Ottoman ironclad Mesudiye
Ottoman ironclad Mesudiye
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Class overview | |
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Name | Mesudiye class |
Operators | Ottoman Navy |
Preceded by | Iclaliye |
Succeeded by | Hamidiye |
History | |
Ottoman Empire | |
Name | Mesudiye |
Builder | Thames Ironworks |
Laid down | 1872 |
Launched | 28 October 1874 |
Commissioned | December 1875 |
Fate | Sunk, 13 December 1914, by British submarine B-11 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Central-battery ironclad |
Displacement | 8,938 metric tons (8,797 long tons) |
Length | 101.02 m (331 ft 5 in) |
Beam | 17.98 m (59.0 ft) |
Draft | 7.9 m (25 ft 11 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 13.7 kn (25.4 km/h; 15.8 mph) |
Complement | 700 |
Armament |
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Armor |
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General characteristics (1903 reconstruction) | |
Class and type | Pre-dreadnought battleship |
Displacement | 9,120 t (8,980 long tons; 10,050 short tons) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
Complement | 800 |
Armament |
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Mesudiye (
Mesudiye was poorly maintained for most of her career, including a twenty-year long period between the
The ship saw extensive action during the
Design
In the aftermath of the
General characteristics and machinery
Mesudiye was 101.02 meters (331 ft 5 in) long, and she had a beam of 17.98 m (59 ft) and a draft of 7.9 m (25 ft 11 in). She displaced 8,938 metric tons (8,797 long tons) as originally built. Her hull was constructed with iron, and was fitted with a ram bow. The ship had a minimal superstructure that included a short forecastle deck and a poop deck. She had a crew of 700 officers and enlisted men.[3][4]
The ship was powered by a single horizontal, two-cylinder
Armament and armor
Mesudiye was armed with a main battery of twelve
Armor protection consisted of iron plate; the armored belt had a maximum thickness of 305 mm (12 in) in the central portion of the ship, where it protected machinery and ammunition magazines, and was reduced on either end, first to 127 mm (5 in) and then to 76 mm. The thickest part of the belt extended 1.5 m (5 ft) below the waterline and 1.2 m (4 ft) above the line, and was composed of three strakes. The middle strake was the thickest, the upper strake was reduced slightly to 254 mm (10 in), and the lower one was 230 mm (9 in) and tapered to 150 mm (5.9 in). The gun battery was protected by another two strakes of armor, the lower being 254 mm thick and the upper reduced to 178 mm (7 in).[3][4]
Service history
Mesudiye, meaning "Happiness",
In September 1876, Mesudiye became the
During this period of inactivity, Mesudiye received a minor modernization at the
Reconstruction
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 Mesudiye. Requests for proposals were sent to foreign shipyards, and in October 1898 the
The modernization involved radical reconstruction of the hull; the bow and stern were cut down to make room for a pair of gun turrets, each mounting a single 230 mm (9 in) 40-caliber gun manufactured by Vickers. The turrets had 230 mm thick armored faces, though they never received their guns; wooden dummy guns were installed in their place. A battery of twelve 150 mm (5.9 in) 45-caliber QF guns was installed in place of the old rifled muzzle-loaders, and sixteen 76 mm QF guns were added in an upper battery. Mesudiye also received ten 57 mm (2.2 in) guns and a pair of 47 mm (1.9 in) guns.[3]
A large superstructure was built amidships, with a new
Italo-Turkish and Balkan Wars
In 1909, she participated in the first fleet maneuver conducted by the
In October 1912, the Balkan League declared war on the Ottomans, a month before the Italo-Turkish War ended. At the time, Mesudiye was moored off Büyükdere, a neighborhood in Constantinople, with the torpedo boats Hamidâbad and Kütahya, stationed as a guard ship. In December, the Ottoman fleet was reorganized, with Mesudiye joining the newly formed Battleship Division, under the command of Ramiz Naman Bey. The division also included Barbaros Hayreddin, Turgut Reis, and Asar-i Tevfik. The ship was moved to Büyükçekmece on 15 November, where she joined the rest of the fleet.[19] Two days later, Mesudiye and Barbaros Hayreddin conducted shore bombardments in support of the Ottoman troops holding the Çatalca Line; the bombardments did not cause particularly significant material damage to the attacking Bulgarians, but it did boost Ottoman morale.[18][20]
Battle of Elli
The ships took part in the Battle of Elli, the first Ottoman surface action involving major warships since the Russo-Turkish War, on 16 December 1912.[21] The Ottoman fleet sortied from the Dardanelles at 9:30; the smaller craft remained at the mouth of the straits while the battleships sailed north, hugging the coast. The Greek flotilla, which included the armored cruiser Georgios Averof and three Hydra-class ironclads, sailing from the island of Lemnos, altered course to the northeast to block the advance of the Ottoman battleships.[22] The Ottoman ships opened fire on the Greeks at 9:40, from a range of about 15,000 yd (14,000 m). Five minutes later, Georgios Averof crossed over to the other side of the Ottoman fleet, placing the Ottomans in the unfavorable position of being under fire from both sides.[23]
At 9:50 and under heavy pressure from the Greek fleet, the Ottoman ships completed a 16-point turn (180°), which reversed their course, and headed for the safety of the straits. The turn was poorly executed, and the ships fell out of formation, blocking each other's fields of fire. Barbaros Hayreddin, Turgut Reis, and Mesudiye took several hits during the battle, though only Barbaros Hayreddin was significantly damaged. By 10:17, both sides had ceased firing and the Ottoman fleet withdrew into the Dardanelles. When they approached the straits, Mesudiye and Asar-i Tevfik took up positions to cover the withdrawal of the damaged pre-dreadnoughts. The ships reached port by 13:00 and transferred their casualties to the hospital ship Resit Paşa.[23]
Battle of Lemnos
In late December, the Ottomans began a campaign of raids and patrols in the
The Ottoman fleet departed the Dardanelles at 8:20 on the morning of 18 January, and sailed toward the island of Lemnos at a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph). Barbaros Hayreddin led the line of battleships, with a flotilla of torpedo boats on either side of the formation. A long range artillery duel that lasted for two hours began at around 11:55, when the Ottoman fleet opened fire at a range of 8,000 m (26,000 ft). They concentrated their fire on the Greek Georgios Averof, which returned fire at 12:00. At 12:50, the Greeks attempted to cross the T of the Ottoman fleet, but Barbaros Hayreddin turned north to block the Greek maneuver. At around that time, Mesudiye took a serious hit that disabled three of her 150 mm guns; this damage, coupled with boiler trouble, led the Ottoman commander to detach the ship and send her back to port.[25]
On 5 February, Mesudiye supported operations off Şarköy in the Sea of Marmara, bombarding Bulgarian troops that had occupied the town. This was the last wartime operation conducted by the ship; she did not participate in the amphibious assault on Şarköy three days later. The Ottoman fleet then spent the remaining months of the war in port, until the armistice ended the conflict in April.[26]
World War I
In late July 1914, World War I broke out in Europe, though the Ottomans initially remained neutral. On 6 September 1914, Mesudiye was sent to Nara to protect the minefields guarding the entrance to the Dardanelles. She was supported by the minelayer Nusret and the tug Intibah. Tensions between the Ottomans and a British fleet patrolling the entrance to the Dardanelles increased until 5 November, when Britain and France declared war on the Ottoman Empire.[27]
On the morning of 13 December, the British submarine
Mesudiye's salvaged 150 mm guns were installed as "Battery Mesudiye" in the Dardanelles.[31] These guns played a role in the sinking of the French battleship Bouvet on 18 March 1915, having hit the ship eight times—one of which disabled her forward turret[32]—before she struck a mine and sank with very heavy loss of life.[33]
Notes
- ^ Lyon, pp. 388–389.
- ^ a b Sondhaus, p. 123.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Lyon, p. 391.
- ^ a b c Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 134.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 135.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 197.
- ^ a b Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 134–135.
- ^ "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 28423. London. 17 September 1875. col C, p. 7.
- ^ Sturton, p. 138.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 5–8.
- ^ Sturton, pp. 138, 144.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 8–9, 135.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 10.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 218.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 10, 135.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 14, 20.
- ^ Beehler, p. 12.
- ^ a b Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 20.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 18, 20–22, 25.
- ^ Erickson, p. 133.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 219.
- ^ a b Fotakis, p. 50.
- ^ a b Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 22.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 23–24.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 25.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 27, 30.
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 34.
- ^ Halpern, p. 119.
- ^ Corbett, p. 73.
- ^ Corbett, p. 161.
- ^ Lyon, p. 294.
- ^ Corbett, p. 218.
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.
- OCLC 924170059.
- Erickson, Edward J. (2003). Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912–1913. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-97888-4.
- Fotakis, Zisis (2005). Greek Naval Strategy and Policy, 1910–1919. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-35014-3.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-352-7.
- 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.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21478-0.
- 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.
External links
- Mesudiye, in Turkey in the First World War web site.