieving these goals by steaming through the Dardanelles
straits in November 1914 and shelling Constantinople (now
Istanbul) and perhaps putting the government to flight.
Instead, they cautiously tested the range of the Turkish
guns by bombarding the shore batteries.
The Turkish commanders immediately became aware of their
vulnerability to further attacks and strengthened their
defences to include carefully laid minefields, well-sited
guns and searchlights that swept the narrows at night.
Three months later, a British and French fleet that included
18 battleships, attempted to force its way through to Constantinople.
Three capital ships were lost and three crippled.
Unknown to the Allies, the Turkish gun batteries had almost
exhausted their ammunition supplies in this effort, and
the fleet could have sailed on through the straits with
little further damage. Instead, the naval commanders came
to the conclusion that they could not force their way through
the Dardanelles unless troops were first sent to occupy
the Gallipoli Peninsula in force to silence the Turkish
guns. Planning for the landing of troops on Gallipoli commenced.
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