On this day 17 February 1915

On this day 17 February 1915 Sea-plane carrier HMS Ark Royal arrives off Gallipoli

The British Government was deeply concerned about the part Turkey was taking in the war in support of Germany, with which it had signed a treaty on 2 August 1914. On 13 January 1915 the Admiralty was directed to "prepare for a naval expedition in February to bombard and take Gallipoli Peninsula, with Constantinople as its objective"

The British fleet included the world's first true aircraft-carrier, HMS ARK ROYAL. ARK ROYAL had been commissioned for service as a seaplane-carrier by Commander R.H. Clark-Hall on 9 December 1914, and arrived at the Greek island of Tenedos, in the Aegean Sea, on 17 February 1915. The aircraft aboard included three Sopwith 807 Folder Seaplanes, Nos 807, 808 and 922, two Wight Pusher Seaplanes, Nos 172-173, the Short Folder Seaplane, No 136, and four crated Sopwith Schneider seaplanes. The Royal Naval bombardment began on 19 February with some 12 battleships, augmented by four French battleships.