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The Graveyards of Gallipoli; A Digger History Associate Site |
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A Tribute to the Men of all the Nations that took part in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 |
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The Turkish Navy in 1914/15 |
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***Not a complete list. Only units with a Gallipoli connection listed here*** Some detail from http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyTurkish.htm |
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The two German ships Goeben
and Breslau ( above top & above lower) also came under nominal Turkish control and technically
became Turkish but the crews and command stayed in German hands.
The German saying "Deutschland über Alles" (Germany over all) was from an unofficial National Anthem and had been used since the late 1700s. Some wit, in talking of the Goeben & Breslau coined the phrase "Deutschland über Allah". |
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Messudieh (Turkish Coastal Defence ship) |
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Turkish naval vessel "Messudieh". MESUDIYE
(alternative spellings, 'Messudieh' or 'Messudiyeh', 'Mesudiyet').
13th December 1914, Turkish waters, off Chanak in the Dardanelles -
torpedoed once by British submarine 'B-11'. 'Mesudiye' (Commander
Besiktasli Arif Nebi) was moored as guardship just south of the
Dardanelles Narrows at Chanak, in Sari Siglar Bay on the Asian
side.
Against the strong currents, British submarine 'B-11' (Lt Norman Holbrook) managed to penetrate some 12 miles and negotiated five lines of mines. Sighting her at anchor, 'B.11' fired one torpedo from 6-800 yards. 'Mesudiye' rolled over and sank in 10 minutes, trapping many men inside who were later released. Most of her guns were salvaged for the shore defences. Losses totalled 38 martyrs, including 10 officers and 27 men. 'B.11' escaped safely back to sea and Lt Holbrook was awarded the Victoria Cross |
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Hayreddin Barbarossa (German Brandenburg class pre-dreadnought b'ship) |
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| HAYREDDIN BARBAROSSA, 8th August 1915, Turkish Waters, off Bulair, Gallipoli Peninsula in Sea of Marmara (40-27’N, 26-48’E) - torpedoed once by British submarine 'E-11'. One day after the last Allied landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula - at Suvla Bay - in a final attempt to break the deadlock on land, pre-dreadnought 'Hayreddin Barbarossa' (Commodore Mustafapasali Muzaffer) had sailed through the Sea of Marmara, escorted by two destroyers to support the Turkish land defences. Expecting her to take part in the battle, 'E.11' (Lt-Cdr Naismith VC), on her second patrol in the Sea of Marmara during which she accounted for numerous vessels including torpedo gunboat 'Berc-i-Satvet' that month, waited at the northern end of the Dardanelles Narrows. The 'Barbarossa' capsized and sank in fifteen minutes with the loss of 250 martyrs. Image of is of correct class, not this particular ship. |
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Nusret (also Nusrat or Nousret) (minelayer) |
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| Nusret (Nusrat) (Lt Cdr Tophaneli Hakki) was one of a number of miscellaneous mine warfare ships. On the night of the 8th March 1915, under the guidance of Lt Col Geehl, a Turkish mine expert, she laid a line of 20 mines in Eren Keui or Arenkioi Bay at the time of the Allied naval attack on the Dardanelles defences. Ten days later on the 18th, British pre-dreadnought battleships 'Irresistible' and 'Ocean' and the French 'Bouvet' were all lost in this small field, and British battle-cruiser 'Inflexible' badly damaged. If any one small ship changed the course of World War 1 it must be "Nusret". |
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Jadhigar-i-Millet (German S.165 class destroyer) |
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If you can supply an image please Email me |
| JADHIGAR-I-MILLET (modern form 'Yadigar-i-Millet' - The Nation’s Reminder), night of 9th/10th July 1917, Turkish waters, off Istinye (the Golden Horn), Constantinople in the Bosphorus (39-56’N, 29-10.5’E) - bombed by a British RNAS aircraft. A Handley Page bomber flown out from Britain, flew from Mudros late on the 9th to attack the German big ships 'Goeben' and 'Breslau' based at Constantinople. They were missed but the nearby 'Jadhigar-i-Millet' (Lt Cdr Cesmeli Raif Said) was hit and sunk just after midnight on the 10th; there were 29 martyrs. She was refloated and scrapped. |
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Muavenet-i-Millet (German S.165 class destroyer) |
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If you can supply an image please Email me |
| Muavenet-i-Millet (or 'Muavenet-i-Milleye'), Turkish manned (Cdr Ayasofyali Ahmet) with German commanding officer, torpedoed and sank British pre-dreadnought battleship 'Goliath' on the night of the 12th/13th May 1915 off the Gallipoli Peninsula |
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Yarhisar (French Durandal class destroyer) |
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Photo is of correct class, but not Yarhisa |
| YARHISAR (village in province of Bursa, bordering Sea of Marmara. also "Yar Hissar), 3rd December 1915, Turkish waters, eastern Sea of Marmara at entrance to Gulf of Izmit (Ismit or Ismid, c 40-45’N, 29-30’E) - torpedoed by British submarine 'E-11'. Hunting for a reported British submarine, 'Yarhisar' (Lt Cdr Ahmet Hulusi Hasan) was torpedoed by 'E-11' (Lt Cdr Naismith) on her third and last patrol in the Sea of Marmara just as the Gallipoli Campaign was about to end with with the evacuation of Allied forces. She went down between Yalova and Tuzla. Of the crew of 70 Turks and 15 Germans, 42 men were lost including 36 Turkish martyrs; survivors included the CO and five Germans | |
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Samsun (French Durandal class destroyer) |
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Photo is of correct class, not of Samsun |
| Samsun (Lt Cdr Uskudarli Nezir Abdullah) was sunk by British submarine 'E-11' on the 14th August 1915 off Hora (Khora?) in the Sea of Marmara according to Turkish sources. 'Conway's' and 'Janes Fighting Ships' show her as surviving the war with her two remaining sisters. | |
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Submarine Mustedieh Ombashi, (ex French Turquoise) |
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By then the only modern additions to the Turkish Navy were the German battle-cruiser 'Goeben' and light cruiser 'Breslau', which having escaped from the British Navy in August 1914, were nominally transferred to Turkey although largely retaining their German crews. The entire Turkish fleet then came under the command of German Rear-Admiral Wilhelm Souchon. Although much of the subsequent action against the Russian Fleet in the Black Sea is associated with the 'Goeben' and 'Breslau', the obsolescent Turkish Navy played its part, including the combined German-Turkish bombardment of Russian bases before the declaration of war. Other operations included escorting coal convoys from Zonguldak to the Constantinople area, sweeping Russian mines off Constantinople, escorting troop convoys through the Sea of Marmara to Gallipoli, manning some of the Dardanelles defences, and operating light flotillas on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. |
In 1914, the main concern of the Turkish Navy was maintaining a balance of
power with the Greeks with whom relations were very tense. Both countries
were attempting to enlarge their navies and Turkish orders included two
British dreadnoughts, two scout cruisers and four destroyers, none of
which were delivered. In fact the non-delivery of the two completed
dreadnoughts did much to bring Turkey into the war on Germany’s side in
November 1914. 
