SMS Goeben

A large gray warship steams at full speed; thick black smoke pours from its two funnels.
SMS Goeben
Career (German Empire) Kaiser
Name: Goeben
Namesake: August Karl von Goeben
Ordered: 8 April 1909
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Laid down: 28 August 1909
Launched: 28 March 1911
Commissioned: 2 July 1912
Fate: Transferred to the Ottoman Empire 16 August 1914
Career (Ottoman Empire) Ottoman Navy Ensign
Name: Yavuz Sultan Selim
Namesake: Selim I
Acquired: 16 August 1914
Commissioned: 16 August 1914
Decommissioned: 20 December 1950
Renamed: Yavuz in 1936
Struck: 14 November 1954
Fate: Scrapped in 1973
General characteristics
Class and type: Moltke-class battlecruiser
Displacement: Design: 22,979 t (22,616 long tons)
Full load: 25,400 t (25,000 long tons)[1]
Length: 186.6 m (612 ft 2 in)[1]
Beam: 30 m (98 ft 5 in)[1]
Draft: 9.2 m (30 ft 2 in)[1]
Installed power: Design: 52,000 hp (39,000 kW)
Maximum: 85,782 hp (63,968 kW)[2]
Propulsion: 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines
Speed: Design: 25.5 kn (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph)
Maximum: 28.4 kn (52.6 km/h; 32.7 mph)[1]
Range: 4,120 nmi (7,630 km; 4,740 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)[1]
Complement: 43 officers
1,010 men[1]
Armament: 10 × 28 cm (11 in) /50 caliber guns (5 × 2)
12 × 15 cm (5.9 in) guns
12 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns[1]
Armor: Belt: 280–100 mm (11–3.9 in)
Barbettes: 230 mm (9.1 in)
Turrets: 230 mm
Deck: 76.2–25.4 mm (3–1 in)
Conning tower: 350 mm (14 in)[3]

SMS Goeben was the second Moltke-class battlecruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy), launched in 1911 and named after the German Franco-Prussian War veteran General August von Goeben. Goeben, along with her sister ship Moltke, was an enlarged version of the previous German battlecruiser design, Von der Tann. The ship was very similar to Von der Tann, but had increased armor protection and two more main guns in an additional turret. Compared to her British rivals—the Indefatigable class—Goeben and her sister Moltke were significantly larger and better armored.[Note 1]

Following her commissioning in 1912, Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau formed the German Mediterranean Division (German: Mittelmeer-Division) later that year to secure a German presence in the area during the Balkan Wars. After the outbreak of World War I on 28 July 1914, Goeben and Breslau evaded British naval forces in the Mediterranean and reached Constantinople. The two ships were transferred to the Ottoman Empire on 16 August 1914, and renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and Midilli, respectively. Yavuz Sultan Selim, frequently referred to as Yavuz for short, became the flagship of the Ottoman Navy. In 1936 she was officially renamed TCG 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.

The last surviving ship of the Imperial German Navy, Goeben was scrapped in 1973, after the German government declined an invitation to buy her back from Turkey. She was the longest-serving dreadnought.[4]

Contents

Construction

For more details on this topic, see Moltke class battlecruiser.

The Kaiserliche Marine ordered Goeben, the third German battlecruiser, on 8 April 1909 under the provisional name "H" from the Blohm und Voss shipyard in Hamburg, under construction number 201. Her keel was laid on 19 August; the hull was completed and ready to be launched on 28 March 1911. Fitting out work followed her launch, after which she was commissioned into the German Navy, on 2 July 1912.[1]

Goeben was 186.6 meters (612 ft 2 in) long, 29.4 m (96 ft) wide, and had a draft of 9.19 m (30 ft 2 in) fully loaded. The ship displaced 22,616 t (22,259 long tons) normally, and 25,300 t (24,900 long tons) fully loaded. Goeben was powered by four-shaft Parsons steam turbines in two sets and 24 coal-fired Schulz-Thornycroft water-tube boilers, which provided a rated 52,000 shp (39,000 kW) and a top speed of 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph). At 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph), the ship had a range of 4,120 nautical miles (7,630 km; 4,740 mi).[1]

The ship was armed with a main battery of ten 28 cm (11 in) guns in five twin gun turrets. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) guns in casemates in the central portion of the ship, twelve 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns arranged around the forward conning tower and in both the bow and stern of the ship. She was also equipped with four 50 cm (20 in) submerged torpedo tubes.[1]

Balkan Wars

Main article: First Balkan War

When the First Balkan War broke out in October 1912 the German General Staff determined that a naval Mediterranean Division was needed to give Germany the ability to project power in the Mediterranean. The staff therefore dispatched Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau to Constantinople. The two ships left Kiel on 4 November and arrived on 15 November 1912. From 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.[5]

On 29 June 1913, the Second Balkan War broke out. As a result, the Mediterranean Division would need to remain in the area. On 23 October 1913, Konteradmiral 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.[5] The Navy intended on replacing Goeben with her sister Moltke in June 1914, but the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Bosnia on 28 June 1914 and the subsequent rise in tensions between the Great Powers made this impossible.[6]

In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, Admiral Souchon correctly assessed that war was imminent between the Central Powers and the Triple Entente. As a result, he ordered his ships to make for Pola for repairs.[5] Engineers came from Germany to work on the ship.[7] Goeben had 4,460 boiler tubes replaced, among other repairs. Upon completion, the ships departed for Messina.[5]

World War I

The pursuit of Goeben and Breslau

A large, light gray warship sits in harbor, the two forward gun barrels are turned slightly to the left.
Goeben in port, date unknown

In the event of war, Kaiser Wilhelm II had ordered Goeben and Breslau to either conduct raids in the western Mediterranean or break out into the Atlantic and attempt to return to German waters, upon the squadron commander's discretion.[8] The Kaiser's intention was to cut off French troops from North Africa being returned to Europe.[7] On 3 August, the two ships were en route to Algeria when Souchon received word of the formal declaration of war against France. Goeben bombarded Philippeville for about 10 minutes early on 3 August while Breslau shelled Bône in accordance with the Kaiser's order.[9] However, Admirals Alfred von Tirpitz and Hugo von Pohl transmitted secret orders to Souchon instructing him to instead sail to Constantinople.[8]

Aware that Goeben could not reach Constantinople without coaling, Souchon decided to return to Messina for more coal. While sailing to port, the Germans encountered the two British battlecruisers HMS Indefatigable and Indomitable, but as Germany was not yet at war with Britain, no violence ensued. The British turned to follow Goeben, but she was able to outrun them, 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.[9] However, Italian naval authorities in the port were displeased with the decision to remain neutral, and ultimately allowed Goeben and Breslau to remain in port for around 36 hours, during which time the ships coaled from a German collier.[10] Despite the additional time, Goeben's fuel stocks were not sufficiently full to permit the voyage to Constantinople. Therefore, Souchon arranged to rendezvous with another collier in the Aegean Sea.[9] The French naval commander in the Mediterranean, Admiral Laperèyer, was convinced the Germans would either try to join the Austrians in Pola or break out into the Atlantic. As a result, the French fleet remained in the western Mediterranean to prevent any attempt at a break out.[11]

Souchon's two ships departed Messina early on 6 August through the southern entrance to the strait and then headed for the eastern Mediterranean. The two British battlecruisers were 100 miles away, while a third, Inflexible, was coaling in Bizerta. The only British naval force standing in Souchon's way was the 1st Cruiser Squadron,[12] which consisted of the four armored cruisers Defence, Black Prince, Duke of Edinburgh and Warrior under the command of Rear Admiral Ernest Troubridge.[13] 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 spotted the ships without being seen herself, and in the darkness, she and Goeben evaded their pursuers. By then convinced that any attempt to attack Goeben—armed with her big 28 cm guns—with his four older armored cruisers would be suicidal, Troubridge broke off the chase early on 7 August.[14] Souchon's journey to Constantinople was now clear.[15]

Goeben refilled her coal bunkers off the island of Denusa near Naxos.[15] At 17:00 on 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.[16] In order to circumvent neutrality requirements, Germany "transferred" the two ships to the Ottoman navy on 16 August. On 23 September, Souchon was offered command of the Turkish fleet. Goeben and Breslau, renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and Midilli, respectively, retained their German crews, though they donned Ottoman uniforms and fezzes.[17]

Black Sea operations

1914

A large warship is tied to the dock in a narrow channel of water.
Goeben in the Bosphorus in 1914

On 29 October Yavuz bombarded Sevastopol, her first operation against Imperial Russia, though the Ottoman Empire was not yet at war with the Entente. A 25.4 cm (10 in) shell struck the ship in the after funnel, but it failed to detonate and so did negligible damage.[18] Two other hits inflicted minor damage as well. Unknowingly the ship, and her escorts, passed through an inactive Russian minefield during the bombardment.[19] As she returned to Turkish waters, Yavuz came across the Russian minelayer Prut which scuttled itself[20] with 700 mines on board. During the engagement the escorting Russian destroyer Leitenant Pushchin was damaged by two of Yavuz's secondary battery 15 cm (5.9 in) shells. This operation forced the Ottomans into the war; in response to the bombardment, Russia declared war on 1 November. France and Great Britain bombarded the Turkish fortresses guarding the Dardanelles on 3 November, before formally declaring war on 5 November.[18] From this engagement, the Russians drew the conclusion that the entire Black Seas Fleet would have to remain consolidated so it could not be defeated in detail by Yavuz.[21]

Yavuz, escorted by Midilli, intercepted the Russian Black Sea Fleet 17 nautical miles (31 km; 20 mi) off the Crimean coastline on 18 November as it returned from a bombardment of Trebizond. Despite the noon hour the conditions were foggy and the capital ships initially did not spot each other. The Black Sea Fleet had experimented on concentrating fire from several ships under the control of a "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 (3,700 m) in excess of Evstafi's own estimate of 7,700 yards (7,000 m), so Evstafi opened fire using her own data before Yavuz turned to unmask its broadside.[22] She scored a hit with her first salvo as a 12-inch shell partially penetrated the armor casemate protecting one of Goeben's 15-centimetre (5.9 in) secondary guns. It detonated some of the ready-use ammunition, starting a fire that burnt out the casemate, killing the entire gun crew.[23] A total of thirteen men were killed and three were wounded.[18]

Yavuz returned fire shortly afterward 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, which meant 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 Goeben and failed to register any hits on the German ship. Goeben hit Evstafi four more times, although one shell failed to detonate,[23] before Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon decided to turn away and break contact after fourteen minutes of combat.[24] Yavuz only fired 19 28 cm (11 in) shells and killed 34 men and wounded 24 onboard Evstafi with her four hits.[25]

The following month, on 5–6 December, Yavuz and Midilli provided protection for troop transports, and four days later on 10 December, Yavuz bombarded Batum.[18] On 23 December, Yavuz and Hamidiye escorted three transports to Trebizond. While returning from another transport escort operation on 26 December, Yavuz struck two mines in quick succession about one nautical mile outside the Bosphorus.[26] The first mine exploded beneath the conning tower, on the starboard side. The explosion tore a 50-square-meter (540 sq ft) 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 (690 sq ft) hole. The bulkhead bowed in 30 cm (12 in) but retained watertight protection of the ship's interior. However, some 600 tons of water flooded the ship.[18] There was no dock in the Ottoman Empire large enough to service Yavuz, and so temporary repairs were effected. The work was done though the construction of steel cofferdams, which were then 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.[26]

1915

Yavuz, still damaged from the last month's mining, sortied from the Bosphorus to cover the approach of Midilli and the protected cruiser Hamidiye, which were fleeing the Russian fleet, on 28 January. On 7 February, Yavuz conducted another such operation to receive Midilli. Afterwards, Yavuz underwent repair work on the mine damage; work was finished by May.[26]

On 1 April Yavuz, on which repairs had not yet been completed, left the Bosphorus in company with Breslau 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 (24 km) east to the approaches of the Dnieper-Bug Liman that led to Nikolayev. As they sailed west after discovering the problem Mecidiye struck a mine and sank, so this attack had to be aborted.[27] However, the two German ships appeared off Sevastopol which brought out the Black Sea Fleet. Yavuz and Midilli sank two cargo steamers before the Russian fleet had gotten close enough to warrant a withdrawal. The Russians chased Yavuz and Midilli all day, and after darkness had fallen detached several destroyers to attempt a torpedo attack. Only one destroyer, the Gnevny, was able to close the distance and launch an attack, which missed. Yavuz and Midilli successfully evaded the Russian fleet and returned to the Bosphorus.[28]

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 headed south to the Dardanelles to bombard Allied troops at Gallipoli, accompanied by the pre-dreadnought battleship Togut Reis. They were spotted at dawn by a kite balloon as they were getting into position. A seaplane from the British cruiser Doris signalled that the two Turkish ships were firing so the kite balloon was sent up again to spot for the dreadnought Queen Elizabeth. The first 15-inch (380 mm) round from the British ship was accurate enough that Yavuz moved close to the cliffs where Queen Elizabeth could not engage her any further.[29] On 30 April Yavuz tried again, but was spotted again by 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.[30]

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. On 7–8 May, Yavuz sortied from the Bosphorus in search of Russian ships as far as Sevastopol. She failed to locate any Russians and was too short of main gun ammunition to bombard Sevastopol. While returning from this sortie on the morning of 10 May, Yavuz spotted two Russian pre-dreadnoughts, Tri Sviatitelia and Pantelimon and opened fire. Within the first ten minutes the ship had been hit twice, although she was not seriously damaged. Admiral Souchon disengaged and headed for the Bosphorus, pursued by Russian light forces.[31] Later that month two of the ship's 15 cm guns were landed for use ashore.[1] The four 8.8 cm guns in the after superstructure were removed at the same time.[32] Four 8.8 cm anti-aircraft were installed on the aft superstructure by the end of 1915.[33]

A large warship plows through the water, thick black smoke pouring from its two central smoke stacks.
Yavuz steaming at full speed

On 18 July, Midilli struck a mine; the ship took on some 600 long tons (610 t) of water and was no longer able to escort coal convoys from Zonguldak to the Bosphorus. As a result, Yavuz was assigned to the task. On 10 August, she escorted a convoy of five transports, along with Hamidiye and three torpedo boats. During transit, the convoy was attacked by the Russian submarine Tyulen, which managed to sink one of the colliers. The following day, Tyulen and another submarine tried to attack Yavuz as well, though with no success.[34]

Two Russian destroyers, Bystry and Pronzitelni, attacked a Turkish convoy escorted by Hamidiye and two torpedo boats on 5 September. Hamidiye's 15 cm (5.9 in) guns broke down under the strain of combat, and the Turks were forced to summon Yavuz. The battlecruiser left the Bosphorus as quickly as she could, but by the time Yavuz arrived on the scene, the Russian destroyers had forced the Turkish colliers to beach themselves on the coast.[34]

On 21 September, Yavuz 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.[35] By the end of the summer, the completion of two new Russian dreadnought battleships, Imperatritsa Mariya and Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya further curtailed the ability of Yavuz to act freely.[36]

1916–17

Several men in military uniforms, some wearing the Turkish Fez, aboard a warship; a large, boxy gun turret is on the right.
Kaiser Wilhelm II visiting Goeben in October 1917

Admiral Souchon sent Yavuz to Zonguldak on 8 January to protect an approaching empty collier from Russian destroyers in the area. However, the Russians intercepted and sank the transport ship before the scheduled rendezvous with Yavuz. While 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 18,500 meters. Yavuz turned to the southwest; in the first four minutes of the engagement she fired five salvos from her main guns. Neither ship scored any hits, though shell splinters from near misses did strike Yavuz. The Turkish battlecruiser was able to use her superior speed to escape from the powerful Russian battleship.[37][Note 2]

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, along with a mountain artillery battery, machine gun and aviation units, 1,000 rifles, and 300 cases of munitions to Trebizond on 4 February.[38] 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.[39] Another landing took place at Kavata Bay, some 5 miles east of Trebizond, in June.[40] In late June, the Turks counterattacked and penetrated around 20 miles 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.[41] Aware that the two Russian dreadnoughts had left Sevastopol to try to attack Yavuz and Midilli, the Turkish ships sailed northward to circle back behind the Russians and return to the Bosphorus.[42] Yavuz was docked for repairs to her propeller shafts until September upon her return.[43]

The coal shortage continued to worsen until Admiral Souchon was forced to suspend operations by Yavuz and Midilli through 1917.[44] It wasn't until an armistice between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was signed in December 1917 following the Bolshevik revolution earlier that year—formalized in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918—that coal could again be supplied from eastern Turkey.[45]

1918

On 20 January 1918, Yavuz and Midilli left the Dardanelles, under the command of Vice Admiral Rebeur-Paschwitz, who had replaced Souchon the previous September. Rebeur-Paschwitz's intention was to draw Allied naval forces away from Palestine to indirectly support Turkish forces there.[45] Outside the straits, in the course of what became known as the Battle of Imbros, Yavuz surprised and sank the monitors Raglan 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.[46] While en route, Midilli struck several mines and sank;[45] Yavuz hit three mines as well.[47] Retreating to the Dardanelles and followed by the British destroyers HMS Lizard and Tigress,[48] she beached near Nagara Point just outside the Dardanelles.[45] 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 light aircraft couldn't carry bombs 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 10 rounds before she was forced to withdraw by Turkish artillery fire.[49] The submarine E14 was sent to destroy the stricken ship, but was too late;[50] the old ex-German pre-dreadnought Turgut Reis had towed Yavuz off and returned her to the safety of Constantinople.[51] Yavuz was crippled by the extensive damage; cofferdams were again built around the hull in order to begin repairs.[52] However, only one of the three mine holes were repaired at this time.[47] The work lasted from 7 August to 19 October.[51]

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 was docked, had her bottom cleaned and some leaks were 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 afterwards. On 14 July the ship was laid up for the rest of the war.[53]

The German navy formally transferred ownership of the vessel to the Turkish government on 2 November.[54] According to the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres between the Ottoman Empire and the Western Allies, Yavuz was to be handed over to the Royal Navy as war reparations. However, the Turkish War of Independence, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, eventually created a new Turkish state; the Treaty of Sèvres was discarded, and the Treaty of Lausanne was signed in its place. Under the terms of this treaty, the new Turkish republic regained possession of much its fleet, including Yavuz.[55]

Post-war service

A large warship sits motionless in harbor against the backdrop of a large city.
Yavuz in Istanbul during the visit of the American battleship USS Missouri in 1946.

During the 1920s Turkey's naval policies, like much else concerning the country, was in a state of flux. However, a commitment to refurbish Yavuz so that she could serve as the centerpiece of the new country's fleet was the only constant element of the various naval policies which were put forward.[56] The battlecruiser remained in İzmit until 1926; during this period she was neglected.[57][58][59] By 1926 she was in very bad shape; only two boilers worked, she could not steer or steam and she still had two unrepaired holes from her mining in 1918. Enough money was raised by this time 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.[60] The French company Atelier et Chantiers de St. Nazaire-Penhöet was contracted in December 1926 to oversee the subsequent refit, which was done by the Turkish company T.C. Deniz Kuvetlari Gölcük Tersane.[58] 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, was convicted of embezzlement in the resulting investigation.[60] 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 chages. 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.[61] In addition, the Turks ordered four destroyers and two submarines from Italian shipyards.[62] The Greek Government proposed a ten-year 'holiday' from naval building modeled on the Washington Treaty when it learned that Yavuz was to be brought back to 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.[63]

Over the course of the refit, the two remaining mine holes from Yavuz's last operation off the Dardanelles were finally repaired.[47] Her displacement was increased to 23,100 t (22,700 long tons), and the hull was slightly reworked. She was reduced in length by a half meter but her beam increased slightly by 10 cm (4 in). Yavuz was equipped with new boilers and a French fire control system for her main battery guns. Two of the 15 cm guns were removed from their casemate positions.[57] Despite these modifications, her armor protection was not upgraded to take the lessons of the Battle of Jutland into account, and she had only 2 inches (5.1 cm) of armor above her magazines.[59] Yavuz was recommissioned in 1930, resuming her role as flagship of the Turkish Navy,[64] and performed better than expected in her speed trials; her subsequent gunnery and fire control trials were also highly successful. The four destroyers, which were needed to protect the battlecruiser, entered service between 1931 and 1932 but their performance never met design specifications.[65] In response to Yavuz's return to service, the Soviet Union transferred the battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna and light cruiser Profintern from the Baltic Sea in late 1929 to ensure that the Black Sea Fleet retained parity with the Turkish Navy.[62] The Greek Government also responded by ordering two destroyers.[66]

In 1933, she took Prime Minister İsmet İnönü from Varna to Istanbul and conveyed the Shah of Iran from Trebizond to Samsun the following year.[64] Yavuz Sultan Selim had her name officially shortened to Yavuz in 1936. Another short refit was conducted in 1938, and in November that year she carried the remains of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from Istanbul to İzmit.[57][58] She and the other ships of the Navy were considered outdated by the British Naval Attache by 1937, partly because they were lacking in anti-aircraft armament, but in 1938 the Turkish government began planning to expand the force.[67] 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 eventuate, however, as the foreign shipyards which were to build the ships concentrated on the needs of their own nations in the lead up to World War II.[68]

Yavuz remained in service throughout World War II. In November 1939 she and Parizhskaya Kommuna remained 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.[69] In 1941, her anti-aircraft battery was strengthened to four 88 mm (3.5 in) guns, ten 40 mm (1.6 in) guns, and four 20 mm (0.79 in) guns. These were later increased to twenty-two 40 mm guns and twenty-four 20 mm guns.[57] On 5 April 1946, the American battleship USS Missouri, light cruiser Providence, and destroyer Power arrived in Istanbul to return the remains of Turkish ambassador Münir Ertegün.[70] Yavuz greeted the ships in the Bosphorus, where she and Missouri exchanged nineteen-gun salutes.[71] After 1948, the ship was stationed in either İzmit[57] or Gölcük.[58] She was decommissioned from active service on 20 December 1950 and stricken from the Navy register on 14 November 1954.[57][58] When Turkey joined NATO in 1952, the ship was assigned the hull number B70.[72] The Turkish government offered to sell the ship to the West German government in 1963, but the offer was rejected.[57] Turkey finally found a buyer for the old ship in 1971, when she was sold to M.K.E. Seyman for scrapping.[58] She was towed to these breakers on 7 June 1973; the work was completed in February 1976.[57][58]

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ↑ The Indefatigable-class ships displaced 22,100 t (21,800 LT; 24,400 ST) at full load, compared to 25,400 t (25,000 LT; 28,000 ST) for the Moltke-class. The Indefatigable-class ships had an armored belt between 4–6 in (100–150 mm), while Moltke's belt was 11–3 in (280–76 mm) thick. See: Gardiner & Gray, pp. 26, 152
  2. ↑ Curiously, Langensiepen & Güleryüz make no mention of this engagement.
Citations
  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Staff, p. 12
  2. ↑ Staff, p. 14
  3. ↑ Staff, p. 13
  4. ↑ Hough, p. 91
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Staff, p. 18
  6. ↑ Staff, p. 15
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Halpern, p. 51
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Herwig, p. 153
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Halpern, p. 52
  10. ↑ Bennett, p. 31
  11. ↑ Halpern, pp. 55–56
  12. ↑ Bennett, p. 33
  13. ↑ Bennett, p. 27
  14. ↑ Bennet, pp. 33–34
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Halpern, p. 56
  16. ↑ Bennett, pp. 35–36
  17. ↑ Halpern, pp. 57–58
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Staff, p. 19
  19. ↑ McLaughlin, p. 122
  20. ↑ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 44
  21. ↑ Halpern, p. 227
  22. ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 127–28
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 McLaughlin, pp. 131
  24. ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 129–30
  25. ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 131, 133
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Halpern, p. 228
  27. ↑ Nekrasov, pp. 51–52
  28. ↑ Halpern, p. 231
  29. ↑ Corbett, p. 359
  30. ↑ Corbett, p. 370
  31. ↑ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, pp. 47–48
  32. ↑ Campbell, p. 23
  33. ↑ Brice, p. 276
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Halpern, p. 234
  35. ↑ Halpern, p. 235
  36. ↑ Halpern, p. 236
  37. ↑ Halpern, p. 237
  38. ↑ Halpern, p. 241
  39. ↑ Halpern, p. 240
  40. ↑ Halpern, pp. 243–244
  41. ↑ Halpern, pp. 244–245
  42. ↑ Halpern, p. 245
  43. ↑ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 51
  44. ↑ Halpern, p. 248
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 Halpern, p. 255
  46. ↑ Buxton, pp. 36–37
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 Gardiner & Gray, p. 152
  48. ↑ Buxton, p. 38
  49. ↑ Hownam-Meek, R. S. S.; et al. (2000). "Question 3/99: The Loss of the German Light Cruiser Breslau". Warship International (Toledo, OH: International Naval Research Organization) XXXVII (1): 92–95. ISSN 0043-0374. 
  50. ↑ Halpern, pp. 255–256
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Staff, p. 20
  52. ↑ Halpern, p. 256
  53. ↑ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 54
  54. ↑ Halpern, p. 258
  55. ↑ Gardiner & Gray, p. 388
  56. ↑ Güvenç & Barlas, p. 7
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 57.4 57.5 57.6 57.7 Gardiner & Gray, p. 391
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 58.3 58.4 58.5 58.6 Whitley, p. 241
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 Worth, p. 271
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Brice, p. 277
  61. ↑ Barlas & Güvenç, p. 152
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 Rohwer & Monakov, p. 30
  63. ↑ Güvenç & Barlas, p. 10
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Brice, p. 278
  65. ↑ Güvenç & Barlas, pp. 19–20
  66. ↑ Barlas & Güvenç, p. 155
  67. ↑ Deringil, p. 35
  68. ↑ Güvenç & Barlas, pp. 27–28
  69. ↑ Eliot, George Fielding (6 November 1939). "Turkey Bestrides the Dardanelles". Life (Time Inc). ISSN 00243019. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=9kEEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Yavuz+life+magazine&lr=&cd=3#v=onepage&q=Yavuz%20&f=false. Retrieved 17 February 2010. 
  70. ↑ Stillwell, pp. 99–101
  71. ↑ Stillwell, p. 102
  72. ↑ Sturton, p. 147

References

Moltke-class battlecruiser

Moltke · Goeben
Preceded by: SMS Von der Tann - Followed by: SMS Seydlitz
List of German Imperial Navy ships
List of battlecruisers of Germany