Ottoman ironclad Feth-i Bülend

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Feth-i Bülend during repairs in Ansaldo factory.
History
Ottoman Empire
NameFeth-i Bülend
Builder
Thames Iron Works, London
Laid downMay 1868
Launched1869
Commissioned1870
Fate
Hulk
in 1910, sunk by Greek torpedo boat in 1912
General characteristics
Class and typeFeth-i Bülend class
Displacement2,762 metric tons (2,718 long tons)
Length72 m (236 ft 3 in) (p.p.)
Beam11.9 m (39 ft 1 in)
Draft5.2 m (17 ft 1 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement16 officers, 153 sailors
Armament4 × 229 mm (9 in) Armstrong guns
Armor

Feth-i Bülend (

launched in 1869, and commissioned in 1870. She was armed with four 229 mm (9 in) guns, was powered by a single-screw compound steam engine with a top speed of 13 knots
(24 km/h; 15 mph).

Feth-i Bülend saw action during the

Salonica; the ship was disarmed so the guns could be used to strengthen the port's fortifications. On the night of 31 October, a Greek torpedo boat
slipped into the harbor and sank Feth-i Bülend, killing seven of her crew.

Design

Main article: Feth-i Bülend-class ironclad
Line-drawing of Feth-i Bülend

Feth-i Bülend was 72.01 m (236 ft 3 in)

BOM. She had a crew of 16 officers and 153 enlisted men.[1][2]

The ship was powered by a single horizontal

amidships. The engine was rated at 3,250 indicated horsepower (2,420 kW) and produced a top speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph), though by 1877 she was only capable of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Decades of poor maintenance had reduced the ship's speed to 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) by 1892. Feth-i Bülend carried 600 t (590 long tons; 660 short tons) of coal. A supplementary sailing rig was also fitted.[1][2]

The ship was armed with a battery of four 222 mm (8.7 in) muzzle-loading Armstrong guns mounted in a central, armored casemate, two guns per side. The guns were positioned so as to allow any two to fire directly ahead, astern, or to either broadside. The casemate had heavy armor protection, with the gun battery protected by 222 mm of iron plating. The upper section of the casemate had thinner armor, at 150 mm (5.9 in) thick. The hull had a complete armored belt at the waterline, which extended 0.6 m (2 ft) above the line and 1.2 m (4 ft) below. The above-water portion was 222 mm thick, while the submerged part was 150 mm thick.[1][2]

Service history

Construction and the Russo-Turkish War

Feth-i Bülend, meaning "Great Victory",

Hobart Pasha, remained largely inactive, with training confined to reading translated British instruction manuals.[4] Early in the ship's career, the Ottoman ironclad fleet was activated every summer for short cruises from the Golden Horn to the Bosporus to ensure their propulsion systems were in operable condition.[5]

Painting depicting Feth-i Bülend's (left) battle with Vesta (center)

Feth-i Bülend saw extensive service in the

Sochum for Trabzon to bring ground troops to Varna to defend against an expected Russian attack across the Danube. The Ottoman fleet then returned to Batumi, where it remained largely inactive. During a patrol on 25 August, Feth-i Bülend encountered the Russian yacht Livadia, but the Russian vessel fled before Feth-i Bülend could close to effective range.[6]

Inactivity in the 1880s and 1890s

Following the Ottoman defeat in 1878, the ship was laid up in

naval attache to the Ottoman Empire at the time estimated that the Imperial Arsenal would take six months to get just five of the ironclads ready to go to sea. Throughout this period, the ship's crew was limited to about one-third the normal figure. During a period of tension with Greece in 1886, the fleet was brought to full crews and the ships were prepared to go to sea, but none actually left the Golden Horn, and they were quickly laid up again. By that time, most of the ships were capable of little more than 4 to 6 knots (7.4 to 11.1 km/h; 4.6 to 6.9 mph).[7]

The fleet remained inactive at the Golden Horn for twenty years, though in October 1889, Feth-i Bülend left the Golden Horn to escort the

Greek Navy.[9]

Reconstruction and loss

Following the end of the war, the government decided to begin a naval reconstruction program. The first stage was to rebuild the older armored warships, including Feth-i Bülend. The Ottomans contacted several foreign shipyards; initially, Krupp's

15 cm SK L/40 guns were mounted in the casemate, and six 75 mm (3 in) guns and six 57 mm (2.2 in) guns were installed on the upper deck.[10]

At the outbreak of the

Salonica's harbor. The guns were manned by 90 of the ship's crew. The ship itself was converted to a barracks ship. At the time of the outbreak of the First Balkan War on 18 October 1912, the ship's commander was Captain (Binbaşi) Aziz Mahmut Bey, who also functioned as the naval garrison commander. On the night of 31 October, the Greek torpedo boat No. 11 passed by the shore batteries and searchlights and through the mine barrages at 22:20. She launched three torpedoes at 23:30 against Feth-i Bülend. One torpedo missed, hitting the quay, but the two others hit the ship, causing her to capsize and sink. Seven of its crew, including the ship's imam, were killed in the sinking, while the Greek vessel exited the harbor by the same route without further incident.[12]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Lyon, p. 390.
  2. ^ a b c d Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 138.
  3. ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 198.
  4. ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 3, 5, 138.
  5. ^ Sturton, p. 138.
  6. ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 6.
  7. ^ Sturton, pp. 138, 144.
  8. ^ a b Sturton, p. 144.
  9. ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 6–9.
  10. ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 10–11, 138.
  11. ^ Beehler, p. 12.
  12. ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 19–20.

References

  • Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute.
    OCLC 1408563
    .
  • Langensiepen, Bernd & Güleryüz, Ahmet (1995). The Ottoman Steam Navy 1828–1923. London: Conway Maritime Press.
    ISBN 978-0-85177-610-1
    .
  • Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Turkey". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 388–394.
    ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5
    .
  • Sturton, Ian. "Through British Eyes: Constantinople Dockyard, the Ottoman Navy, and the Last Ironclad, 1876–1909". Warship International. 57 (2). Toledo: International Naval Research Organization.
    ISSN 0043-0374
    .

Further reading

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