Ottoman Empire/Turkey – 1901-1952 (1903) If Hamidiye and Mecidiye are often paired by most authors as the cornerstone of Turkish Ottoman cruiser force, later reinforced in 1914 by Midilli, ex-Breslau). Both cruisers were often compared, Mecidiye was ordered from the US, Hamidiye in UK, resulting in diverging appearance, size, tonnage, armament and capabilities. In 1901 … Read more
Turkish Ottoman Cruiser Mecidiye Turkey – 1901-1952 (1903) A “Magnificient Century” in service of Turkey The Ottoman Navy Mecidiye (also spelled as Medjidiye, or Medjidie), was named after the Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid. She was a protected cruiser ordered as part of the 1900 large naval modernization program, and built in the US not after a … Read more
Barbarossa class battleships (1892) Barbaros Hayreddin, Turgut Reis (1910) The Barbarossa class battleships were the first modern pre-dreadnoughts, capital ships of the Ottoman Navy, named respectively Hayrediin Barbarossa and Turgut Reis. These were the ex-Weissenburg and Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, which after years of service were no longer relevant and considered obsolete in 1910. The Turkish … Read more
Yavuz (1914) Germany/Turkey – 1911 (1914) An unexpected Turkish flagship – The Yavuz Sultan Selim, aka “Yavuz” became in August 1914 the new flagship of the Turkish Ottoman Navy, until then a motley collection of inoffensive museum pieces with a few modern vessels. Basically the German African squadron, based in Dar-es-Salaam, took refuge in Constantinople, … Read more
