Dardanelles Operation The Dardanelles Operation was the Royal Navy ' s unsuccessful attempt to impose British demands on the Ottoman Empire as part of the Anglo - Turkish War ( 1807 - 1809 ) . In 1806 , the French envoy Sebastiani had been dispatched to Constantinople with orders to bring about Turkey ' s re - entry into the war . 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 Turkey out of the war . The British army was far too small and inadequate to impose the will of the Coalition on the Ottomans , so it naturally fell to the powerful Royal Navy to meet Russia ' s requests . The ships immediately available for the task were HMS " Canopus " , HMS " Standard " , HMS " Thunderer " , HMS " Glatton " , and the two bomb ship s HMS " Lucifer " and HMS " Meteor " , 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 resist 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 seize the Turkish battle fleet . Background . In anticipation of a war between Russia and Turkey , Britain had sent Sir Thomas Louis from Cadiz on 2 November 1806 into the Mediterranean Sea . He reached Tenedos , near the Dardanelles Strait , on 21 November , made a brief trip to Constantinople and returned to the Straits . Turkey had declared war on Russia on 30 December 1806 , and Britain sent Admiral Sir John Duckworth in " Royal George " 100 from Cadiz on 15 January 1807 into the Mediterranean Sea . Picking up " Windsor Castle " 98 guns and " Repulse " 74 guns from Gibraltar and " Pompée " 74 and " Ajax " 74 from Malta as replacements for the Russian fleet under Seniavin , which was still in the Adriatic , Duckworth proceeded to Tenedos . Despite the British ultimatum , on December 27 Selim declared war on Russia . On 29 January 1807 , the frigate " Endymion " of 40 guns left Constantinople , evacuating the British ambassador and all British residents . A formal declaration of war had not yet been sent by London and the two powers were still technically allied . On February 10 , Duckworth ' s fleet concentrated at the mouth of the Dardanelles . It met Louis ' s ships and returned to Tenedos on 1 February , where Duckworth ' s ships met up . Still not technically at war , the Turkish delayed Duckworth with token negotiations . The presence of British and Russian vessels at the mouth of the Dardanelles caused Sebastiani and his French engineering officers to begin the improvement of the Turkish shore batteries . The battle . On 11 February , the fleet , with Duckworth in command , left Tenedos , but for a week could not enter the Straits because of lack of wind . " Ajax " caught fire on 14 February , ran aground on Tenedos , and blew up on 15 February . Finally , on 19 February the ships sailed up the Dardanelles , where they were fired on by the forts at the entrance ( fire was returned by the bombs ) , then the castles further up ( fire was returned by the fleet ) . However , the absence of significant numbers of Turkish troops , owing to the end of Ramadan , meant the batteries were ineffective and the fleet quickly reached the Sea of Marmara . Just above the castles lay a 64 - gun ship , frigates of 40 , 36 , 36 , and 32 guns , sloops of 22 , 18 , 10 and 10 guns , 2 brigs and 2 gunboats . As the British fleet approached , one of the brigs left and sailed further up for Constantinople . After " Royal George " passed , anchoring some 3 miles further up , " Pompée " , " Thunderer " , " Standard " , " Endymion " and " Active " attacked the Turkish vessels and a new fortification being built nearby . 1 sloop and 1 gunboat were captured and others forced ashore and destroyed by British boats . Duckworth then ordered marines under Edward Nicolls to land and seize the shore batteries , and as the Turkish gunners tried to flee from an island they called Brota , the Royal Marines captured two guns . At 5pm the fleet sailed for Constantinople , leaving " Active " behind to finish up . British casualties in this action were 10 killed and 77 wounded . After suffering extensive damage , Duckworth withdrew without ever attempting a bombardment of Constantinople . One of the guns deployed by the Turks against the British Fleet was an ancient 18 . 6 ton cast bronze piece with 63 cm diameter stones used for projectiles , known as the Dardanelles Gun . The piece had last seen service about 350 years prior during the Siege of Constantinople in 1453 and now resides in Fort Nelson . Aftermath . Duckworth sailed off Constantinople for a week and a half , hoping the Turkish fleet would come out and fight , but it did not , so , releasing the sloop on 2 March , he returned through the Dardanelles to Tenedos on 3 March . On the way , he was attacked again by the fortifications , losing 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 seize the Turkish fleet would have probably failed and resulted in much higher British casualties . The entire operation was a failure , resulting in heavy losses of 42 killed , 235 wounded , and 4 missing . Long after France and Russia had made peace and Senyavin had defeated the Turkish fleet at Dardanelles on 10 – 11 May 1807 , the Ottomans would remain at war with their northern neighbour , draining a significant portion of the Russian army , which also became involved in operations against Sweden in the Finnish War and later in the resumption of hostilities against France in 1812 . Fleet . The Royal Navy fleet included : Vanguard Division commanded by Rear - Admiral Sir Thomas Louis Main Division commanded by Vice - Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth Rear Division commanded by Rear - Admiral Sir Sidney Smith