Rear-Admiral Sir John de Robeck, second in command, was next day appointed his successor. He was five years younger, was, of course, fully cognizant of the plans, and expressed his entire approval of them. Yet it appears from his evidence that though strongly urged by Mr. Churchill to act on “his independent and separate judgment,” and not to hesitate to state objections, his real motive in carrying on the pre-arranged scheme was not so much his confidence in success as his fear lest a withdrawal might injure our prestige in the Near East; and, secondly, his desire to make the best he could of an idea which he regarded as an order. “The order was to carry out a certain operation,” he said, “or try to do it, and we had to do the best we could.” If the ships got through, he, like many others, expected a revolution or other political change in Turkey. Otherwise, he saw that transports could not come up, and that the ships could not remain in the Sea of Marmora for more than a fortnight or three weeks, but would have to run the gauntlet coming down again, just as Admiral Duckworth did in 1807.[72] In his telegram accepting the command, however, he made no mention of these considerations, but only said that success depended upon clearing the mine-fields after silencing the forts. Indeed, he had small time for any considerations. For on the very first day after receiving his command (March 18) he undertook the main attempt to force the Narrows. The weather was favourable--no mist and little wind. The scheme was to attack in three squadrons successively. The first blow was given by the four most powerful ships--_Queen Elizabeth_, _Inflexible_, _Lord Nelson_, and _Agamemnon_--which poured heavy shell at long range into the forts at Chanak and Kilid Bahr, while the _Triumph_ and _Prince George_ bombarded Fort Dardanus on the Asiatic coast, and Fort Soghandere, opposite to it upon the Peninsula. This bombardment lasted from about 11 a.m. till 12.30 p.m., and all six ships found themselves exposed to heavy fire from the forts, and from hidden howitzers and field-guns in varied positions upon both shores. At about 12.30 the second squadron, consisting of the four French ships, came up into action, advancing beyond the former line in the direction of Kephez Point. Though suffering considerably (chiefly owing to their inability to manœuvre in such narrow waters, thus presenting very visible and almost fixed targets to the enemy’s guns), the ten ships maintained the bombardment for about an hour (till nearly 1.30). The enemy’s forts then fell silent, and it was hoped that many of them, at all events, had been destroyed. [Sidenote: THE MAIN NAVAL ACTION]