The Kushimoto Turkish Memorial and Museum (), aka Frigate ''Ertuğrul'' Memorial and Museum (), is a monument and a museum to commemorate the sailors of the Ottoman frigate ''Ertuğrul'', which sunk in 1890 off

Kushimoto, Wakayama 270px, Shionomisaki Southernmost Point Park is a coastal town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,192 in 8354 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The t ...

in Japan.

Background

''Ertuğrul'' was an 1863-built sailing

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

of the

Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...

. She left

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

on July 14, 1889, with around 600 sailors and officers on board for an official visit to Japan. She completed her visit on September 16, 1890, after a three-month stay, and set sail from

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

for return. Around midnight on September 16, the vessel hit reefs and fell apart in stormy weather. She sank off Kii Ōshima while only six officers and 63 sailors survived, most of them with injuries. The survivors were transported home aboard two Japanese

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

s in October 1890, who were received by the sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

in January 1891.

Cemetery and monument

In February 1891, 150 bodies recovered from the wreckage were buried in a newly established cemetery. On September 15, 1891, the first anniversary of the disaster, a monument was erected far from the site of the accident, near the Kashinozaki Lighthouse of Kushimoto. A second memorial stone was erected by the Japanese-Turkish Trade Association on April 5, 1929, and visited by

Emperor Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

on June 3 the same year. After this information reached Turkey, its government proposed a new monument. The construction started on October 22, 1936, and the opening ceremony took place on June 3, 1937, with attendance by the Turkish ambassador.

Museum

A museum was established near the memorial in cooperation with the Kushimoto Municipality and the Turkish Embassy in Japan. It was opened on December 14, 1974. In the museum, objects initially recovered from the wreckage by the fishermen, belongings and photographs of the ship's officers and the seamen as well as a

ship model Ship models or model ships are scale models of ships. They can range in size from 1/6000 scale wargaming miniatures to large vessels capable of holding people. Ship modeling is a craft as old as shipbuilding itself, stretching back to ancient ...

of the frigate are on display. Later, a corner was added to the museum devoted to

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Also items sent from Kushimoto's

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

in Turkey,

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

and Yakakent, are exhibited in the museum.

Visitor attraction

Turkish Memorial and Museum Kushimoto Wakayama pref Japan01-b

The Turkish memorial and museum are a visitor attraction in

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: * Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan * Wakayama (city), the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan * Wakayama Station, a train station in Wakayama, Wakayama * Wakayama University, a national university in Wakayama, ...

region. The venue ranks first in the must-see list of the local municipality. It is also the third most-visited place. Admission to the monument is free. The museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00 hours local time. Turkish high officials pay tribute at the monument and the memorial cemetery during their visit to Japan.

Monument in Turkey

The "Association of Turkish-Japanese Friendship and Frigate ''Ertuğrul'' Martyrs' in Ünye" erected a monument in Topyanı neighborhood of

Ünye Ünye (''Oinòe'', Οἰνόη in ancient Greek) is a municipality and district of Ordu Province, Turkey. Its area is 569 km2, and its population is 132,432 (2022). It is on the Black Sea coast, 76 km west of the city of Ordu. Geography ...

, a town at the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

province of

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital of Ordu Province. The city forms the urban part of the Altınordu, Ordu, Altınordu district, with a population of 235,096 in 2023. Name Kotyora, the origina ...

, northern Turkey in commemoration of native sailors, who were on board the sunken ship. The opening ceremony was held on September 14, 2014, the 124th anniversary of the disaster, in presence of the Ambassador of Japan to Turkey, Turkish high-ranked local officials and the crew of the Turkish frigate TCG ''Oruçreis'' (F-245) representing the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

References

External links

{{commons category, Turkish Memorial and Museum (Kushimoto, Japan) Buildings and structures completed in 1929 Buildings and structures in Kushimoto, Wakayama Cemeteries in Japan Japan–Turkey relations Monuments and memorials in Japan Museums established in 1974 Museums in Wakayama Prefecture Naval history of the Ottoman Empire Naval museums Tourist attractions in Wakayama Prefecture Turkish military memorials and cemeteries outside Turkey Maritime museums in Japan 1929 establishments in Japan 1974 establishments in Japan