 They were also tasked with patrolling for contraband that was being shipped into the Ottoman Empire either by the port of Smyrna or Dedeağaç, Bulgaria.The British and French were concerned with maintaining naval strength elsewhere, and so "Vérité" left the Dardanelles Division on 18 December.Following the evacuation of forces from the Gallipoli campaign in early 1916, the French began gathering forces in the Aegean Sea to put pressure on the Greek government, which had remained neutral in the war.