Around one o'clock in the afternoon, the Allies Fleet launched an attack.
The fleet, consisting of ten battleships and over thirty destroyers for minesweeping, majestically sailed into Saros Bay under the terrified gazes of the Ottomans. They anchored amidst the water columns raised by enemy artillery to prepare for bombardment.
At first, the bombing was sparse, with only a few shots fired each minute, while a few seaplanes flew overhead to adjust the shots.
The warships were test-firing, as hitting a target on the swaying sea was exceedingly difficult; the test shots helped correct the aim so that the subsequent artillery of the same caliber and type could fire at the target with more accuracy.
After about ten minutes, the artillery roared continuously, turning point "A" west of the defensive line into a sea of flames.
However, Shire and the soldiers did not dare to peek out because their defensive line, like all others, was bound to get hit by artillery shells.
