A sensible underlying idea was weakened by the gap between planning and execution. The proposed alternative would land troops while the fleet forced a route through the obstruction, keeping the land and naval parts of the assault together. Selected pre-dreadnoughts would have sealed, cork-filled forward sections and minimal crews so they could lead the way through mines while retaining as much buoyancy as possible. The feasibility of those details remains uncertain, but separating the naval and land stages can expose weakness and invite hesitation after losses.
Notable Point · 2:31:09-2:32:21
A combined landing and mine-clearance concept
The video sketches an alternative assault sequence that combines troop landings with specially prepared pre-dreadnoughts clearing a mined approach.