World War I naval ships of Turkey

The main goal of the Turkish Navy in 1915 was to maintain a fleet that could contest with the Greek Navy. The reason for this was that the two countries had been having bad relations before the War had started.

The Turkish were further annoyed when the British failed to deliver two dreadnoughts, two scout cruisers and four destroyers that had been ordered by them. Also, as both of the ordered dreadnoughts had in fact been completed, this contributed to Turkey joining the German and Austro-Hungarian side in the Great War.

Despite these drawbacks, the Turkish Navy saw much action against the Russian, British, and French fleets in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara. The main Turkish Navy operation in the World War I was the Gallipoli Campaign.

The ships of the Turkish Navy in the World War I

Dreadnoughts

The two dreadnoughts, "Residaye" and "Sultan Osman I" that had been ordered by Turkey, were never handed over to them despite the fact that they had both been completed in Britain. Prior to this occurrence, "Sultan Osman I" had been constructed by Armstrong Whitworth for the Brazilian Navy in 1911 under the name "Rio de Jineiro" due to naval rivalries with Argentina. These were eventually resolved in 1913. After the conflict Brazil turned down it's order, but the Armstrong Whitworth company did not scrap the ship as it could be sold to other potential costumers, among them Turkey. [cite web|url=http://www.canakkale.gen.tr/eng/closer/closer5.html|title=Requisitioned Dreadnoughts: Sultan Osman I and Residaye] In August 1915, they were both transferred to the Royal Navy. They were renamed in the British Fleet as HMS "Erin" and HMS "Agincourt".

Battle cruisers

The German battle cruiser SMS "Goeben" ( _tr. TCG Yavuz Sultan Selim) was transferred to the Turkish Navy in November 1914. She was involved from 29 October 1914 till the end of the War bombarding Russian ports on the Black Sea coast. During the Great War, she was still largely manned and commanded by the German Navy. She was renamed "Yavuz" in 1936, refitted twice soon after this in 1938 and 1941 and salvaged in 1971.

Pre-dreadnought battleships

The two pre-dreadnought battleships, "Hayreddin Barbarossa" and "Turgut Reis", both played a major part in the defense of The Dardanelles during the Gallipoli Campaign. "Hayreddin Barbarossa" was sunk by the British submarine HMS "E11" whilst on patrol with two destroyers.

Coastal defense ships

"Mesudiye", the Turkish Navy’s only coastal defense ship, was torpedoed by the British submarine "HMS B11", commanded by Lt Norman Holbrook, on 13 December, 1914 off Chanak in the Dardanelles. When the submarine got back to base, Holbrook was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Protected cruisers

Turkey’s two protected cruisers, "Hamadiye" and "Medjidiye" were both two of Turkey’s older-design ships. "Medjidiye" was sunk in the Black Sea off Odessa while on company with "Hamadiye" and four torpedo boats from a single Russian mine.

Light cruisers

The Turkish Navy acquired during the Great War the light cruiser "Midilli" (formerly the German SMS "Breslau"). She served with the SMS "Goeben" in many raids against Russian shipping and ports from late October 1914. "Midilli" was sunk in the Aegean Sea on 20 January 1918 whilst with the SMS "Goeben" by five Allied mines.

Destroyers

Turkey’s eight destroyers, "Basra", "Samsun", "Tasoz", "Yarhisar", "Gairet-I-Watanije", "Jadhigar-I-Millet", "Muavenet-i Milliye", and "Numene-I-Hamije" made up most of its Navy in the First World War."Yarhisar" was sunk by the submarine "E-11", "Gairet-I-Watanije" ran aground and was abandoned and "Samsun" could have been lost by the submarine "HMS E-11". Turkish records say that she was sunk.

The Sinking of HMS "Goliath" by "Muavenet-i-Milliye"

"Muavenet-i-Milliye" sunk the British battleship "Goliath" during the night of May 12, 1915. The Turkish resources reveal the event as follows:"In the history of the Çanakkale Wars, sinking of the "Goliath has a significant place". The French had asked the assistance of the battleships against the Turkish counterattacks targeting to recapture Kerevizdere. Thus, every night two battleships began to bombard the Turkish positions. The Turkish side, to eliminate damages caused by these battleships, assigned the "Muavenet-i-Milliye".

Captain Ahmet Saffet was commanding the boat and he immediately sailed through Çanakkale from the Marmara Sea where he had been patrolling. Around 1 am on 13 May, "Muavenet-i Milliye" eluded the destroyers, despite having cruised as near as a few hundred meters near two of them, and closed on the battleships. Having succeeded in creating a momentary hesitation among the battleship crew on duty, "Muavenet" fired three torpedoes which all struck "Goliath", causing a massive explosion. The Allies' causalities were enormous. Five hundred and seventy sailors drowned, and only one hundred and eighty of its crew survived.

"Muavenet-i-Milliye" returned to Çanakkale at 05:00 and was welcomed with joy. On the same day, it sailed to Istanbul where it was welcomed with a ceremony. Enver Pasha awarded the crew on 16 May. However, the news about the sinking of the "Goliath" created a crisis in the War Council, in London. Admiral Fisher, the commander of the British Naval Forces and the most feverish opponent of another naval attack resigned, two days after the sinking of the battleship, on 15 May 1915. The resignation of Churchill, First Lord of Admiralty came next.

ubmarines and minelayers

Turkey’s only submarine during the War, "Müstecip Onbaşı" (French "Mustecip") , was run aground in the Dardanelles on 30 October 1915 and captured by the Allies.

Turkey also had several minelayers, "Nusret" being the most famous. It sunk three Allied ships in a small minefield of 20 mines on 18 March, 1915 that it had made ten days beforehand. The British pre-dreadnought battleships HMS "Irresistible" and HMS "Ocean" and the French battleship "Bouvet" were all sunk. The British battle cruiser HMS "Inflexible" was also badly damaged.

Armored Gunships

The ironclad Muin i Zafer (1869) was built in 1867-71 at Blackwall, one of a group of 7 ships.Rebuilt in 1904-07 by the Naval Shipyards Ansaldo of Genoa (Italy), she was of little military value by 1914.A sister unit, the "Avnijllah" was sunk in Beirut during the Italo-Turkish War.

References and Sources

* [http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyTurkish.htm] - A good reference for the ships of Turkey.
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_warfare_of_World_War_I] - Naval warfare of World War I.
* [http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/ww1/section4.rhtml] - Another good reference for World War I naval warfare.
*Jane, Fred T., ed., "Jane's Fighting Ships 1914", reprinted Arco, New York, 1969.

Notes

ee also

*History of the Turkish Navy
*Military history of Turkey
*List of Turkish battleships
*Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign
*Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau