A serious attack on the Dardanelles needed purpose-modified ships for breaching the mine barriers. Explosive vessels could detonate among the mines, while sacrificial pre-dreadnoughts could receive bulges and sealed forward spaces before forcing a passage. Either approach required preparation for losses. Repeated advance and withdrawal instead warned the defenders while withholding the means needed to finish the operation. The blunder lay in committing a major force to a difficult mission without preparing that force for the obstacle at its center.
Chapter · 1:41:39-1:43:31
Dardanelles fails through warning and half-measures
The naval attack on the Dardanelles commits major force without the preparation needed to force defended minefields after warning the opponent.