''Nusret'' was a naval ship 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 ...

, which served as a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

during the Gallipoli Campaign, and later fulfilled various roles in 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 ...

; as minelayer (1927–1937), diver vessel (1937–1939) and tender (1939–1955). She was laid down in 1911 and launched from Schiff & Maschinenbau AG 'Germania' at

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

on 4 December of that year.

Characteristics

''Nusret'' was 40.2 meters long and displaced 365 tons. Her beam was 7.57 meters and her draught was 3.4 meters. Her propulsion was two vertical triple expansion steam engines powered by two Schultz boilers, driving twin screws. This system was designed to propel her at 15 knots, but when she arrived at Istanbul in 1913 she could only make 13 knots. She was designed on the basis of a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, but with mine rails for forty mines on the stern instead of bollards and winches. A crane was mounted on the back end of her superstructure, aft of the funnel, to assist in loading the mines. Aside from the mines, her armament consisted of two 47mm SK L/45 C/99 quick-firing guns mounted on platforms on either side of the bridge, manufactured by Krupp in Germany. In 1927 these guns were replaced by 57mm variants of the same weapon; also in 1927 her mine rails were extended to hold twenty extra mines.

Service history

''Nusret'' was commissioned into the Ottoman Navy in 1913, captained by Lieutenant Tophaneli Hakki (Güverte Kıdemli Yüzbaşı Tophaneli İbrahim oğlu Hakkı) under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Geehl. ''Nusret'' played a pivotal role in the Dardanelles Campaign, laying 26 mines in an unexpected position in February 1915 just prior to the ill-fated invasion which sank , , and the French battleship and left the British battlecruiser badly damaged. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, ''Nusret'' was laid up in Istanbul until 1926-7 when she was refitted at Gölcük. In 1937, she became the diving vessel ''Yardin'' and, in 1939, reverted to ''Nusret'' as a tender. In 1955, she was decommissioned and again laid up, with the intention to convert her to a museum ship. However, in 1962, she was sold to commercial buyers who had her converted to a cargo motorship, unrecognisable as the former minelayer, entering service as ''Kaptan Nusret'' in 1966. In April 1989, she sank near Mersin Harbour and lay submerged for 10 years.

Wreck discovery

In 2002, the wreck of ''Nusret'' was acquired by the Municipality of Tarsus,

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

for reconstruction ashore as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

, opened in 2008. A replica ''Nusret'' has been built by the Gölcük Naval Shipyard to be displayed in

Çanakkale Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

along with the types of mines that it laid in World War I. In March 2011, this ''Nusret'' was commissioned into the Turkish Navy as the museum ship N-16.

References

Bibliography

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External links