Several months after her commissioning in 1912, Goeben, with the light cruiserBreslau, formed the German Mediterranean Division and patrolled there during the Balkan Wars. After the outbreak of World War I on 28 July 1914, Goeben and Breslau bombarded French positions in North Africa and then evaded British naval forces in the Mediterranean and reached Constantinople. The two ships were transferred to the Ottoman Empire on 16 August 1914, and Goeben became the flagship of the Ottoman Navy as Yavuz Sultan Selim, usually shortened to Yavuz. By bombarding Russian facilities in the Black Sea, she brought Turkey into World War I on the German side. The ship operated primarily against Russian forces in the Black Sea during the war, including several inconclusive engagements with Russian battleships. She made a sortie into the Aegean in January 1918 that resulted in the Battle of Imbros, where Yavuz sank a pair of British monitors but was herself badly damaged by mines.
In 1936 she was officially renamed TCG Yavuz ("Ship of the Turkish Republic Yavuz"); she carried the remains of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from Istanbul to İzmit in 1938. Yavuz remained the flagship of the Turkish Navy until she was decommissioned in 1950. She was scrapped in 1973, after the West German government declined an invitation to buy her back from Turkey. She was the last surviving ship built by the Imperial German Navy, and the longest-serving dreadnought-type ship in any navy.
As the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) continued in its arms race with the British Royal Navy in 1907, the Reichsmarineamt (Imperial Navy Office) considered plans for the battlecruiser that was to be built for the following year. An increase in the budget raised the possibility of increasing the caliber of the main battery from the 28cm (11in) guns used in the previous battlecruiser, SMSVon der Tann, to 30.5cm (12in), but Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the State Secretary of the Navy, opposed the increase, preferring to add a pair of 28cm guns instead. The Construction Department supported the change, and ultimately two ships were authorized for the 1908 and 1909 building years; Moltke was the first, followed by Goeben.[2]
Goeben's forward main battery turret
Goeben was 186.6 meters (612ft 2in)long overall, with a beam of 29.4m (96ft) and a draft of 9.19m (30ft 2in) fully loaded. The ship displaced22,979t (22,616 long tons) normally, and 25,400t (25,000 long tons) at full load. Goeben was powered by four Parsonssteam turbines, with steam provided by twenty-four coal-fired Schulz-Thornycroft water-tube boilers. The propulsion system was rated at 51,289 shaft horsepower (38,246kW) and a top speed of 25.5 knots (47.2km/h; 29.3mph), though she exceeded this speed significantly on her trials. At 14 knots (26km/h; 16mph), the ship had a range of 4,120 nautical miles (7,630km; 4,740mi). Her crew consisted on 43officers and 1,010enlisted men.[3]
The ship's armor consisted of Krupp cemented steel. The belt was 280mm (11in) thick in the citadel where it covered the ship's ammunition magazines and propulsion machinery spaces. The belt tapered down to 76mm (3in) on either end. The deck was 25 to 76mm (1 to 3in) thick, sloping downward at the side to connect to the bottom edge of the belt. The main battery gun turrets had 230mm (9.1in) faces, and they sat atop barbettes that were equally thick.[5]
Service history
Goeben steaming at full speed
The Imperial Navy ordered Goeben, the third German battlecruiser, on 8 April 1909 under the provisional name "H" from the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, under construction number 201. Her keel was laid on 19 August; the hull was completed and the ship was launched on 28 March 1911. Fitting-out work followed, and she was commissioned into the German Navy on 2 July 1912.[4]
When the First Balkan War broke out in October 1912, the German General Staff determined that a naval Mediterranean Division (Mittelmeer-Division) was needed to project German power in the Mediterranean, and thus dispatched Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau to Constantinople. The two ships left Kiel on 4 November and arrived on 15 November 1912. Beginning in April 1913, Goeben visited many Mediterranean ports including Venice, Pola, and Naples, before sailing into Albanian waters. Following this trip, Goeben returned to Pola and remained there from 21 August to 16 October for maintenance.[6]
On 29 June 1913, the Second Balkan War broke out and the Mediterranean Division was retained in the area. On 23 October 1913, Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Wilhelm Souchon assumed command of the squadron. Goeben and Breslau continued their activities in the Mediterranean, and visited some 80 ports before the outbreak of World War I.[6] The navy made plans to replace Goeben with her sisterMoltke, but the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on 28 June 1914 and the subsequent rise in tensions between the Great Powers made this impossible. After the assassination, Souchon assessed that war was imminent between the Central Powers and the Triple Entente, and ordered his ships to make for Pola for repairs.[7] Engineers came from Germany to work on the ship.[8]Goeben had 4,460 boiler tubes replaced, among other repairs. Upon completion, the ships departed for Messina.[6]
Kaiser Wilhelm II had ordered that in the event of war, Goeben and Breslau should either conduct raids in the western Mediterranean to prevent the return of French troops from North Africa to Europe,[8] or break out into the Atlantic and attempt to return to German waters, on the squadron commander's discretion.[9] On 3 August 1914, the two ships were en route to Algeria when Souchon received word of the declaration of war against France. Goeben bombarded Philippeville, French Algeria, for about 10 minutes early on 3 August while Breslau shelled nearby Bône, in accordance with the Kaiser's order.[10] Tirpitz and Admiral Hugo von Pohl then transmitted secret orders to Souchon instructing him to sail to Constantinople, in direct contravention of the Kaiser's instructions and without his knowledge.[9]
Since Goeben could not reach Constantinople without coaling, Souchon headed for Messina. The Germans encountered the British battlecruisers HMSIndefatigable and Indomitable, but Germany was not yet at war with Britain and neither side opened fire. The British turned to follow Goeben and Breslau, but the German ships were able to outrun the British, and arrived in Messina by 5 August. Refueling in Messina was complicated by the declaration of Italian neutrality on 2 August. Under international law, combatant ships were permitted only 24 hours in a neutral port.[10][11] Sympathetic Italian naval authorities in the port allowed Goeben and Breslau to remain in port for around 36 hours while the ships coaled from a German collier.[12] Despite the additional time, Goeben's fuel stocks were not sufficient to permit the voyage to Constantinople, so Souchon arranged to rendezvous with another collier in the Aegean Sea.[10] The French fleet remained in the western Mediterranean, since the French naval commander in the Mediterranean, Admiral Lapeyrère, was convinced the Germans would either attempt to escape to the Atlantic or join the Austrians in Pola.[13]
Prewar postcard depicting Goeben
Souchon's two ships departed Messina early on 6 August through the southern entrance to the strait and headed for the eastern Mediterranean. The two British battlecruisers were 100miles away, while a third, Inflexible, was coaling in Bizerta, Tunisia. The only British naval force in Souchon's way was the 1st Cruiser Squadron,[14] which consisted of the four armored cruisersDefence, Black Prince, Duke of Edinburgh and Warrior under the command of Rear Admiral Ernest Troubridge.[15] The Germans headed initially towards the Adriatic in a feint; the move misled Troubridge, who sailed to intercept them in the mouth of the Adriatic. After realizing his mistake, Troubridge reversed course and ordered the light cruiser Dublin and two destroyers to launch a torpedo attack on the Germans. Breslau's lookouts spotted the ships, and in the darkness, she and Goeben evaded their pursuers undetected. Troubridge broke off the chase early on 7 August, convinced that any attack by his four older armored cruisers against Goeben—armed with her larger 28cm guns—would be suicidal.[16] Souchon's journey to Constantinople was now clear.[17]
Goeben refilled her coal bunkers off the island of Donoussa near Naxos.[17] During the afternoon of 10 August, the two ships entered the Dardanelles. They were met by an Ottoman picket boat, which guided them through to the Sea of Marmara.[18] To circumvent neutrality requirements, the Ottoman government proposed that the ships be transferred to its ownership "by means of a fictitious sale."[19] Before the Germans could approve this, the Ottomans announced on 11 August that they had purchased the ships for 80 million Marks. In a formal ceremony the two ships were commissioned in the Ottoman Navy on 16 August. On 23 September, Souchon accepted an offer to command the Turkish fleet. Goeben was renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and Breslau was renamed Midilli; their German crews donned Ottoman uniforms and fezzes.[20]
On 29 October Yavuz bombarded Sevastopol in her first operation against Imperial Russia, though the Ottoman Empire was not yet at war with the Entente; Souchon conducted the operation to force Turkey into the war on the side of Germany. A 25.4cm (10in) shell struck the ship in the after funnel, but it failed to detonate and did negligible damage.[21] Two other hits inflicted minor damage. The ship and her escorts passed through an inactive Russian minefield during the bombardment.[22] As she returned to Turkish waters, Yavuz came across the Russian minelayer Prut which scuttled herself with 700 mines on board.[23] During the engagement the escorting Russian destroyer Lieutenant Pushkin was damaged by two of Yavuz's secondary battery 15cm (5.9in) shells. In response to the bombardment, Russia declared war on 1 November, thus forcing the Ottomans into the wider world war. France and Great Britain bombarded the Turkish fortresses guarding the Dardanelles on 3 November and formally declared war two days later.[21] From this engagement, the Russians drew the conclusion that the entire Black Sea Fleet would have to remain consolidated so it could not be defeated in detail (one ship at a time) by Yavuz.[24]
Yavuz, escorted by Midilli, intercepted the Russian Black Sea Fleet17 nautical miles (31km; 20mi) off the Crimean coastline on 18 November as it returned from a bombardment of Trebizond. Despite the noon hour the conditions were foggy and none of the capital ships were spotted initially. The Black Sea Fleet had experimented with concentrating fire from several ships under the control of one "master" ship before the war, and Evstafi held her fire until Ioann Zlatoust, the master ship, could see Yavuz. When the gunnery commands were finally received they showed a range over 4,000 yards (3,700m) in excess of Evstafi's own estimate of 7,700 yards (7,000m), so Evstafi opened fire using her own data before Yavuz turned to fire her broadside.[25] She scored a hit with her first salvo as a 12-inch shell partially penetrated the armor casemate protecting one of Yavuz's 15-centimeter (5.9in) secondary guns. It detonated some of the ready-use ammunition, starting a fire that filled the casemate and killed the entire gun crew.[26] A total of thirteen men were killed and three were wounded.[21]
Yavuz returned fire and hit Evstafi in the middle funnel; the shell detonated after it passed through the funnel and destroyed the antennae for the fire-control radio, so that Evstafi could not correct Ioann Zlatoust's inaccurate range data. The other Russian ships either used Ioann Zlatoust's incorrect data or never saw Yavuz and failed to register any hits. Yavuz hit Evstafi four more times, although one shell failed to detonate,[26] before Souchon decided to break contact after 14 minutes of combat.[27] The four hits out of nineteen 28cm (11in) shells fired killed 34 men and wounded 24.[28]
The following month, on 5–6 December, Yavuz and Midilli provided protection for troop transports, and on 10 December, Yavuz bombarded Batum.[21] On 23 December, Yavuz and the protected cruiserHamidiye escorted three transports to Trebizond. While returning from another transport escort operation on 26 December, Yavuz struck a mine that exploded beneath the conning tower, on the starboard side, about one nautical mile outside the Bosphorus.[29] The explosion tore a 50-square-meter (540sqft) hole in the ship's hull, but the torpedo bulkhead held. Two minutes later, Yavuz struck a second mine on the port side, just forward of the main battery wing barbette; this tore open a 64-square-meter (690sqft) hole. The bulkhead bowed in 30cm (12in) but retained watertight protection of the ship's interior. However, some 600 tons of water flooded the ship.[21] There was no dock in the Ottoman Empire large enough to service Yavuz, 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.[29]
1915
Still damaged, Yavuz sortied from the Bosphorus on 28 January and again on 7 February 1915 to help Midilli escape the Russian fleet; she also covered the return of Hamidiye. Yavuz then underwent repair work to the mine damage until May.[29] On 1 April, with repairs incomplete, Yavuz left the Bosphorus in company with Midilli to cover the withdrawal of Hamidiye and the protected cruiser Mecidiye, which had been sent to bombard Odessa. Strong currents, however, forced the cruisers 15 miles (24km) east to the approaches of the Dnieper-Bug Liman (bay) that led to Nikolayev. As they sailed west after a course correction, Mecidiye struck a mine and sank, so this attack had to be aborted.[30] After Yavuz and Midilli 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, Gnevny, was able to close the distance and launch an attack, which missed. Yavuz and Midilli returned to the Bosphorus unharmed.[31]
Yavuz in the Bosporus, c. 1914–1916
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 Yavuz Sultan Selim headed south to the Dardanelles to bombard Allied troops at Gallipoli, accompanied by the pre-dreadnought battleshipTurgut Reis. They were spotted at dawn from a kite balloon as they were getting into position. When the first 15-inch (380mm) round from the dreadnoughtQueen Elizabeth landed close by, Yavuz moved out of firing position, close to the cliffs, where Queen Elizabeth could not engage her.[32] On 30 April Yavuz tried again, but was spotted from the pre-dreadnought Lord Nelson which had moved into the Dardanelles to bombard the Turkish headquarters at Çanakkale. The British ship only managed to fire five rounds before Yavuz moved out of her line of sight.[33]
On 1 May, Yavuz sailed to the Bay of Beikos in the Bosphorus after the Russian fleet bombarded the fortifications at the mouth of the Bosphorus. Around 7 May, Yavuz sortied from the Bosphorus in search of Russian ships as far as Sevastopol, but found none. Running short on main gun ammunition, she did not bombard Sevastopol. While returning on the morning of 10 May, Yavuz's lookouts spotted two Russian pre-dreadnoughts, Tri Sviatitelia and Panteleimon, and she opened fire. Within the first ten minutes she had been hit twice, although she was not seriously damaged. Admiral Souchon disengaged and headed for the Bosphorus, pursued by Russian light forces.[34] Later that month two of the ship's 15cm guns were taken ashore for use there,[4] and the four 8.8cm guns in the aft superstructure were removed at the same time.[35] Four 8.8cm anti-aircraft were installed on the aft superstructure by the end of 1915.[36]
On 18 July, Midilli struck a mine; the ship took on some 600 long tons (610t) of water and was no longer able to escort coal convoys from Zonguldak to the Bosphorus. Yavuz was assigned to the task, and on 10 August she escorted a convoy of five coal transports, along with Hamidiye and three torpedo boats. During transit, the convoy was attacked by the Russian submarine Tyulen, which sank one of the colliers. The following day, Tyulen and another submarine tried to attack Yavuz as well, though they were unable to reach a firing position.[37] Two Russian destroyers, Bystry and Pronzitelni, attacked a Turkish convoy escorted by Hamidiye and two torpedo boats on 5 September. Hamidiye's 15cm (5.9in) guns broke down during combat, and the Turks summoned Yavuz, but she arrived too late: the Turkish colliers had already been beached to avoid capture by the Russian destroyers.[37]
On 21 September, Yavuz Sultan Selim was again sent out of the Bosphorus to drive off three Russian destroyers which had been attacking Turkish coal ships. Escort missions continued until 14 November, when the submarine Morzh nearly hit Yavuz with two torpedoes just outside the Bosphorus. Admiral Souchon decided the risk to the battlecruiser was too great, and suspended the convoy system. In its stead, only those ships fast enough to make the journey from Zonguldak to Constantinople in a single night were permitted; outside the Bosphorus they would be met by torpedo boats to defend them against the lurking submarines.[38] By the end of the summer, the completion of two new Russian dreadnought battleships, Imperatritsa Mariya and Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya, further curtailed Yavuz's activities.[39]
Admiral Souchon sent Yavuz to Zonguldak on 8 January to protect an approaching empty collier from Russian destroyers in the area, but the Russians sank the transport ship before Yavuz arrived. On the return trip to the Bosphorus, Yavuz encountered Imperatritsa Ekaterina. The two ships engaged in a brief artillery duel, beginning at a range of 18,500meters. Yavuz turned to the southwest, and in the first four minutes of the engagement, fired five salvos from her main guns. Neither ship scored any hits, though shell splinters from near misses struck Yavuz.[40] This was the only battle between dreadnoughts on the Black Sea to ever occur.[41] Though nominally much faster than Imperatritsa Ekaterina, the Turkish battlecruiser's bottom was badly fouled and her propeller shafts were in poor condition. This made it difficult for Yavuz to escape from the powerful Russian battleship, which was reported to have reached 23.5kn (44km/h; 27mph).[42][lower-alpha 3]
Russian forces were making significant gains into Ottoman territory during the Caucasus Campaign. In an attempt to prevent further advances by the Russian army, Yavuz rushed 429 officers and men, a mountain artillery battery, machine gun and aviation units, 1,000 rifles, and 300 cases of munitions to Trebizond on 4 February.[43] On 4 March, the Russian navy landed a detachment of some 2,100 men, along with mountain guns and horses, on either side of the port of Atina. The Turks were caught by surprise and forced to evacuate.[44] Another landing took place at Kavata Bay, some 5miles east of Trebizond, in June.[45] In late June, the Turks counterattacked and penetrated around 20miles into the Russian lines. Yavuz and Midilli conducted a series of coastal operations to support the Turkish attacks. On 4 July, Yavuz shelled the port of Tuapse, where she sank a steamer and a motor schooner.[46] The Turkish ships sailed northward to circle back behind the Russians before the two Russian dreadnoughts left Sevastopol to try to attack them. They then returned to the Bosphorus,[47] where Yavuz was docked for repairs to her propeller shafts until September.[48]
The coal shortage continued to worsen until Admiral Souchon was forced to suspend operations by Yavuz and Midilli through 1917.[49] Early on 10 July 1917, a Royal Naval Air Service Handley Page Type O bomber, flying from Moudros, Greece, tried to bomb Yavuz from 800ft (240m) with eight 112lb (51kg) bombs. It missed but instead sank the destroyer Yadigar-i Millet, the largest ship sunk by air during the First World War.[50] After an armistice between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was signed in December 1917 following the Bolshevik revolution, formalized in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, coal started to arrive again from eastern Turkey.[51]
On 20 January 1918, Yavuz and Midilli left the Dardanelles under the command of Vice Admiral Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz, who had replaced Souchon the previous September. Rebeur-Paschwitz's intention was to draw Allied naval forces away from Palestine in support of Turkish forces there.[51] Outside the straits, in the course of what became known as the Battle of Imbros, Yavuz surprised and sank the monitorsRaglan and M28 which were at anchor and unsupported by the pre-dreadnoughts that should have been guarding them. Rebeur-Paschwitz then decided to proceed to the port of Mudros; there the British pre-dreadnought battleship Agamemnon was raising steam to attack the Turkish ships.[52] While en route, Midilli struck several mines and sank;[51]Yavuz hit three mines as well.[53] Retreating to the Dardanelles and pursued by the British destroyers HMSLizard and Tigress,[54] she was intentionally beached near Nagara Point just outside the Dardanelles.[51] The British attacked Yavuz with bombers from No. 2 Wing of the Royal Naval Air Service while she was grounded and hit her twice, but the bombs from the light aircraft were not heavy enough to do any serious damage. The monitor M17 attempted to shell Yavuz on the evening of 24 January, but only managed to fire ten rounds before withdrawing to escape the Turkish artillery fire.[55] The submarine E14 was sent to destroy the damaged ship, but was too late;[56] the old ex-German pre-dreadnought Turgut Reis had towed Yavuz off and returned her to the safety of Constantinople.[57]Yavuz was crippled by the extensive damage; cofferdams were again built around the hull,[58] and repairs lasted from 7 August to 19 October.[57]
Before the repair work was carried out, Yavuz escorted the members of the Ottoman Armistice Commission to Odessa on 30 March 1918, after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. After returning to Constantinople she sailed in May to Sevastopol where she had her hull cleaned and some leaks repaired. Yavuz and several destroyers sailed for Novorossiysk on 28 June to intern the remaining Soviet warships, but they had already been scuttled when the Turkish ships arrived. The destroyers remained, but Yavuz returned to Sevastopol.[59] On 14 July the ship was laid up for the rest of the war.[59] While in Sevastopol, dockyard workers scraped fouling from the ship's bottom. Yavuz subsequently returned to Constantinople, where from 7 August to 19 October a concrete cofferdam was installed to repair one of the three areas damaged by mines.[42]
The German navy formally transferred ownership of the vessel to the Turkish government on 2 November.[60] According to the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres between the Ottoman Empire and the Western Allies, Yavuz was to have been handed over to the Royal Navy as war reparations, but this was not done due to the Turkish War of Independence, which broke out immediately after World War I ended, as Greece attempted to seize territory from the crumbling Ottoman Empire. After modern Turkey emerged from the war victorious, the Treaty of Sèvres was discarded and the Treaty of Lausanne was signed in its place in 1923. Under this treaty, the new Turkish republic retained possession of much of its fleet, including Yavuz.[61]
Post-war service
Yavuz and two Turkish destroyers at the Bosporus strait in Istanbul, viewed from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Leyte in 1947
During the 1920s, a commitment to refurbish Yavuz as the centerpiece of the new country's fleet was the only constant element of the various naval policies which were put forward.[62] The battlecruiser remained in İzmit until 1926, in a neglected state:[63][64][65] only two of her boilers worked, she could not steer or steam, and she still had two unrepaired scars from the mine damage in 1918. Enough money was raised to allow the purchase of a new 26,000-metric-ton (26,000-long-ton)floating dock from Germany, as Yavuz could not be towed anywhere without risk of her sinking in rough seas.[66] The French company Atelier et Chantiers de St. Nazaire-Penhöet was contracted in December 1926 to oversee the subsequent refit, which was carried out by the Gölcük Naval Shipyard.[64] Work proceeded over three years (1927–1930); it was delayed when several compartments of the dock collapsed while being pumped out. Yavuz was slightly damaged before she could be refloated and the dock had to be repaired before the repair work could begin. The Minister of Marine, Ihsan Bey (İhsan Eryavuz), was convicted of embezzlement in the resulting investigation.[66]
Other delays were caused by fraud charges which resulted in the abolition of the Ministry of Marine. The Turkish Military's Chief of Staff, Marshal Fevzi, opposed naval construction and slowed down all naval building programs following the fraud charges. Intensive work on the battlecruiser only began after the Greek Navy conducted a large-scale naval exercise off Turkey in September 1928 and the Turkish Government perceived a need to counter Greece's naval superiority.[67] The Turks also ordered four destroyers and two submarines from Italian shipyards.[68] The Greek Government proposed a 10-year "holiday" from naval building modeled on the Washington Treaty when it learned that Yavuz was to be brought back into service, though it reserved the right to build two new cruisers. The Turkish Government rejected this proposal, and claimed that the ship was intended to counter the growing strength of the Soviet Navy in the Black Sea.[69]
Over the course of the refit, the mine damage was repaired,[53] her displacement was increased to 23,100t (22,700 long tons), and the hull was slightly reworked. She was reduced in length by a half meter but her beam increased by 10cm (4in). Yavuz was equipped with new boilers and a French fire control system for her main battery guns. Two of the 15cm guns were removed from their casemate positions.[63] Her armor protection was not upgraded to take the lessons of the Battle of Jutland into account, and she had only 2 inches (5.1cm) of armor above her magazines.[65]Yavuz was recommissioned in 1930, resuming her role as flagship of the Turkish Navy,[70] and performed better than expected in her speed trials; her subsequent gunnery and fire control trials were also successful. The four destroyers, which were needed to protect the battlecruiser, entered service between 1931 and 1932; their performance never met the design specifications.[71] In response to Yavuz's return to service, the Soviet Union transferred the battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna and light cruiser Profintern from the Baltic in late 1929 to ensure that the Black Sea Fleet retained parity with the Turkish Navy.[68] The Greek Government also responded by ordering two destroyers.[72]
In 1933, she took Prime Ministerİsmet İnönü from Varna to Istanbul and carried the Shah of Iran from Trebizond to Samsun the following year.[70]Yavuz Sultan Selim had her name officially shortened to Yavuz Sultan in 1930 and then to Yavuz in 1936.[73] Another short refit was conducted in 1938, and in November that year she carried the remains of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from Istanbul to İzmit.[63][64] She and the other ships of the navy were considered outdated by the British Naval Attache by 1937, partly due to their substandard anti-aircraft armament, but in 1938 the Turkish government began planning to expand the force.[74] Under these plans the surface fleet was to comprise two 10,000-ton cruisers and twelve destroyers. Yavuz would be retained until the second cruiser was commissioned in 1945, and the navy expected to build a 23,000-ton ship between 1950 and 1960. The naval building program did not come about, as the foreign shipyards which were to build the ships concentrated on the needs of their own nations leading up to World War II.[75]
Yavuz remained in service throughout World War II, but Turkey remained neutral during the conflict. Yavuz was kept at Gölcük, defended by torpedo nets and reinforced anti-aircraft units. The ship had her main mast removed to make it more difficult to determine her course.[76] In November 1939 she and Parizhskaya Kommuna were the only capital ships in the Black Sea region, and Life magazine reported that Yavuz was superior to the Soviet ship because the latter was in poor condition.[77] In 1941, her anti-aircraft battery was strengthened to four 88mm (3.5in) guns, ten 40mm (1.6in) guns, and four 20mm (0.79in) guns. These were later increased to twenty-two 40mm guns and twenty-four 20mm guns.[63]Degaussing equipment was installed aboard the ship (and several other Turkish warships) in 1943 to protect them against magnetic mines.[78]
On 5 April 1946, the American battleship USSMissouri, light cruiser Providence, and destroyer Power arrived in Istanbul to return the remains of Turkish ambassador Münir Ertegün.[79]Yavuz greeted the ships in the Bosphorus, where she and Missouri exchanged 19-gun salutes.[80] After 1948, the ship was stationed in either İzmit[63] or Gölcük.[64] The ship continued to participate in the annual fleet maneuvers that were held every September until 1950.[78] She was decommissioned from active service on 20 December 1950 and stricken from the Navy register on 14 November 1954.[63][64] When Turkey joined NATO in 1952, the ship was assigned the hull number B70.[81] Though the ship had been removed from the naval register, she continued to be used as a stationary headquarters of the Battle Fleet Command and the Mine Fleet Command until 1960.[78]
The Turkish government offered to sell the ship to the West German government in 1963 as a museum ship, but the offer was declined.[63] Unable to afford the cost of preserving the ship itself,[78] Turkey sold the ship to M.K.E. Seyman in 1971 for scrapping.[64] She was towed to the breakers on 7 June 1973, and the work was completed in February 1976.[63][64] By the time of her disposal she was the last dreadnought in existence outside the United States.[82] She was the last surviving ship built by the Imperial German Navy, and the longest-serving dreadnought-type ship in any navy.[83] Several parts of the ship have been preserved, including three of her screws (which were sent to the Naval Command and to the Istanbul Naval Museum) and her foremast (which was placed at the naval academy).[78]
↑ The Indefatigable-class ships displaced 22,100t (21,800 long tons; 24,400 short tons) at full load, compared to 25,400t (25,000 long tons; 28,000 short tons) for the Moltke-class. The Indefatigable-class ships had an armored belt between 4–6in (100–150mm), while Moltke's belt was 11–3in (279–76mm) thick.[1]
SMS Breslau was a Magdeburg-class cruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built in the early 1910s and named after the Lower Silesian city of Breslau. Following her commissioning, Breslau and the battlecruiser Goeben were assigned to the Mittelmeerdivision in response to the Balkan Wars. After evading British warships in the Mediterranean to reach Constantinople, Breslau and Goeben were transferred to the Ottoman Empire in August 1914, to entice the Ottomans to join the Central Powers in World War I. The two ships, along with several other Ottoman vessels, raided Russian ports in October 1914, prompting a Russian declaration of war. The ships were renamed Midilli and Yavûz Sultân Selîm, respectively, and saw extensive service with the Ottoman fleet, primarily in the Black Sea against the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The pursuit of Goeben and Breslau was a naval action that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea at the outbreak of the First World War when elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet attempted to intercept the German Mittelmeerdivision consisting of the battlecruiser SMS Goeben and the light cruiser SMS Breslau. The German ships evaded the British fleet and passed through the Dardanelles to reach Constantinople, where they were eventually handed over to the Ottoman Empire. Renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and Midilli, the former Goeben and Breslau were ordered by their German commander to attack Russian positions, in doing so bringing the Ottoman Empire into the war on the side of the Central Powers.
Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya was the second of three Imperatritsa Mariya-class dreadnoughts built for the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. Completed in 1915, she was assigned to the Black Sea Fleet. She engaged the ex-German battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm once, but only inflicted splinter damage while taking no damage herself. The ship briefly encountered an Ottoman light cruiser, but mostly covered the actions of smaller ships during the war without firing her guns. These included minelaying operations off the Bosporus and anti-shipping sweeps of the coast of Anatolia. Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya was renamed Svobodnaya Rossiya after the February Revolution of 1917.
A naval race had developed in the Aegean after the end of the Balkan Wars, with the Ottoman government ordering several ships, including two dreadnoughts, in Britain. In the event, with the outbreak of World War I, one of these ships, including further two scout cruisers and four destroyers, were confiscated and pressed into service with the Royal Navy. This disappointed the Ottomans, contributing to their joining the Central Powers in the Great War.
The Moltke class was a class of two "all-big-gun" battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy built between 1909–1911. Named SMS Moltke and SMS Goeben, they were similar to the previous battlecruiser Von der Tann, but the newer design featured several incremental improvements. The Moltkes were slightly larger, faster, and better armored, and had an additional pair of 28 cm (11 in) guns.
Hamidiye was an Ottoman cruiser that saw extensive action during the Balkan Wars and World War I. Initially named Abdül Hamid, it was ordered by the Ottoman Navy in 1900 from the British shipbuilding company Armstrong Whitworth. It was laid down in Elswick, Newcastle, in April 1902; launched on 25 September 1903; its sea trials began on 17 December 1903; and it was commissioned in April 1904. It weighed 3,904 tons; was 112 m long with a beam of 14.5 m and a draught of 4.8 m; and was named after the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II.
HMS Skirmisher was one of two Sentinel-class scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1905 the ship was placed in reserve until she was commissioned in 1907 as part of the Home Fleet. She then spent the next seven years moving on and off of active service in British waters. Skirmisher was assigned to coastal defence duties when the First World War began in 1914, although she was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1915 and then to the Aegean two years later. The ship returned home in mid-1919 and was sold for scrap in 1920.
The Magdeburg class of light cruisers was a group of four ships built for the Imperial German Navy. The class comprised SMS Magdeburg, the lead ship, Breslau, Strassburg, and Stralsund. All four ships were laid down in 1910 and were completed by the end of 1912. They were armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm guns, though over the course of their careers, Breslau, Strassburg, and Stralsund were rearmed with more powerful 15 cm guns. They displaced 4,570 t at full load and were rated at a top speed of 27.5 knots, though all four vessels exceeded that figure on trials.
The Battle of Cape Sarych was a naval engagement fought off the coast of Cape Sarych in the Black Sea during the First World War. In November 1914, two modern Ottoman warships, specifically a light cruiser and a battlecruiser, engaged a Russian fleet including five obsolescent pre-dreadnought battleships in a short action.
The Battle of Imbros was a naval action that took place during the First World War. The battle occurred on 20 January 1918 when an Ottoman squadron engaged a flotilla of the British Royal Navy off the island of Imbros in the Aegean Sea. A lack of heavy Allied warships in the area allowed the Ottoman battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm and light cruiser Midilli to sortie into the Mediterranean and attack the Royal Navy monitors and destroyers at Imbros before assaulting the naval base at Mudros.
Evstafi was the lead ship of her class of two pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. She was built before World War I and her completion was greatly delayed by changes made to reflect the lessons of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.
Ioann Zlatoust was an Evstafi-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. She was built before World War I and her completion was greatly delayed by changes made to reflect the lessons of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. She was the second ship of her class.
The Mediterranean Division was a division consisting of the battlecruiser SMS Goeben and the light cruiser SMS Breslau of the German Kaiserliche Marine in the early 1910s. It was established in response to the First Balkan War and saw action during the First World War. It was disbanded after the ships were transferred to the Ottoman Empire four years after their pursuit by the British battlecruisers Indomitable and Indefatigable and light cruisers Dublin and Gloucester.
Berk-i Satvet was a torpedo cruiser of the Ottoman Navy, the second and final member of the Peyk-i Şevket class. She was built by the Germaniawerft shipyard in Germany in 1906–1907, and was delivered to the Ottoman Navy in November 1907. The ship's primary armament consisted of three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes and a pair of 105 mm (4.1 in) guns, and she was capable of a top speed of 21 knots. The ship's early career was uneventful; the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912 passed without any action of the Ottoman fleet. Berk-i Satvet saw action during the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 in the Aegean and Black Seas, against Greek and Bulgarian opponents, respectively.
The Black Sea raid was an Ottoman naval sortie against Russian ports in the Black Sea on 29 October 1914, supported by Germany, that led to the Ottoman entry into World War I. The attack was conceived by Ottoman War Minister Enver Pasha, German Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, and the German foreign ministry.
The action of 10 May 1915 was a naval encounter between the Russian pre-dreadnought squadron and the Ottoman battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim in the Black Sea. After a brief exchange of fire the Ottomans withdrew.
Nümune-i Hamiyet, originally built as SMS S167, was one of the four S138-class torpedo boats built for the German Imperial Navy, but was purchased for the Ottoman Navy during construction.
Samsun was one of the four Durandal-class destroyers purchased by the Ottoman Empire from France in 1907. The ship served in the Ottoman Navy during the Italo-Turkish War, the Balkan Wars and World War I.
The Battle of the Bosporus was a naval engagement during World War I on 10 May [O.S. 27 April] 1915 between the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the German battlecruiser Goeben in the Black Sea, north of the Bosporus, resulting in a tactical victory for the Russians. The battle took place during the main operation of the Black Sea Fleet aimed at shelling the Bosporus fortifications. The action of the Goeben led to the interruption of the operation, but it did not manage to inflict significant damage to the Russian fleet, suffering only minor damage itself.
Atmaca, Gökhan (2018). "The Battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim (ex-Goeben, 1911)". In Taylor, Bruce (ed.). The World of the Battleship: The Lives and Careers of Twenty-One Capital Ships of the World's Navies, 1880–1990. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-0-87021-906-1.
Barlas, D. Lek & Güvenç, Serhat (2002). "To Build a Navy with the Help of Adversary: Italian-Turkish Naval Arms Trade, 1929–32". Middle Eastern Studies. London: Taylor & Francis. 38 (4): 143. doi:10.1080/714004485. ISSN1743-7881. S2CID144043689.
Brice, Martin H. (1969). "S.M.S. Goeben/T.N.S. Yavuz: The Oldest Dreadnought in Existence—Her History and Technical Details". Warship International. Toledo: Naval Records Club. VI (4): 272–279.
Buxton, Ian (2008). Big Gun Monitors: Design, Construction and Operations 1914–1945 (2nd, revised and expandeded.). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1-59114-045-0.
Campbell, N. J. M. (1978). Battle Cruisers. Warship Special. Vol.1. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN978-0-85177-130-4.
Corbett, Julian (1997) [1929]. Naval Operations. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents. Vol.II (reprint of the 1929 seconded.). London and Nashville: Imperial War Museum in association with the Battery Press. ISBN978-1-870423-74-8.
Hownam-Meek, R. S. S.; etal. (2000). "Question 3/99: The Loss of the German Light Cruiser Breslau". Warship International. Toledo: International Naval Research Organization. XXXVII (1): 92–95. ISSN0043-0374.
McLaughlin, Stephen (2001). "Predreadnoughts vs a Dreadnought: The Action off Cape Sarych, 18 November 1914". In Preston, Antony (ed.). Warship 2001–2002. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp.117–140. ISBN978-0-85177-901-0.
Nekrasov, George (1992). North of Gallipoli: The Black Sea Fleet at War 1914–1917. East European monographs. Vol.CCCXLIII. Boulder: East European Monographs. ISBN978-0-88033-240-8.
Nofi, Albert A. (2010). To Train The Fleet For War: The U.S. Navy Fleet Problems, 1923–1940. Washington, DC: Naval War College Press. ISBN978-1-884733-87-1.
Worth, Richard (2001). Fleets of World War II. Cambridge: Da Capo Press. ISBN978-0-306-81116-6.
Further reading
Breyer, Siegfried (1997). Die Kaiserliche Marine und ihre Großen Kreuzer[The Imperial Navy and its Large Cruisers] (in German). Wölfersheim: Podzun-Pallas Verlag. ISBN978-3-7909-0603-5.
Dodson, Aidan; Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after the Two World Wars. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-5267-4198-1.
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