On 20 January 1918, "Yavuz" and "Midilli" left the Dardanelles under the command of Vice Admiral Rebeur-Paschwitz, who had replaced Souchon the previous September. Rebeur-Paschwitz's intention was to draw Allied naval forces away from Palestine in support of Turkish forces there. Outside the straits, in the course of what became known as the Battle of Imbros, "Yavuz" surprised and sank the monitors and which were at anchor and unsupported by the pre-dreadnoughts that should have been guarding them. Rebeur-Paschwitz then decided to proceed to the port of Mudros; there the British pre-dreadnought battleship was raising steam to attack the Turkish ships. While en route, "Midilli" struck several mines and sank; "Yavuz" hit three mines as well. Retreating to the Dardanelles and pursued by the British destroyers and , she was intentionally beached near Nagara Point just outside the Dardanelles. The British attacked "Yavuz" with bombers from No. 2 Wing of the Royal Naval Air Service while she was grounded and hit her twice, but the bombs from the light aircraft were not heavy enough to do any serious damage. The monitor attempted to shell "Yavuz" on the evening of 24 January, but only managed to fire ten rounds before withdrawing to escape the Turkish artillery fire. The submarine was sent to destroy the damaged ship, but was too late; the old ex-German pre-dreadnought "Turgut Reis" had towed "Yavuz" off and returned her to the safety of Constantinople. "Yavuz" was crippled by the extensive damage; cofferdams were again built around the hull, and repairs lasted from 7 August to 19 October.