Sonderkommando Kaiserliche Marine Türkei

Discussions on the final era of the Ottoman Empire, from the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 until the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
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Peter H
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Sonderkommando Kaiserliche Marine Türkei

#1

Post by Peter H » 18 Jun 2007, 15:26

Admiral Guido von Usedom's naval command in Turkey,activated on the 25th August 1914,with two Admirals(Usedom,Merten),15 officers,and 281 Matrosen(Artillery troops).Merten acted as liason with the Turks.The defence of the Dardanelles was a priority.

With the arrival of SMS Goeben and Breslau,around 1600 German navy personal were in Turkey by September 1914.A larger pool of resources was now available.Another Admiral,Souchon,also entered the scene.However Usedom still remained in overall control.

German sailors were added to the crews of the Turkish battleships Turgut Reis and Barbaros Hayreddin,with 14 officers and 55 ratings.The torpedo cruiser Berk I Satvet received 2 officers and 10 ratings.All other torpedo boats were allocated 6 German Engineer officers and 8 ratings each.

Source: member Lupus959: http://www.sammlergemeinschaft-deutsche ... eadid=5319


Merten left,and Usedom,1914
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http://www.gallipoli1915.org/images/kim ... Merten.jpg

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#2

Post by Peter H » 18 Jun 2007, 15:30

Source: member Lupus1959: http://www.sammlergemeinschaft-deutsche ... eadid=5319

The Kaiser at Gallipoli,October 1917.

From left-Usedom,Kaiser,Enver Pasha,Merten
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#3

Post by Peter H » 19 Jun 2007, 05:06

Johannes Merten(1857-1926):

http://web.genealogie.free.fr/Les_milit ... iral/M.htm
27/01/08 Konteradmiral puis 19/11/10 Vizeadmiral honoraire (29/08/14 General der Artillerie turc) puis 27/01/16 Vizeadmiral Johannes Merten (17/12/1857-08/04/1926): commandant de la forteresse turque des Dardanelles (29/08/14-01/01/18). [Avant la guerre: deuxième inspecteur général de Marine (01/10/07-14/10/08), commandant de la forteresse de Wilhelmshaven (14/10/08-19/11/10), 3 groupe d'éclairage de la Flotte de Haute-Mer (16/08/09-05/09/09), 19/11/10 en retraite.]

Guido von Usedom(1854-1925):

http://web.genealogie.free.fr/Les_milit ... iral/U.htm
14/03/05 Konteradmiral puis 27/01/08 Vizeadmiral puis 27/01/11 Admiral honoraire puis 27/01/16 Admiral puis 19/08/14 Admiral et Müschir (Turquie) Guido von Usedom (02/10/1854-24/02/1925): Croix de l'Ordre "Pour le Mérite" (05/04/02) avec feuilles de chêne (25/08/15), commandant en chef des détroits (19/08/14-02/11/18) (adjudant général de l'empereur 22/03/15). [Avant la guerre: premier inspecteur de la Marine (05/10/04-06/01/06), directeur du chantier naval (Kaiserliche Wefrt) de Kiel (06/01/06-30/06/10), 30/06/10 en réserve.] [Après la guerre: 26/11/18 en retraite.]


Source: member Lupus959: http://www.sammlergemeinschaft-deutsche ... eadid=5319

Merten
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#4

Post by Peter H » 19 Jun 2007, 05:12

Admiral Wilhelm Anton Theodor Souchon(1864-1946):

http://web.genealogie.free.fr/Les_milit ... iral/S.htm
10/04/11 Konteradmiral puis 27/01/15 Vizeadmiral (17 Amiral turc) puis 11/08/18 Admiral Wilhelm Anton Theodor Souchon (20/06/1864-13/01/1946) (+ 2 GM): Croix de l'Ordre "Pour le Mérite" (29/10/16), commandant de la division de la Méditerranée (I) (-16/08/14), puis commandant de la division de la Méditerranée et de la Flotte Turque (16/08/14-04/09/17), puis commandant de la 4 escadre de ligne (cuirassés) (II) et de la 1 division de ligne de la 4 escadre de ligne (II) (04/09/17-13/08/18), puis commandant en chef de la station navale de la Mer Baltique (VI) (28/10/18-09/11/18). [Avant la guerre: chef d'état-major de la station navale de la mer Baltique (01/10/09-01/10/12), commandant en second de la 2 escadre de ligne (cuirassés) (01/10/12-01/10/13), division de la Méditerranée (23/10/13-).]
Source: member CSForrester,: http://www.sammlergemeinschaft-deutsche ... ungen.org/


Liman von Sanders,unidentified woman,Souchon meet aboard the SMS Goeben
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#5

Post by Peter H » 19 Jun 2007, 07:25

Guido von Usedom, Admiral (and also a Müschir(Marshall) of the Ottoman Empire).

Photo supplied by VJK

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Kapitan zur See Guido von Usedom was awarded the PLM in 1902 for his gallant actions as commander of SMS Hertha and the deutshen Landungkorps in the Boxer Rebellion.Then Adjutant to the Kaiser and commander of the Royal yacht SMY Hohenzollern,1902-04.Certainly a favourite of the Kaiser.Generalinspekteur der Kustenverteidigung an den Dardanellen,1914.

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#6

Post by Peter H » 20 Jun 2007, 10:37


gallipoli1915
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The lady between Liman and Souchon

#7

Post by gallipoli1915 » 26 Jun 2007, 04:18

Hi Peter,

I think that this lady between Liman and Souchon was Liman's daughter. You know, she was with his father in Istanbul then...

Yetkin

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#8

Post by Peter H » 26 Jun 2007, 08:03

Yetkin

I think your right.I have also seen mention of his daughter being with him in Constantinople.People also tend to forget he was 60 years old in 1915.

Rumours that his father was Jewish are disproven here:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=103691


Liman's late wife was Scottish--he took her surname von Sanders when enobled in 1913.


Regards
Peter


PS Any truth that Enver tried to poison him in July 1915?

According to Robert Rhodes James:
He had a staff officer forced on him,who,according to a long and confidential report he made in 1919 to the British in Malta,tried to poison him.After being seriously ill for a few days he recovered,and thereafter insisted that all his food be cooked and served by his devoted personal staff.

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#9

Post by Peter H » 26 Jun 2007, 08:41

Liman von Sanders at Mt.Carmel,inspection tour,March 1918.

Source: The Changing Land Between the Jordan and the Sea,Benjamin Kedar,1999
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rumours

#10

Post by gallipoli1915 » 26 Jun 2007, 18:07

I've never heard such a rumour about Enver & him. What is I know that he has once got very angry with the obscene roumors about his daughter in Istanbul, and took his gun to shoot the author, but he was stopped by his friends... But I'm very sorry that I couldn't remember the source...

Yetkin

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#11

Post by Tosun Saral » 03 Nov 2007, 14:05

Source: "Amiral Dönitz'in I. Dünya Savaşı Hatıraları" (WW1 Memories of Admiral Dönitz) translated into Turkish by Mete Canıtez, published in the Hayat Tarih Mecmuası ( Hayat History Magazine) No: 1,2, 3, 4,5,6/1966

At Magaizne No:2: Admiral Dönitz mentions the name of one German officer on "Berk" as "2nd Lt. Mellenthin"

At Magazine no: 5: Midilli was on repairs at docks. Two of our colleques had the change to join the ground forces of our navy in Gallipoli. One of them was our brave reserve captain Hildebrand. In the first fight he was killed by a bullet hit on his forehead which ended a life full of activity and duty."

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#12

Post by Peter H » 03 Nov 2007, 15:30

"8.8.1915 Hildebrandt, Oskar Leutnant z. S. Zugführer Landungsabteilung Died at Hill 971 gefallen (with other 11 Germans)"

Hill 971(Koja Chemen Tepe):

http://www.awm.gov.au/units/event_101.asp

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#13

Post by Wolfgang Klaus » 25 Nov 2007, 10:53

From the "Namentliche Verlustliste der Flotten-Landungs-Abteilung" BA/MA RM 40 /440 S. 115 the losses for the 8. August 1915 were:
Leutnant zur See der Reserve Oskar Hildebrandt, at Kocaçimen Tepe and burried at Denis Dere
Matrose Matthias Dank, burried at Ismailoglu Tepe
Matrose Fritz Klaus, burried at Kurt Dere
and for the 10th August
Ober-Matrose der Reserve Ernst Buchmüller, also burried at Ismailoglu Tepe.
Seven other soldiers of the Landungsabteilung were reported wounded in action and were transfered the the military hospital in Istanbul or to the medical station of the Landungsabteilung on the Kilia Tepe.
Those four fallen soldiers were later transfered to the cemetery of the Landungsabteilung on top of the Kilia Tepe. This cemetery was discribed in 1916 by Schweder, who visited the battlefield of Gallipoli:
"Even today, where the flags of victory are flying over Gallipoli and the straigths, there is a huge monument on top of the dominant peak of Kilia-Tepe for some of the German soldiers of the battle of Gallipoli [...] On the highest peak are resting the heros of our marinecorps, who died in the fightings at Ariburnu, Anafarta and Sedd-ul-Bahr and were burried here by their comrades in the view of the one of the most beautiful landscapes of the world. I saw the graves of Leutnant zur See Hildebrandt, four seamen (Obermatrosen, one navy segeant and to other seamen, who stayed in the time between July until end of 1915. On top there is a huge base made from granite, on which stands an old anchor. The Maschinengewehrabteilung carried it as well as dozens of old stonenballs fromTurkish guns uphill, to create their dead comrades a lasting memorial. Calm and peaceful is it around the restingplace of the blue boys.“

„Schon heute, wo die Siegesfahnen über Gallipoli und den Meerengen wehen, erhebt sich auf der beherrschenden Höhe von Kilia-Tepe ein mächtiges Grabdenkmal für eine Anzahl deutscher Mitkämpfer in der Dauerschlacht von Gallipoli [...] Auf dem höchsten Punkte des Berges ruhen die Helden unseres Marinekorps, die in den Kämpfen bei Ari-Burnu, Anaforta und Sedd-ul-Bahr gefallen und von ihren Kameraden hier oben im Angesichte einer der schönsten Landschaften der Welt beigesetzt worden sind. Ich sah die Gräber des Leutnants zur See Hildebrandt, von vier Obermatrosen, einem Marinefeldwebel und zwei Matrosen, die in der Zeit von Juli bis Ende 1915 geblieben sind. Zu ihren Häupten erhebt sich ein mächtiger Granitsockel, auf dem ein alter Schiffsanker steht. Die Maschinengewehrabteilung hat ihn ebenso wie ein paar Dutzend gewichtiger alter Steinkugeln aus türkischen Geschützen den Berg heraufgeschleppt, um den toten Kameraden für alle Zeiten ein bleibendes Denkmal zu schaffen. Still und friedlich ist es rund um den letzten Ruheplatz der blauen Jungen

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