Dardanelles operation

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Dardanelles operation
Part of the Anglo-Turkish War
Duckworth's squadron forces the Dardanelles, 19 February 1807, by Thomas Whitcombe
Date 19 February 1807 Location Dardanelles Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Ottoman Empire Supported by:  France
Commanders and leaders
John Thomas Duckworth Sidney Smith	Sultan Selim III Horace Sebastiani
Strength
8 ships of the line, 2 frigates, 2 bomb ships, 1 transport	14 ships of the line, 9 frigates, a dozen brigs and gunboats, several hundred Ottoman siege cannons, and some modern bronze pieces
Casualties and losses
42 killed, 235 wounded, and 4 missing[1]	Unknown

The Dardanelles operation was a failed assault in 1807 by the British Royal Navy against the coastal fortifications of Constantinople. The operation was part of the Anglo-Turkish War.

In 1806, the French envoy Sebastiani had been dispatched to Constantinople with orders to bring about the Ottoman Empire's re-entry into the Napoleonic Wars. Sultan Selim III set about preparations for war with Russia after positively receiving Sebastiani. The Russian emperor, Alexander I, was alarmed by these developments as he had already deployed a significant force to Poland and East Prussia to fight the advancing French forces under Emperor Napoleon I. Alexander requested British assistance in keeping the Ottomans out of the war.

The British army was far too small and inadequate for the request, so it naturally fell to the powerful Royal Navy to meet the demands of Alexander. The ships immediately available for the task were HMS Canopus, HMS Standard, HMS Thunderer, HMS Glatton, and the two bomb ships HMS Lucifer and HMS Meteor,^[2] under the command of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, commander-in-chief of the British Mediterranean Fleet, sailed for the Dardanelles and made preparations for the upcoming assault.

In the meantime, the British ambassador to Constantinople, Arbuthnot, demanded that the Ottoman government evict Sebastiani, and added that should the Ottomans rejects the ultimatum, the Mediterranean fleet would attack.

The actual force that had been chosen by Collingwood to carry out the operation was small, only eight ships-of-the-line and four frigates. In addition, four Russian ships-of-the-line under Admiral Dmitry Senyavin were sent to support the British, but did not join Duckworth until after the exit from Dardanelles was made. Admiral Duckworth, who commanded the British, was under orders to bombard Constantinople and capture the Ottoman fleet.