24. The following month, on 5–6 December, and provided protection for troop transports, and on 10 December, bombarded Batum. On 23 December, and the protected cruiser escorted three transports to Trebizond. While returning from another transport escort operation on 26 December, struck a mine that exploded beneath the conning tower, on the starboard side, about one nautical mile outside the Bosphorus. The explosion tore a hole in the ship's hull, but the torpedo bulkhead held. Two minutes later, struck a second mine on the port side, just forward of the main battery wing barbette; this tore open a hole. The bulkhead bowed in but retained watertight protection of the ship's interior. However, some 600 tons of water flooded the ship. There was no dock in the Ottoman Empire large enough to service , so temporary repairs were effected inside steel cofferdams, which were pumped out to create a dry work area around the damaged hull. The holes were patched with concrete, which held for several years before more permanent work was necessary. 1915 Still damaged, sortied from the Bosphorus on 28 January and again on 7 February 1915 to help escape the Russian fleet; she also covered the return of . then underwent repair work to the mine damage until May. On 1 April, with repairs incomplete, left the Bosphorus in company with to cover the withdrawal of and the protected cruiser , which had been sent to bombard Odessa. Strong currents, however, forced the cruisers east to the approaches of the Dnieper-Bug Liman (bay) that led to Nikolayev. As they sailed west after a course correction, struck a mine and sank, so this attack had to be aborted. After and appeared off Sevastopol and sank two cargo steamers, the Russian fleet chased them all day, and detached several destroyers after dusk to attempt a torpedo attack. Only one destroyer, , was able to close the distance and launch an attack, which missed. and returned to the Bosphorus unharmed. On 25 April, the same day the Allies landed at Gallipoli, Russian naval forces arrived off the Bosphorus and bombarded the forts guarding the strait. Two days later headed south to the Dardanelles to bombard Allied troops at Gallipoli, accompanied by the pre-dreadnought battleship . They were spotted at dawn from a kite balloon as they were getting into position. When the first round from the dreadnought landed close by, moved