For this mission, the fleet put together a carrier battle group, designated "1st maneuver group", consisting of battleship Imperatritsa Mariya, cruiser Kagul (ex-Ochakov), two destroyers (Zavetnyy and Zavidnyy), and two seaplane tenders - Imperator Nikolai I and Imperator Alexandr I, each with seven Grigorovich M-5 seaplanes[2] on board.

[3] On February 6, at 10:20, the battle group stopped 15 miles (24 km) off Zonguldak, and started lowering seaplanes on the sea.

The remaining eleven planes managed to reach the city, but due to heavy overcast and Turkish anti-aircraft fire could not drop their load with precision.

However, one pilot managed to hit a German cargo ship, SS Irmingard, that was moored in the port, and sink it.

[4] Planes started returning to the battle group by 11:20, during which Imperator Alexandr I was torpedoed by German submarine SM UB-7.