The proposal adds buoyant material to sealed forward compartments and surrounds obsolete hulls with substantial anti-torpedo bulges. These ships would lead the advance through the minefield, accepting possible loss so long as their reduced crews could escape. They might have cleared a route to Constantinople when the historical fleet came close to forcing the straits. Success could have changed the Middle Eastern and Russian dimensions of the war without necessarily changing its final outcome.
Notable Point · 24:19-26:46
Could modified old warships have forced the Dardanelles?
A Gallipoli counterfactual proposes heavily bulged older cruisers and pre-dreadnoughts as expendable ships for breaking through the Dardanelles minefields.