An Unsuited System

The ill-fated attempt during the First World War to force the Dardanelles Straits by naval vessels alone began on 18 March 1915. By April, it had become painfully obvious to the War Council in London that the operation could not succeed. Exasperated, First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher wrote to Churchill at the Admiralty on the 5th to voice his concerns directly, exclaiming, “You are just simply eaten up with the Dardanelles and can’t think of anything else!