Accession Number | P04411.003 |
---|---|
Collection type | Photograph |
Object type | Black & white - Film copy negative |
Maker |
Unknown |
Place made | Ottoman Empire: Turkey, Dardanelles |
Date made | c 1915 |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Turkish collection of copied photographs
The Ottoman minelayer Nusret (the help of God) – the most significant naval vessel in the Dardanelles campaign. Mines laid secretly by the Nusret in Erin Kevi Bay on the night of 7/8 March 1915 were responsible for the sinking of the French battleship Bouvet, the British battleships HMS Irresistible and HMS Ocean and seriously damaging the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible. The British and French attempt to “force” the Dardanelles had failed.
The Ottoman minelayer Nusret laden with mines moving down the Dardanelles away from her usual home port of Nara (Nagara) ready to undertake a mine laying task, probably in 1915. The Gallipoli Peninsula is in the background and the town of Maidos (Eceabat) across her bow. The mines on Nusret’s mine deck are not the mines destined for Erenköy Bay (Erin Keui Bay), as this action was undertaken entirely at night.
The Nusret, captained by Lieutenant Hakki Bey, will forever be remembered as the vessel responsible for laying a single line of 26 mines in Erenköy Bay (Erin Keui Bay) in the early hours of 8 March 1915, that forever changed the course of British and French operations in this campaign.
Ottoman observers had noted when the Anglo-French warships shelling the forts protecting the many lines of mines in the Narrows needed to withdraw, they turned to starboard toward the Asiatic coast into Erenköy Bay (Erin Keui Bay). A plan was devised to lay a single line of mines in Erenköy Bay (Erin Keui Bay), parallel to the coastline. It is not clear who devised the plan, but Nusret was assigned the task. She left the harbour at Nara (Nagara) around 11.30pm on 7 March and steamed to Chanak (Chanakkale) to load 26 Carbonit mines. At 5.00am on 8 March Lieutenant Hakki Bey took Nusret out of Chanak (Chanakkale) harbour down the Dardanelles to lay her mines. On board to assist was Lieutenant Commander Hafiz Nazmi Bey, the leader of the mine laying team who had sown other Dardanelles minefields and two officers and five other ranks from the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) including, Lieutenant Commander Paul Gehl, Naval Engineer Lieutenant Commander Arnholdt Reeder and Petty Officer Rudolf Bettaque. Lieutenant Commander Reeder submitted the following report to the German Mediterranean Division (MMD):
‘On 7 March, at 11.30 in the afternoon [sic], I went on board the minelayer Nusret with Hafis Nasimi [Hafiz Nazimi], the Turkish Mine Captain and Petty Officer Rudolf Bettaque, the German torpedo-man, to make the necessary preparations for minelaying. While I was personally double-checking the engine room and then got the boilers ready for smokeless sailing, the torpedo-man, Bettaque, and the Turkish mine-laying crew cleared the mines ready for launch. Two German NCOs and stokers were at my disposal for the operation of the engines and boiler. This was to guarantee that my commands were executed quickly and correctly. At 5 o’clock in the morning I had the anchor raised. The weather was good for this operation. A light mist lay on the water, which gradually turned into a steady rain. With an average of 140 revolutions, the minelayer made its way from Nagara along the Asian coast.
Since it was still dark and several minefields had to be negotiated, great caution was needed. However, the Turkish Mine Captain knew the critical points exactly, and so Nusret arrived safely at its destination. Throughout the voyage, [engine] revolutions were maintained according to my orders. This enabled me to sail completely smokeless, although the Turkish Eregi [Erekli] coal is very unsuitable for this purpose. At 07.10 hrs I had us turnabout and bound for home; simultaneously, I had the mines laid at 15 second intervals by Hafis Nasimi [Hafiz Nazmi], the Turkish Mine Captain. Overall, 26 mines were laid in the general direction of SW-NE. Meanwhile the morning was already beginning to turn grey. The enemy guard piquet had apparently already withdrawn; within the Dardanelles no enemy ship could be seen. The visibility towards Canakkale was too low due to the rain and the dark background. With reasonable certainty I can therefore assume that the laying of the mines was not noticed by the enemy. At 8 o’clock in the morning, I was able to anchor again at Canakkale.’
The first mine in the line was laid at about 0710 at the southwest end (40°02’ 00”N 26°18’00”E) about 3 miles south of Fort Dardannos (Dardanos Bataryasi) (British designated as Fort number 8), and the single line of mines ran southwest to northeast, parallel to the coast and spaced between 100 and 150 metres apart and five metres deep, ended at 40°03’30”N 26°20’00”E).
Despite what Lieutenant Commander Reeder stated in his report, Lieutenant Hakki Bey was at all times in command of his ship.
On 18 March 1915 the Anglo-French naval force gathered off the entrance to the Dardanelles Strait. The plan was to destroy the Ottoman forts and batteries guarding the first five rows of mines, sweep the mines overnight and then the next day attack the remaining forts and batteries. The remaining five lines of mines could then be swept unhindered, opening the way for the Anglo-French naval force to enter the Sea of Marmara and capture Constantinople.
At 10.30am the Anglo-French naval force steamed into the Dardanelles with HMS Agamemnon leading the first division of British battleships and commenced the bombardment. As the shelling of the batteries and forts progressed the French division of three battleships turned into Erenköy Bay (Erin Keui Bay) to allow the next division of British battleships to attack. Bouvet was observed to have taken some hits from Ottoman batteries at Anadolu Hamidiye or Rumeli Mecidiye Forts, and to be listing, when at 1.54pm she hit a mine, capsized, and sank with the loss of most of the crew. Around 4.00pm the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible turning to withdraw also hit a mine, near where Bouvet had sunk. Inflexible remained afloat and was eventually beached on the Greek island of Bozcaada (Tenedos), where temporary repairs were carried out. Next, HMS Irresistible struck a mine and was so disabled her crew were taken off. HMS Ocean was ordered to take Irresistible in tow, but her steering was damaged by shell fire and almost simultaneously, just after 6.00pm, she also struck a mine, and the surviving crew were also taken off. Irresistible was eventually sunk by the Dardanos Battery at 7.30pm and Ocean sank about 10.30pm.
With the loss of three battleships sunk, and three seriously damaged, the Anglo-French fleet withdrew from the Dardanelles, never to return.
Nusret was built in Germany by by Schiffs & Maschinenbau AG Germania, Kiel. She was built in the style of a tug with two rows of mine rails on the aft deck to deliver mines over the stern and a crane aft of the funnel to assist in loading mines. Laid down in 1911, launched on 4 December 1911 and commissioned in 1913. Fully laden she could carry 40 mines. Nusret had many roles in an extensive career, first in the Ottoman Navy and then the Turkish Navy. Today she is a static museum relic on display in the city of Tarsus. So important is the memory of the Nusret to modern Turkey, a seagoing replica was built for the Turkish Navy by the Gölcük Naval Shipyard. With the pennant number of N-16, TCG Nusret was launched in September 2010, commissioned 11 February 2011 and is today permanently stationed at Canakkale.