*Upon your order, the Allied fleet first destroyed the Kumkale and Seddülbahir forts at the entrance to the Strait by shelling them from a distance. The Turkish army, with its outdated cannons that lacked sufficient range, could not offer much resistance at this stage and retreated to the interior lines (the Çanakkale-Kilitbahir line, the narrowest point of the Strait). The British tried to send mine-sweepers into the Strait at night, but they were unable to clear the mines due to the intense fire from Turkish searchlights and mobile artillery batteries along the coast. Admiral De Robeck