Next day there was bad weather, which continued for a week, and the attack could not be resumed until the 25th. The _Queen Elizabeth_, _Agamemnon_, _Irresistible_, and _Gaulois_ pounded the forts at such a long range that the guns on shore could not reach them. At the end of an hour and a half the _Queen Elizabeth_ had silenced the forts at Cape Helles, but not before the _Agamemnon_ had been struck by a shell which killed eight men and wounded five others. Under the protection of the super-Dreadnought's fire, the _Vengeance_ and _Cornwallis_ now steamed in to complete the destruction of the forts. Meanwhile the _Irresistible_ and the _Gaulois_ had severely hammered the Kum Kale batteries and the _Suffren_ and _Charlemagne_ were told off to put the finishing touches to the work of their bigger sisters. By 5.15 that evening all the forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles were rubbish heaps. The Turkish gunners had fought pluckily for seven hours against overwhelming odds, and their defeat brought them no discredit. So far, the naval attack had been quite successful.
When the ships ceased fire North Sea trawlers began the business of mine-sweeping. As you know, it is dangerous and difficult work; but it was admirably done, and by the morning of the 26th the first four miles of the straits were clear of mines, and all was ready for an attack on the inner forts. The _Albion_, _Vengeance_, and _Majestic_ now steamed up the straits to the limit of the mine-swept waters, and began to bombard Fort Dardanos, on the Asiatic side. The fort replied, as also did certain concealed batteries at various points along the shore. Once more the aim of the Turkish gunners was uncertain, and the ships suffered no damage. The guns of the ships dispersed several bodies of troops behind the forts.
Meanwhile landing-parties of Royal Marines were sent ashore to blow up the forts which had been silenced on the previous day. Everywhere, except at Kum Kale, this was successfully done. The parties which landed on the Asiatic side were stubbornly resisted. They fought a hot little fight with the Turks, and had to fall back to their boats with a few casualties. Next day the Turks falsely announced that they had everywhere beaten off our landing-parties with heavy loss.