The transports conveying the covering force arrived off Tenedos on
the morning of the 24th, and during the afternoon the troops were
transferred to the warships and fleet-sweepers in which they were to
approach the shore. About midnight these ships, each towing a number
of cutters and other small boats, silently slipped their cables and,
escorted by the 3rd Squadron of the Fleet, steamed slowly towards
their final rendezvous at Cape Helles. The rendezvous was reached just
before dawn on the 25th. The morning was absolutely still; there was
no sign of life on the shore; a thin veil of mist hung motionless over
the promontory; the surface of the sea was as smooth as glass. The
four battleships and four cruisers which formed the 3rd Squadron at
once took up the positions that had been allotted to them, and at 5
a.m., it being then light enough to fire, a violent bombardment of the
enemy's defences was begun. Meanwhile the troops were being rapidly
transferred to the small boats in which they were to be towed ashore.
Not a move on the part of the enemy; except for shells thrown from the
Asiatic side of the Straits the guns of the Fleet remained unanswered.