In January 1915, the British and French navies began to draw ships to the eastern Mediterranean to begin operations against the Ottoman Empire, including several ships from the 5th Battle Squadron. By the end of the month, only "London", the battleships , , and , and the light cruisers and were at Portland. In March 1915, as the British and French fleets waging the Dardanelles campaign were preparing to launch a major attack on 18 March, the overall commander, Admiral Sackville Carden, requested two more battleships of the 5th Squadron, "Implacable" and "Queen", to be transferred to his command in the expectation of losses in the coming operation. By the time they arrived, the British had lost two battleships in the 18 March attack, prompting the Admiralty to finally disband 5th Squadron and send "London" and "Prince of Wales" to join the fleet. Before they departed, they were modified slightly for operations off the Dardanelles, including the installation of a pair of 3-pounder anti-aircraft guns on their quarterdecks and the re-installation of anti-torpedo nets.