TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Naval battle · 1807
The Dardanelles operation was a failed assault in 1807 by the 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 Ottoman Turkey'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.
| Date | 19 February – 3 March 1807 |
|---|---|
| Location | Dardanelles |
| Result | Ottoman victory |
| Belligerents | United Kingdom | Ottoman Empire |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | John Duckworth Sidney Smith | Selim III |
| Strength | 8 ships of the line 2 frigates 2 bomb vessels | 1 ship of the line 4 frigates 4 corvettes 2 brigs 2 gunboats forts and shore batteries |
| Casualties | 42 killed 235 wounded 4 missing 6 ships of the line and 1 frigate damaged | 4 frigates and 1 redoubt destroyed 11 men, 1 corvette, 1 gunboat, 1 boat, and 2 guns captured |
Duckworth sailed off Constantinople for a week and a half, hoping the Ottoman fleet would come out and fight, but it did not. Releasing the sloop on 2 March, he returned through the Dardanelles to Tenedos on 3 March. On the way, the fortifications again fired on the British, who lost 29 killed and 138 wounded. At Tenedos he was met by Seniavin, who had left Corfu on 22 February. He did not make a second attempt on the Dardanelles—a decision that earned him criticism, but was probably reasonable considering the powerful shore batteries. An attempt to capture the Ottoman fleet would have probably failed and resulted in much higher British casualties.
Took place during the reign of Selim III (1789–1807). Selim III
Open the reign of Selim III on the mapText: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), adapted for the atlas.