Famous Turkish ship restored

[Tolga Alkan]

The minelayer Nusret, believed to be the only surviving warship from the famous Gallipoli Campaign of World War One, has been restored and converted into a museum located in the southern Turkish city of Mersin.
At a ceremony Saturday, the restored warship was unveiled in Mersin’s Çanakkale Park, where it will now serve as a public museum.
Having spent the past 15 years lying on mud flats in the port of Tarsus, where the Nusret had been abandoned by its former owners, who had used it as a cargo ship after it had been sold out of the navy in 1957.
Speaking at the ceremony, Tarsus mayor Burhanettin Kocamaz said the Nusret had a famous place in the history of Turkey and deserved to be saved.
“Volunteers rescued the Nusret and donated it to the Mersin State Hospital and Turkish Red Crescent Society,” he said. “The Tarsus Municipality eventually decided to repair the ship and convert it into a museum in 2002.”
The Nusret won immortality for its role in the defeat of the Allied fleet as it tried to fight its way through the Dardanelles Strait on March 18, 1915.
Days before the battle, the Nusret slipped into the strait under the cover of darkness and laid a new minefield parallel to the shore in Erenköy Bay after Allied ships had been seen to manoeuvre in the position during preliminary bombardments.
On March 18, a fleet of 18 British and French battleships, accompanied by dozens of smaller vessels, entered the strait. Using their heavy guns to try and subdue the Turkish defences, the fleet planned to sail through the Dardanelles into the Sea of Marmara and then on to Istanbul and force the Ottoman government to surrender, knocking Turkey out of the war.
The Allied commander, Admiral John de Robeck, believed that most of the mines had been swept from the strait, making the passage relatively safe for his fleet. However, he had not counted on the Nusret and her secret minefield.
At the height of the battle, two British battleships, the Ocean and the Irresistible, blundered into the minefield laid by the Nusret and were severely damaged, both being abandoned by their crews and later sinking. With the loss of the French battleship Bouvet with nearly all her crew of 650, de Robeck conceded defeat, ordering the fleet to return to its base at Mudros.
The Turkish victory, in no small part inspired by the Nusret, marked the last time the Allied fleet attempted to force the straits. Five weeks later, the Allies launched a land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula, which ended in an even more bloody defeat seven months later.

http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/250400.asp?cp1=1

[Kaan Caglar]

Selam Tolga,
Thanks for posting this, I didnt know..
Its nice to see our government started to respect our existing historical values as they used old ships to make razors!
Maybe we both should visit Mersin sometime??
Regards
Kaan

[R-Bob The Great!]

Can you post a picture?

[Kaan Caglar]

Can you post a picture?

Of course:
This is what she was in the war

What she turned into:

I dont have the restored photo sorry.
Kaan

[Tolga Alkan]

Unfortunately i also don't have restored photo of ship

[Tim Smith]

LOL....this little Turkish rustbucket barge of a minelayer survives when all the mighty battlewagons she prevented from penetrating the Straits are long since reduced to scrap......that is funny!

[Tom Niefer]

LOL....this little Turkish rustbucket barge of a minelayer survives when all the mighty battlewagons she prevented from penetrating the Straits are long since reduced to scrap......that is funny!

Kind of ironic, isn't it Tim?

I'm glad to hear that she's been restored. History you can touch is always so much more interesting.

Cheers,
Tom

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

The Ottomans didn't have naming conventions for ships; that's why you could have a battleship with a name like Mesudiye (Happiness or Fortunate), and tugs named Nur-ul Bahri (Holy Light of the Sea).

Nusret, a slow, 300-ton minelayer with a capacity for only 40 mines, means "Divine Victory", which is ironic yet appropriate given the enormous impact she had.

[David C. Clarke]

This is great news Tolga!! Nusret was one of those small ships that made a great difference.

Best Regards, David

[Tolga Alkan]

This minelayer was the star of Battle of Gallipoli.Its survived sailors fought at Turkish War of Independence,everybody proud of it.

Tolga

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

I think it's very sad that they didn't preserve Hamidiye - an excellent ship with an amazing combat history. Also, as the last and best of the Elswick cruisers, she is important in that regard as well.

[cagatay]

Hi!

Here is the restored photo of Nusrat! (The original name is Nusrat, you can see on the photo)

I also add the photo of 1/1 model of Nusrat at Çanakkale!

[Kurt_Steiner]

A link

http://www.iit.edu/~agunsal/canakkale/n ... usret.html

[gallipoli1915]

Sevgili Tolga,
Bu savaşın starı Muavenet-i Milliye'dir... Goliath'ı nefis bir operasyonla Morto koyuna gömerek İngiliz kabinesini de istifaya zorlamıştır. Nusret, tıpkı diğer mayın gemileri veya mayın dökmede kullanılan araba vapurları gibi işini yapmış bir gemi... Nusret'in adını ilk telaffuz eden de Churchill'dir. Çanakkale'deki bütün başarısızlığını, "çelik bir ipin ucuna dizili 20 mayını denize döken küçücük bir gemi"ye yıkmak istemiştir. Bundan söz etmeseydi, biz bugün hatırlamayacaktık bile... Nusret'i "Çanakkale savaşının starı" yapan Churchill'dir...

Yetkin
NOT: Arzu edersen, bu yazdıklarımı İngilizceye çevirebilirsin.

[cagatay]

Sevgili arkadaþlar,

Gemimizin adý Nusret deðil, Nusrat'týr. Daha önce gönderdiðim (yukarýdaki) restore edilmiþ halinin fotoðrafýnda da geminin ismi açýkça görülmektedir.

Ayrýca savaþýn starý kimdir nedir bilmem ama gece karanlýðýnda, her an tesbit edilip batýrýlma korkusuyla görev yapan ve görev sýrasýnda þehit* veren Nusrat mürettebatý ("star" deðil ama) elbette ki kahramandýr.



*Geminin kaptaný (üzülerek ismini hatýrlayamadýðýmý fark ettim, ancak en kýsa sürede bulup yazacaðým) görev sýrasýnda kalp krizi geçirmiþ ve daha sonra kaldýrýldýðý hastanede þehit olmuþtur. Ýþte Nusrat'ta görev yapanlar böyle ölümcül bir stres altýnda yaþamýþlar.