SMS Weissenburg

Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristics

SMS Template:Efn was one of the first ocean-going battleships of the Imperial German Navy. She was the third pre-dreadnought of the Template:Sclass, which also included her sister ships Template:SMS, Template:SMS, and Template:SMS. was laid down in 1890 in the AG Vulcan dockyard in Stettin, launched in 1891, and completed in 1894. The -class battleships were unique for their era in that they carried six large-caliber guns in three twin turrets, as opposed to four guns in two turrets, as was the standard in other navies.

served with I Division during the first decade of her service with the fleet. This period was generally limited to training exercises and goodwill visits to foreign ports. These training maneuvers were nevertheless very important to developing German naval tactical doctrine in the two decades before World War I, especially under the direction of Alfred von Tirpitz. , along with her three sisters, saw only one major overseas deployment during this period, to China in 1900–1901, during the Boxer Uprising. The ship underwent a major modernization in 1904–1905.

In 1910, was sold to the Ottoman Empire and renamed , after the famous 16th century Turkish admiral. The ship saw heavy service during the Balkan Wars, primarily providing artillery support to Ottoman ground forces. She also took part in two naval engagements with the Greek Navy—the Battle of Elli in December 1912, and the Battle of Lemnos the following month. Both battles were defeats for the Ottoman Navy. After the Ottoman Empire entered World War I, she supported the fortresses protecting the Dardanelles through mid-1915, and was decommissioned from August 1915 to the end of the war. She served as a training ship from 1924 to 1933, and a barracks ship until 1950, when she was broken up.

Design

Line drawing for this type of ship; the vessel had three large gun turrets on the centerline and two thin smoke stacks.

As depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1902

was the third of four Template:Sclasss, the first pre-dreadnought battleships of the (Imperial Navy).Template:Sfn Prior to the ascension of Kaiser Wilhelm II to the German throne in June 1888, the German fleet had been largely oriented toward defense of the German coastline and Leo von Caprivi, chief of the (Imperial Naval Office), had ordered a number of coastal defense ships in the 1880s.Template:Sfn In August 1888, the Kaiser, who had a strong interest in naval matters, replaced Caprivi with (VAdm—Vice Admiral) Alexander von Monts and instructed him to include four battleships in the 1889–1890 naval budget. Monts, who favored a fleet of battleships over the coastal defense strategy emphasized by his predecessor, cancelled the last four coastal defense ships authorized under Caprivi and instead ordered four Template:Convert battleships. Though they were the first modern battleships built in Germany, presaging the Tirpitz-era High Seas Fleet, the authorization for the ships came as part of a construction program that reflected the strategic and tactical confusion of the 1880s caused by the (Young School).Template:Sfn

, named for the Battle of Weissenburg of 1870,Template:Sfn was Template:Cvt long overall, had a beam of Template:Cvt which was increased to Template:Cvt with the addition of torpedo nets, and had a draft of Template:Cvt forward and Template:Cvt aft. She displaced Template:Cvt as designed and up to Template:Cvt at full combat load. She was equipped with two sets of 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines that each drove a screw propeller. Steam was provided by twelve transverse cylindrical Scotch marine boilers. The ship's propulsion system was rated at Template:Convert and a top speed of Template:Convert. She had a maximum range of Template:Convert at a cruising speed of Template:Convert. Her crew numbered 38 officers and 530 enlisted men.Template:Sfn

The ship was unusual for its time in that it possessed a broadside of six heavy guns in three twin gun turrets, rather than the four-gun main battery typical of contemporary battleships.Template:Sfn The forward and after turrets carried 28 cm (11 in) K L/40 guns,Template:Efn while the amidships turret mounted a pair of 28 cm guns with shorter L/35 barrels. Her secondary armament consisted of eight [[10.5 cm SK L/35|Template:Cvt SK L/35]] quick-firing guns mounted in casemates and eight 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns, also casemate mounted. Template:'s armament system was rounded out with six Template:Cvt torpedo tubes, all in above-water swivel mounts.Template:Sfn Although the main battery was heavier than other capital ships of the period, the secondary armament was considered weak in comparison to other battleships.Template:Sfn

was protected with nickel-steel Krupp armor, a new type of stronger steel. Her main belt armor was Template:Convert thick in the central citadel that protected the ammunition magazines and machinery spaces. The deck was Template:Cvt thick. The main battery barbettes were protected with Template:Cvt thick armor.Template:Sfn

Service history

In German service

Construction – 1897

A large ship steaming at high speed, creating large bow waves

steaming at high speed, probably during her sea trials

was the third of four ships of the class. Ordered as armored ship "C",Template:Efn she was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin in May 1890 under construction number 199.Template:Sfn The third ship of the class to be launched, slid down the slipway on 30 June 1891. She was informally commissioned for sea trials on 28 August 1894, which lasted until 24 September. The ship formally entered service on 10 October, under the command of then- (Captain at Sea) Template:Ill with (Corvette Captain Eduard von Capelle as the executive officer. then underwent further trials, which ended on 12 January 1895, after which she was assigned to I Division of the Maneuver Squadron, where she was initially occupied with individual training. Toward the end of May, more fleet maneuvers were carried out in the North Sea, concluding with a visit by the fleet to Kirkwall in Orkney.Template:Sfn The squadron returned to Kiel in early June, where preparations were underway for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. Tactical exercises were carried out in Kiel Bay in the presence of foreign delegations to the opening ceremony.Template:Sfn

On 1 July, the German fleet began a major cruise into the Atlantic; on the return voyage in early August, the fleet stopped at the Isle of Wight for the Cowes Regatta. The fleet returned to Wilhelmshaven on 10 August and began preparations for the autumn maneuvers that would begin later that month. The first exercises began in the Helgoland Bight on 25 August. The fleet then steamed through the Skagerrak to the Baltic; heavy storms caused significant damage to many of the ships and the torpedo boat Template:SMS capsized and sank in the storms—only three men were saved. The fleet stayed briefly in Kiel before resuming maneuvers, including live-fire exercises, in the Kattegat and the Great Belt. The main maneuvers began on 7 September with a mock attack from Kiel toward the eastern Baltic. Subsequent maneuvers took place off the coast of Pomerania and in Danzig Bay. A fleet review for Kaiser Wilhelm II off Jershöft concluded the maneuvers on 14 September.Template:Sfn The year 1896 followed much the same pattern as the previous year. Individual ship training was conducted through April, followed by squadron training in the North Sea in late April and early May. This included a visit to the Dutch ports of Vlissingen and Nieuwediep. Additional maneuvers, which lasted from the end of May to the end of July, took the squadron further north in the North Sea, frequently into Norwegian waters. The ships visited Bergen from 11 to 18 May. During the maneuvers, Wilhelm II and the Chinese viceroy Li Hongzhang observed a fleet review off Kiel.Template:Sfn On 9 August, the training fleet assembled in Wilhelmshaven for the annual autumn fleet training.Template:Sfn

and the rest of the fleet operated under the normal routine of individual and unit training in the first half of 1897.Template:Sfn The typical routine was interrupted in early August when Wilhelm II and Augusta went to visit the Russian imperial court at Kronstadt; both divisions of I Squadron were sent to accompany the Kaiser. They returned to Neufahrwasser in Danzig on 15 August, where the rest of the fleet joined them for the annual autumn maneuvers. These exercises reflected the tactical thinking of the new State Secretary of the (RMA—Imperial Navy Office), (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Alfred von Tirpitz, and the new commander of I Squadron, VAdm August von Thomsen. These new tactics stressed accurate gunnery, especially at longer ranges, though the necessities of the line-ahead formation led to tactical rigidity. Thomsen's emphasis on shooting created the basis for the excellent German gunnery during World War I.Template:Sfn During the firing exercises, won the Kaiser's (Shooting Prize) for excellent accuracy in I Squadron. On the night of 21–22 August, the torpedo boat Template:SMS accidentally rammed and sank one of Template:'s barges, killing two men.Template:Sfn The maneuvers were completed by 22 September in Wilhelmshaven. In early December, I Division conducted maneuvers in the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, though they were cut short due to crew shortages.Template:Sfn

1898–1900

A large ship at anchor, with a large flag billowing at the stern

probably early during her career

From 20 to 28 February, briefly served as the divisional flagship.Template:Sfn The fleet followed the normal routine of individual and fleet training in 1898 without incident, and a voyage to the British Isles was also included. The fleet stopped in Queenstown, Greenock, and Kirkwall. The fleet assembled in Kiel on 14 August for the annual autumn exercises. The maneuvers included a mock blockade of the coast of Mecklenburg and a pitched battle with an "Eastern Fleet" in the Danzig Bay. A severe storm, striking the fleet as it steamed back to Kiel, caused significant damage to many ships and sank the torpedo boat Template:SMS. The fleet then transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and continued maneuvers in the North Sea. Training finished on 17 September in Wilhelmshaven.Template:Sfn again won the Kaiser's (Shooting Prize) during the maneuvers.Template:Sfn In December, I Division conducted artillery and torpedo training in Eckernförde Bay, followed by divisional training in the Kattegat and Skagerrak. During these maneuvers, the division visited Kungsbacka, Sweden, from 9 to 13 December. After returning to Kiel, the ships of I Division went into dock for their winter repairs.Template:Sfn

On 5 April 1899, the ship participated in the celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Eckernförde during the First Schleswig War. In May, I and II Divisions, along with the Reserve Division from the Baltic, went on a major cruise into the Atlantic. On the voyage out, I Division stopped in Dover and II Division went into Falmouth to restock their coal supplies. I Division then joined II Division at Falmouth on 8 May, and the two units then departed for the Bay of Biscay, arriving at Lisbon on 12 May. There, they met the British Channel Fleet of eight battleships and four armored cruisers. The German fleet then departed for Germany, stopping again in Dover on 24 May. There they participated in the naval review celebrating Queen Victoria's 80th birthday. The fleet returned to Kiel on 31 May.Template:Sfn

In July, the fleet conducted squadron maneuvers in the North Sea, which included coast defense exercises with soldiers from the X Corps. On 16 August, the fleet assembled in Danzig once again for the annual autumn maneuvers.Template:Sfn The exercises started in the Baltic and on 30 August the fleet passed through the Kattegat and Skagerrak and steamed into the North Sea for further maneuvers in the German Bight, which lasted until 7 September. The third phase of the maneuvers took place in the Kattegat and the Great Belt from 8 to 26 September, when the maneuvers concluded and the fleet went into port for annual maintenance. The year 1900 began with the usual routine of individual and divisional exercises. In the second half of March, the squadrons met in Kiel, followed by torpedo and gunnery practice in April and a voyage to the eastern Baltic. From 7 to 26 May, the fleet went on a major training cruise to the northern North Sea, which included stops in Shetland from 12 to 15 May and in Bergen from 18 to 22 May.Template:Sfn On 8 July, and the other ships of I Division were reassigned to II Division.Template:Sfn

Boxer Uprising

A large ship at anchor with several small boats alongside

in 1890s

During the Boxer Uprising in 1900, Chinese nationalists laid siege to the foreign embassies in Beijing and murdered Baron Clemens von Ketteler, the German minister.Template:Sfn The widespread violence against Westerners in China led to an alliance between Germany and seven other Great Powers: the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary, the United States, France, and Japan.Template:Sfn Those Western soldiers in China at the time were too few in number to defeat the Boxers;Template:Sfn in Beijing there was a force of slightly more than 400 officers and infantry from the armies of the eight European powers.Template:Sfn At the time, the primary German military force in China was the East Asia Squadron, which consisted of the protected cruisers Template:SMS, Template:SMS, and Template:SMS, the small cruisers Template:SMS and Template:SMS, and the gunboats Template:SMS and Template:SMS.Template:Sfn There was also a German 500-man detachment in Taku; combined with the other nations' units, the force numbered some 2,100 men.Template:Sfn Led by the British Admiral Edward Seymour, these men attempted to reach Beijing but were forced to stop in Tianjin due to heavy resistance.Template:Sfn As a result, the Kaiser determined an expeditionary force would be sent to China to reinforce the East Asia Squadron. The expedition included and her three sisters, six cruisers, ten freighters, three torpedo boats, and six regiments of marines, under the command of (General Field Marshal) Alfred von Waldersee.Template:Sfn

On 7 July, KAdm Richard von Geißler, the expeditionary force commander, reported that his ships were ready for the operation, and they left two days later. The four battleships and the aviso Template:SMS transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and stopped in Wilhelmshaven to rendezvous with the rest of the expeditionary force. On 11 July, the force steamed out of the Jade Bight, bound for China. They stopped for coal at Gibraltar on 17–18 July and passed through the Suez Canal on 26–27 July. More coal was taken on at Perim in the Red Sea, and on 2 August the fleet entered the Indian Ocean. On 10 August, the ships reached Colombo, Ceylon, and on 14 August they passed through the Strait of Malacca. They arrived in Singapore on 18 August and departed five days later, reaching Hong Kong on 28 August. Two days later, the expeditionary force stopped in the outer roadstead at Wusong, downriver from Shanghai.Template:Sfn By the time the German fleet had arrived, the siege of Beijing had already been lifted by forces from other members of the Eight-Nation Alliance that had formed to deal with the Boxers.Template:Sfn

Since the situation had calmed, the four battleships were sent to either Hong Kong or Nagasaki, Japan, in late 1900 and early 1901 for overhauls;Template:Sfn went to Hong Kong, with the work lasting from 6 December 1900 to 3 January 1901. From 8 February to 23 March, she stopped in German Tsingtau, where she also conducted gunnery training.Template:Sfn On 26 May, the German high command recalled the expeditionary force to Germany. The fleet took on supplies in Shanghai and departed Chinese waters on 1 June. The ships stopped in Singapore from 10 to 15 June and took on coal before proceeding to Colombo, where they stayed from 22 to 26 June. Steaming against the monsoons forced the fleet to stop in Mahé, Seychelles, to take on more coal. The ships then stopped for a day each to take on coal in Aden and Port Said. On 1 August they reached Cadiz, and then met with I Division and steamed back to Germany together. They separated after reaching Helgoland, and on 11 August, after reaching the Jade roadstead, the ships of the expeditionary force were visited by Koester, who was now the Inspector General of the Navy. The following day the expeditionary fleet was dissolved.Template:Sfn In the end, the operation cost the German government more than 100 million marks.Template:Sfn

1901–1910

A large ship steaming, black smoke belching from her funnels, with many crewmen on the decks

before her reconstruction

Following her return from China, was taken into the drydocks at the (Imperial Dockyard) in Wilhelmshaven for an overhaul.Template:Sfn In late 1901, the fleet went on a cruise to Norway. The pattern of training for 1902 remained unchanged from previous years; I Squadron went on a major training cruise that started on 25 April. The squadron initially steamed to Norwegian waters, then rounded the northern tip of Scotland, and stopped in Irish waters. The ships returned to Kiel on 28 May.Template:Sfn Before the start of the annual fleet maneuvers in August, was involved in an accident that damaged her ram bow; to ready the ship for the exercises, wooden reinforcement beams were installed in the bow. After the maneuvers, she was decommissioned on 29 September, with the new battleship Template:SMS taking her place in the division.Template:Sfn

The four -class battleships were taken out of service for a major reconstruction.Template:Sfn During the modernization, a second conning tower was added in the aft superstructure, along with a gangway.Template:Sfn and the other ships had their boilers replaced with newer models, and also had their superstructure amidships reduced.Template:Sfn The work included increasing the ship's coal storage capacity and adding a pair of 10.5 cm guns. The plans had initially called for the center 28 cm turret to be replaced with an armored battery of medium-caliber guns, but this proved to be prohibitively expensive.Template:Sfn On 27 September 1904, was recommissioned, and replaced the old coastal defense ship Template:SMS in II Squadron.Template:Sfn The two squadrons of the fleet ended the year with the usual training cruise into the Baltic, which took place uneventfully. The first half of 1905 similarly passed without incident for . On 12 July, the fleet began its annual summer cruise to northern waters; the ships stopped in Gothenburg from 20 to 24 July and Stockholm from 2 to 7 August. The trip ended two days later, and was followed by the autumn fleet maneuvers later that month. In December, the fleet took its usual training cruise in the Baltic.Template:Sfn

The fleet conducted its normal routine of individual and unit training in 1906, interrupted only by a cruise to Norway from mid-July to early August. The annual autumn maneuvers occurred as usual.Template:Sfn After the conclusion of the maneuvers, had her crew reduced on 28 September and she was transferred to the Reserve Formation of the North Sea. She participated in the 1907 fleet maneuvers, but was decommissioned on 27 September, though she was still formally assigned to the Reserve Formation. She was reactivated on 2 August 1910 to participate in the annual maneuvers with III Squadron, though the sale of and to the Ottoman Empire was announced just a few days later. On 6 August, she left the squadron and departed Wilhelmshaven on the 14th in company with . They arrived in the Ottoman Empire on 1 September.Template:Sfn

In Ottoman service

In late 1909, the German military attache to the Ottoman Empire had begun a conversation with the Ottoman Navy about the possibility of selling German warships to the Ottomans to counter Greek naval expansion. After lengthy negotiations, including Ottoman attempts to buy one or more of the new battlecruisers Template:SMS, Template:SMS, and Template:SMS, the Germans offered to sell the four ships of the class at a cost of 10 million marks. The Ottomans chose to buy and , since they were the more advanced ships of the class.Template:Sfn The two battleships were renamed after the famous 16th-century Ottoman admirals, Turgut Reis and Hayreddin Barbarossa, respectively.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn They were transferred on 1 September 1910,Template:Sfn and on 12 September the German formally struck them from the naval register, backdated to 31 July.Template:Sfn The Ottoman Navy, however, had great difficulty equipping and ; the navy had to pull trained enlisted men from the rest of the fleet just to put together crews for them.Template:Sfn Both vessels suffered from condenser troubles after they entered Ottoman service, which reduced their speed to Template:Convert.Template:Sfn

Italo–Turkish War

A year later, on 29 September 1911, Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire to seize Libya.Template:Sfn , along with and the obsolete central battery ironclad had been on a summer training cruise since July, and so were prepared for the conflict.Template:Sfn The day before Italy declared war, the ships had left Beirut, bound for the Dardanelles. Unaware that a war had begun, they steamed slowly and conducted training maneuvers while en route, passing southwest of Cyprus. While off the island of Kos on 1 October, the ships received word of the Italian attack, prompting them to steam at full speed for the safety of the Dardanelles, arriving later that night.Template:Sfn The following day, the ships proceeded to Constantinople for a refit after the training cruise.Template:Sfn and sortied briefly on 4 October, but quickly returned to port without encountering any Italian vessels. During this period, the Italian fleet laid naval mines at the entrance to the Dardanelles in an attempt to prevent the Ottoman fleet from entering the Mediterranean.Template:Sfn Maintenance work was completed by 12 October, at which point the fleet returned to Nagara inside the Dardanelles.Template:Sfn

Since the fleet could not be used to challenge the significantly more powerful Italian (Royal Navy), and were primarily kept at Nagara to support the coastal fortifications defending the Dardanelles in the event that the Italian fleet attempted to force the straits.Template:Sfn On 19 April 1912, elements of the Italian fleet bombarded the Dardanelles fortresses, but the Ottoman fleet did not mount a counterattack.Template:Sfn The negative course of the war led many naval officers to join a coup against the Young Turk government; the officers commanding the fleet at Nagara threatened to bring the ships to Constantinople if their demands were not met.Template:Sfn With tensions rising in the Balkans, the Ottoman government signed a peace treaty on 18 October, ending the war.Template:Sfn

Balkan Wars

A map showing the routes Serbian, Bulgarian, and Greek armies used to attack the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans

Map showing operations during the First Balkan War

After watching Italy successfully seize Ottoman territory, the Balkan League declared war on the Ottoman Empire in October 1912 to seize the remaining European portion of the Empire, starting the First Balkan War. By this time, , as with most ships of the Ottoman fleet, was in a state of disrepair. Her rangefinders and ammunition hoists had been removed, the pipes for her pumps were corroded, and the telephone lines no longer worked. On 7 October, the day before the Balkan League attacked, and were anchored off Haydarpaşa, along with the cruisers and and several torpedo boats. Ten days later, the ships departed for İğneada and the two battleships bombarded Bulgarian artillery positions near Varna two days thereafter. The ships were still suffering from boiler trouble. Both battleships took part in gunnery training in the Sea of Marmara on 3 November, but stopped after firing only a few salvos each, as their main battery mountings were not fully functional.Template:Sfn

On 7 November, shelled Bulgarian troops around Tekirdağ.Template:Sfn On 17 November, she supported the Ottoman III Corps by bombarding the attacking Bulgarian forces. The ship was aided by artillery observers ashore.Template:Sfn The battleship's gunnery was largely ineffective, though it provided a morale boost for the besieged Ottoman army dug in at Çatalca. By 17:00, the Bulgarian infantry had largely been forced back to their starting positions, in part due to the psychological effect of the battleships' bombardment.Template:Sfn On 22 November, sortied from the Bosporus to cover the withdrawal of , which had been torpedoed by a Bulgarian torpedo boat earlier that morning.Template:Sfn

Battle of Elli

In December 1912, the Ottoman fleet was reorganized into an armored division, which included as flagship, two destroyer divisions, and a fourth division composed of warships intended for independent operations.Template:Sfn Over the next two months, the armored division attempted to break the Greek naval blockade of the Dardanelles, which resulted in two major naval engagements.Template:Sfn The first, the Battle of Elli took place on 16 December 1912. The Ottomans attempted to launch an attack on Imbros.Template:Sfn The Ottoman fleet sortied from the Dardanelles at 09:30; 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 and three Template:Sclasss, sailing from the island of Lemnos, altered course to the northeast to block the advance of the Ottoman battleships.Template:Sfn

The Ottoman ships opened fire on the Greeks at 09:50, from a range of about Template:Cvt. Five minutes later, crossed over to the other side of the Ottoman fleet, placing the Ottomans in the unfavorable position of being under fire from both sides. At 09:50 and under heavy pressure from the Greek fleet, the Ottoman ships completed a 16-point turn, which reversed their course, and headed for the safety of the straits. The turn was poorly conducted, and the ships fell out of formation, blocking each other's fields of fire. Around this time, received several hits, though they inflicted only minor damage to the ship's superstructure and guns.Template:Sfn By 10:17, both sides had ceased firing and the Ottoman fleet withdrew into the Dardanelles. The ships reached port by 13:00 and transferred their casualties to the hospital ship .Template:Sfn

Battle of Lemnos

An illustration depicting the ships of the Ottoman and Greek fleets, including several large ships and numerous smaller vessels

Illustration of the order of battle at the Battle of Lemnos

The Battle of Lemnos resulted from an Ottoman plan to lure the faster away from the Dardanelles. The protected cruiser evaded the Greek blockade and broke out into the Aegean Sea; the assumption was that the Greeks would dispatch to hunt down . Despite the threat to Greek lines of communication posed by the cruiser, the Greek commander refused to detach from its position.Template:Sfn By mid-January, the Ottomans had learned that remained with the Greek fleet, and so (Captain) Ramiz Numan Bey, the Ottoman fleet commander, decided to attack the Greeks regardless.Template:Sfn , , and other units of the Ottoman fleet departed the Dardanelles at 08:20 on the morning of 18 January, and sailed toward the island of Lemnos at a speed of Template:Convert. led the line of battleships, with a flotilla of torpedo boats on either side of the formation.Template:Sfn , with the three -class ironclads and five destroyers trailing behind, intercepted the Ottoman fleet approximately Template:Convert from Lemnos.Template:Sfn At 10:55, spotted the Greeks, and the fleet turned south to engage them.Template:Sfn

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 Template:Cvt. They concentrated their fire on , which returned fire at 12:00. At 12:50, the Greeks attempted to cross the T of the Ottoman fleet, but the Ottoman line led by turned north to block the Greek maneuver. The Ottoman commander detached the old ironclad after she received a serious hit at 12:55. After suffered several hits that reduced her speed to Template:Convert, took the lead of the formation and Bey decided to break off the engagement. By 14:00, the Ottoman fleet reached the cover of the Dardanelles fortresses, forcing the Greeks to withdraw.Template:Sfn Between and , the ships fired some 800 rounds, mostly of their main battery 28 cm guns but without success. During the battle, barbettes on both and her sister were disabled by gunfire, and both ships caught fire.Template:Sfn

Subsequent operations

On 8 February 1913, the Ottoman navy supported an amphibious assault at Şarköy. and , along with two small cruisers provided artillery support to the right flank of the invading force once it went ashore. The ships were positioned about a kilometer off shore; was the second ship in the line, behind her sister .Template:Sfn The Bulgarian army resisted fiercely, which ultimately forced the Ottoman army to retreat, though the withdrawal was successful in large part due to the gunfire support from and the rest of the fleet. During the battle, fired 225 rounds from her 10.5 cm guns and 202 shells from her 8.8 cm guns.Template:Sfn

In March 1913, the ship returned to the Black Sea to resume support of the Çatalca garrison, which was under renewed attacks by the Bulgarian army. On 26 March, the barrage of 28 and 10.5 cm shells fired by and assisted in the repelling of advance of the 2nd Brigade of the Bulgarian 1st Infantry Division.Template:Sfn On 30 March, the left wing of the Ottoman line turned to pursue the retreating Bulgarians. Their advance was supported by both field artillery and the heavy guns of and the other warships positioned off the coast; the assault gained the Ottomans about Template:Cvt by nightfall. In response, the Bulgarians brought the 1st Brigade to the front, which beat the Ottoman advance back to its starting position.Template:Sfn On 11 April, and , supported by several smaller vessels, steamed to Çanakkale to provide distant cover for a light flotilla conducting a sweep for Greek warships. The two sides clashed in an inconclusive engagement, and the main Ottoman fleet did not sortie before the two sides disengaged.Template:Sfn

World War I

A map of the narrow Dardanelles Strait, with coastal fortifications located on both sides of the straits, clustered at the mouth of the straits and at the narrowest point

Map showing the Ottoman defenses at the Dardanelles in 1915

In the summer of 1914, when World War I broke out in Europe, the Ottomans initially remained neutral. In early November, the Black Sea Raid of the German battlecruiser , which had been transferred to the Ottoman navy and renamed , resulted in declarations of war by Russia, France, and Great Britain.Template:Sfn By this time, was laid up off the Golden Horn, worn out from heavy service during the Balkan Wars. Admiral Template:Ill, the head of the German naval mission to the Ottoman Empire, sent her and to Nagara to support the Dardanelles forts. They remained on station from 14 to 19 December, before returning to Constantinople for repairs and gunnery training. On 18 February 1915, they departed for the Dardanelles and anchored in their firing positions. During this period, their engines were stopped to preserve fuel, but after the threat of British submarines increased, they kept steam up in their engines to preserve their ability to take evasive action; the steamer Template:SS was moored in front of the battleships as a floating barrage. By 11 March, the high command decided that only one ship should be kept on station at a time, alternating every five days, to allow the ships to replenish stores and ammunition.Template:Sfn

On 18 March, was on station when the Allies attempted to force the straits. She did not engage the Allied ships, as her orders were to open fire only in the event that the defenses were breached. This was in part due to a severe shortage of shells. On 25 April, both and were present to bombard the Allied troops that had landed at Gallipoli that day. At 07:30 that morning, the Australian submarine Template:HMAS fired several torpedoes at but failed to score any hits. returned to Constantinople later that day as planned. While she was bombarding Allied positions on 5 June, one of Template:'s forward guns exploded; four men were killed and thirty-two were wounded. She returned to Constantinople for repairs, and the navy suspended bombardment operations— having suffered a similar accident on 25 April. On 12 August, was laid up at the Golden Horn after was torpedoed and sunk by a British submarine.Template:Sfn At some point in 1915, some of Template:'s guns were removed and employed as coastal guns to shore up the defenses protecting the Dardanelles.Template:Sfn

On 19 January 1918, and the light cruiser Template:SMS, which had also been transferred to Ottoman service under the name , sailed from the Dardanelles to attack several British monitors stationed outside. The ships quickly sank Template:HMS and Template:HMS before turning back to the safety of the Dardanelles. While en route, struck five mines and sank, while hit three mines and began to list to port. The ship's captain gave an incorrect order to the helmsman, which caused the ship to run aground.Template:Sfn remained there for almost a week, until and several other vessels arrived on the scene on 22 January; the ships spent four days trying to free from the sand bank, including using the turbulence from their propellers to clear sand away from under the ship. By the morning of 26 January, came free from the sandbank and escorted her back into the Dardanelles.Template:Sfn

was laid up again on 30 October 1918, and was refitted at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard from 1924 to 1925. After returning to service, she served as a stationary training ship based at Gölcük.Template:Sfn At the time, she retained only two of her originally six 28 cm guns.Template:Sfn Two main turrets were removed and installed as a part of the heavy coastal battery Turgut Reis, situated at the Asian coast of the Dardanelles Strait. Both turrets are preserved with their guns (two L/40 and two L/35).Template:Sfn She was decommissioned in 1933 and was thereafter used as a barracks ship for dockyard workers, a role she filled until 1950, when she began to be broken up at Gölcük. By 1953, the ship had been broken down into two sections, and these were sold to be dismantled abroad.Template:Sfn Demolition work was finally completed between 1956 and 1957.Template:Sfn

External links

• Turgut Reis, in Turkey in the First World War web site.