SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm
Encyclopedia
SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was one of the first ocean-going
battleship
sAt the time she was laid down, the German navy referred to the ship as an "armored ship" (Panzerschiffe in German), instead of "battleship" (Schlachtschiff), see Gröner, p13. of the German Imperial Navy
. The ship was named for Friedrich Wilhelm, a 17th century Duke of Prussia
and Margrave of Brandenburg.Kurfürst is the title Freidrich Wilhelm held; it translates as "Elector
", which denoted his position as an elector of the Holy Roman Emperor
. She was the fourth pre-dreadnought of the , along with her sister ships , , and . She was laid down in 1890 in the Imperial Dockyard
in Wilhelmshaven
, launched in 1891, and completed in 1893 at the cost of 11.23 million Marks. The Brandenburg 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.
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm saw limited active duty during her service career with the German fleet. She, along with her three sisters, saw one major overseas deployment, to China in 1900–01, during the Boxer Rebellion
. The ship underwent a major modernization in 1904–1905. In 1910, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was sold to the Ottoman Empire
and renamed Barbaros Hayreddin, where she saw heavy service during the Balkan Wars
, taking part in two lost naval engagements with the Greek navy in December 1912 and January 1913 and providing artillery support to Ottoman ground forces in Thrace. On 8 August 1915, during World War I
, the ship was torpedoed and sunk off the Dardanelles
by the British submarine with heavy loss of life.
in 1890. She was the first ship of the class to be launched, which she was on 30 June 1891. She was commissioned into the German fleet on 29 April 1894, the same day as her sister Brandenburg. Construction of Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm cost the German navy 11.23 million marks.
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was 115.7 m (379.6 ft) long overall, had a beam
of 19.5 m (64 ft) which was increased to 19.74 m (64.8 ft) with the addition of torpedo nets, and had a draft of 7.6 m (24.9 ft) forward and 7.9 m (25.9 ft) aft. The ship displaced 10013 MT (9,854.8 LT) at its designed weight, and up to 10670 MT (10,501.5 LT) at full combat load. She was equipped with two sets of 3-cylinder triple-expansion engines that provided 10,228 indicated horsepower and a top speed of 16.9 knots (9.2 m/s).
The ship was unusual for its time in that it possessed a broadside
of six heavy guns in three twin gun turret
s, rather than the four guns typical of contemporary battleships. The forward and after turret carried 28 cm (11 inch) K L/40 guns,In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "K" stands for Kanone (cannon), while the L/40 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/40 gun is 40 calibers, meaning that the gun barrel is 40 times as long as it is in diameter. and the center turret was armed with shorter L/35 guns. Her secondary armament consisted of eight 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/35 quick-firing guns mounted in casemate
s and eight 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns, also casemate mounted. Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelms armament suite was rounded out with six 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, all in above-water swivel mounts.
, including both Admirals Reinhard Scheer
and Franz von Hipper
, who both served aboard the ship as navigation officers from Spring to Fall 1897 and October 1898 to September 1899, respectively.
. Chinese nationalists laid siege to the foreign embassies in Peking and murdered the German minister. Those soldiers that were in China at the time could not defeat the Boxers. The German East Asia Squadron
consisted of the protected cruiser
s , , , the small cruisers , , and the gunboats and .
The expeditionary force consisted of the four Brandenburgs, six cruiser
s, 10 freighters, three torpedo boat
s, and six regiments of marines, under the command of Marshal Alfred von Waldersee. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
opposed the plan, which he saw as unnecessary and costly. The force arrived in China in September 1900. By that time, the siege of Peking had already been lifted. As a result, the task force suppressed local uprisings around Kiaochow. In the end, the operation cost the German government more than 100 million marks.
for a significant reconstruction. After she emerged from her refit in 1905, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm rejoined the active fleet. However, she and her sisters
were rapidly made obsolete by the launch of in 1906. As a result, their service careers were limited. On 12 September 1910, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm and Weißenburg, the more advanced ships of the class, were sold to the Ottoman Empire
and renamed Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis respectively (after the famous 16th-century Ottoman admirals, Hayreddin Barbarossa and Turgut Reis
). The Ottoman navy, however, had great difficulty equipping the two ships; the navy had to pull trained enlisted men from the rest of the fleet just to put together crews for them. A year later, in September 1911, Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire
. Barbaros Hayreddin, along with Turgut Reis and the ancient central battery ironclad Mesudiye—which had been built in the mid 1870s—had been on a summer training cruise since July, and so were prepared for the conflict. Despite this, the ships spent the war in harbor.
broke out in October 1912, when the Balkan League
attacked the Ottoman Empire. The condition of Barbaros Hayreddin, as with most ships of the Ottoman fleet, had deteriorated significantly. During the war, Barbaros Hayreddin conducted gunnery training along with the other capital ships of the Ottoman navy, escorted troop convoys, and bombarded coastal installations. On 17 November 1912, Barbaros Hayreddin and Mesudiye bombarded Bulgarian positions in support of the I Corps, with the aid of artillery observers ashore. The battleships' gunnery was poor, though it provided a morale boost for the defending Ottoman army dug in at Çatalca
.
Late in 1912, the Ottoman fleet attempted to attack the Greek navy blockading the Dardanelles
. Barbaros Hayreddin was the flagship
of the fleet at the time. Two engagements took place, the Naval Battle of Elli
on 16 December 1912, followed by the Naval Battle of Lemnos
on 18 January 1913. The first action was supported by Ottoman coastal batteries; both Greek and Ottoman forces suffered minor damage during the engagement, but the Ottomans were unable to break through the Greek fleet and retired back into the Dardanelles. The Ottoman fleet sortied from the Dardanelles at 9:30; 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
Georgios Averof and three Hydra class ironclad warships
, sailing from the island of Lemnos
, altered course to the northeast, in order to block the advance of the Ottoman battleships. The Ottoman ships opened fire on the Greeks at 9:50, from a range of about 15000 yd (13,716 m); the Greeks returned fire 10 minutes later, by which time the range had decreased significantly to 8500 yd (7,772.4 m). At 10:04, the Ottoman ships completed a 16-point turn, which reversed their course, and headed for the safety of the straits. Within an hour, the Ottoman ships had withdrawn into the Dardanelles. The battle was considered a Greek victory, because the Ottoman fleet remained blockaded.
The Naval Battle of Lemnos
resulted from an Ottoman plan to lure the faster Georgios Averof away from the Dardanelles. To do so, the protected cruiser
Hamidiye
evaded the Greek blockade and broke out into the Aegean sea. Despite the threat posed by the cruiser, the Greek commander refused to detach Georgios Averof. Presuming that the plan had worked, Barbaros Hayreddin, Turgut Reis, and other units of the Ottoman fleet departed the Dardanelles on the morning of 18 January, and sailed towards the island of Lemnos. Georgios Averof intercepted the flotilla approximately 12 miles from Lemnos, which prompted the retreat of the Ottoman ships. A long range artillery duel that lasted for two hours began at around 11:25; towards the end of the engagement, Georgios Averof closed to within 5000 yd (4,572 m) and scored several hits on the fleeing Ottoman ships. During the battle, both Barbaros Hayreddin and her sister had a barbette disabled by gunfire, and both caught fire as a result. Between Barbaros Hayreddin and her sister Turgut Reis, the ships fired some 800 rounds, mostly of their main battery 28 cm (11 in) ammunition but without success. This was the last attempt of the Ottoman fleet to enter the Aegean
during the war.
On 8 February 1913, the Ottoman navy supported an amphibious assault at Şarköy
. Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis, along with several cruisers provided artillery support, from about a kilometer off shore. The ships supported the left flank of the Ottoman army once it was ashore. The Bulgarian army provided stiff resistance that ultimately forced the Ottoman army to withdraw, though the withdrawal was successful in large part due to the gunfire support from Barbaros Hayreddin and the rest of the fleet. During the battle, Barbaros Hayreddin fired 250 rounds from her 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and 180 shells from her 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns.
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 28 cm (11 in) and 10.5 cm (4.1 in) shells fired by Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis helped to turn back the advance of the 2nd Brigade of the Bulgarian 1st Infantry Division. 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 Barbaros Hayreddin; the assault gained the Ottomans about 1500 m (1,640.4 yd) by nightfall. In response, the Bulgarians brought the 1st Brigade to the front, which beat the Ottoman advance back to its starting position.
off Bolayır in the Sea of Marmara
. The submarine hit Barbaros Hayreddin with a single torpedo; the ship sank with the loss of 253 men.
Blue-water navy
The term blue-water navy is a colloquialism used to describe a maritime force capable of operating across the deep waters of open oceans. While what actually constitutes such a force remains undefined, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise sea control at wide ranges...
battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
sAt the time she was laid down, the German navy referred to the ship as an "armored ship" (Panzerschiffe in German), instead of "battleship" (Schlachtschiff), see Gröner, p13. of the German Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
. The ship was named for Friedrich Wilhelm, a 17th century Duke of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Margrave of Brandenburg.Kurfürst is the title Freidrich Wilhelm held; it translates as "Elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
", which denoted his position as an elector of the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. She was the fourth pre-dreadnought of the , along with her sister ships , , and . She was laid down in 1890 in the Imperial Dockyard
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven was a German shipbuilding company in Wilhelmshaven, Prussian Hanover. It was founded in 1853, first as Königliche Werft Wilhelmshaven but renamed in 1871 with the proclamation of the German Empire...
in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
, launched in 1891, and completed in 1893 at the cost of 11.23 million Marks. The Brandenburg 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.
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm saw limited active duty during her service career with the German fleet. She, along with her three sisters, saw one major overseas deployment, to China in 1900–01, during the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
. The ship underwent a major modernization in 1904–1905. In 1910, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was sold to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and renamed Barbaros Hayreddin, where she saw heavy service during the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, taking part in two lost naval engagements with the Greek navy in December 1912 and January 1913 and providing artillery support to Ottoman ground forces in Thrace. On 8 August 1915, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the ship was torpedoed and sunk off the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
by the British submarine with heavy loss of life.
Construction
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was the fourth and final ship of the class. She was ordered as battleship D, and was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft WilhelmshavenKaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven was a German shipbuilding company in Wilhelmshaven, Prussian Hanover. It was founded in 1853, first as Königliche Werft Wilhelmshaven but renamed in 1871 with the proclamation of the German Empire...
in 1890. She was the first ship of the class to be launched, which she was on 30 June 1891. She was commissioned into the German fleet on 29 April 1894, the same day as her sister Brandenburg. Construction of Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm cost the German navy 11.23 million marks.
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was 115.7 m (379.6 ft) long overall, had a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 19.5 m (64 ft) which was increased to 19.74 m (64.8 ft) with the addition of torpedo nets, and had a draft of 7.6 m (24.9 ft) forward and 7.9 m (25.9 ft) aft. The ship displaced 10013 MT (9,854.8 LT) at its designed weight, and up to 10670 MT (10,501.5 LT) at full combat load. She was equipped with two sets of 3-cylinder triple-expansion engines that provided 10,228 indicated horsepower and a top speed of 16.9 knots (9.2 m/s).
The ship was unusual for its time in that it possessed a broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
of six heavy guns in three twin gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s, rather than the four guns typical of contemporary battleships. The forward and after turret carried 28 cm (11 inch) K L/40 guns,In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "K" stands for Kanone (cannon), while the L/40 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/40 gun is 40 calibers, meaning that the gun barrel is 40 times as long as it is in diameter. and the center turret was armed with shorter L/35 guns. Her secondary armament consisted of eight 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/35 quick-firing guns mounted in casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s and eight 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns, also casemate mounted. Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelms armament suite was rounded out with six 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, all in above-water swivel mounts.
Service history
Upon her commissioning, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was assigned to the I Division of the I Battle Squadron alongside her three sisters. The I Division was accompanied by the four older s in the II Division, though by 1901–2, the Sachsens were replaced by the new s. The ship was a training ground for later commanders in chief of the High Seas FleetHigh Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
, including both Admirals Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...
and Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
, who both served aboard the ship as navigation officers from Spring to Fall 1897 and October 1898 to September 1899, respectively.
Boxer Rebellion
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm saw her first major operation in 1900, when the I Division was deployed to China during the Boxer RebellionBoxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
. Chinese nationalists laid siege to the foreign embassies in Peking and murdered the German minister. Those soldiers that were in China at the time could not defeat the Boxers. The German East Asia Squadron
German East Asia Squadron
The German East Asia Squadron was a German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the 1870s and 1914...
consisted of the protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
s , , , the small cruisers , , and the gunboats and .
The expeditionary force consisted of the four Brandenburgs, six cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s, 10 freighters, three torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s, and six regiments of marines, under the command of Marshal Alfred von Waldersee. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz was a German Admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussia never had a major navy, nor did the other German states before the German Empire was formed in 1871...
opposed the plan, which he saw as unnecessary and costly. The force arrived in China in September 1900. By that time, the siege of Peking had already been lifted. As a result, the task force suppressed local uprisings around Kiaochow. In the end, the operation cost the German government more than 100 million marks.
Reconstruction and service with the Ottoman Navy
In 1904, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm entered the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in WilhelmshavenWilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
for a significant reconstruction. After she emerged from her refit in 1905, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm rejoined the active fleet. However, she and her sisters
Sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
were rapidly made obsolete by the launch of in 1906. As a result, their service careers were limited. On 12 September 1910, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm and Weißenburg, the more advanced ships of the class, were sold to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and renamed Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis respectively (after the famous 16th-century Ottoman admirals, Hayreddin Barbarossa and Turgut Reis
Turgut Reis
Turgut Reis was an Ottoman Admiral and privateer who also served as Bey of Algiers; Beylerbey of the Mediterranean; and first Bey, later Pasha, of Tripoli. Under his naval command the Ottoman Empire maritime was extended across North Africa...
). The Ottoman navy, however, had great difficulty equipping the two ships; the navy had to pull trained enlisted men from the rest of the fleet just to put together crews for them. A year later, in September 1911, Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire
Italo-Turkish War
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
. Barbaros Hayreddin, along with Turgut Reis and the ancient central battery ironclad Mesudiye—which had been built in the mid 1870s—had been on a summer training cruise since July, and so were prepared for the conflict. Despite this, the ships spent the war in harbor.
Balkan wars
The First Balkan WarFirst Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
broke out in October 1912, when the Balkan League
Balkan League
The Balkan League was an alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Balkan states of Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the time still controlled much of the Balkan peninsula...
attacked the Ottoman Empire. The condition of Barbaros Hayreddin, as with most ships of the Ottoman fleet, had deteriorated significantly. During the war, Barbaros Hayreddin conducted gunnery training along with the other capital ships of the Ottoman navy, escorted troop convoys, and bombarded coastal installations. On 17 November 1912, Barbaros Hayreddin and Mesudiye bombarded Bulgarian positions in support of the I Corps, with the aid of artillery observers ashore. The battleships' gunnery was poor, though it provided a morale boost for the defending Ottoman army dug in at Çatalca
Çatalca
Çatalca is a city and a rural district in Istanbul, Turkey. It is in Thrace, on the ridge between the Marmara and the Black Sea. Most people living in Çatalca are either farmers or those visiting vacation homes. Many families from Istanbul come to Çatalca during weekends to hike in the forests or...
.
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
. Barbaros Hayreddin was the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the fleet at the time. Two engagements took place, the Naval Battle of Elli
Naval Battle of Elli
The Battle of Elli , also known as the Battle of the Dardanelles, took place near the mouth of the Dardanelles on as part of the First Balkan War between the fleets of Greece and the Ottoman Empire...
on 16 December 1912, followed by the Naval Battle of Lemnos
Naval Battle of Lemnos
The Battle of Lemnos , fought on , was a naval battle during the First Balkan War, which defeated the second and last attempt of the Ottoman Empire to break the Greek naval blockade of the Dardanelles and reclaim supremacy over the Aegean Sea from Greece....
on 18 January 1913. The first action was supported by Ottoman coastal batteries; both Greek and Ottoman forces suffered minor damage during the engagement, but the Ottomans were unable to break through the Greek fleet and retired back into the Dardanelles. The Ottoman fleet sortied from the Dardanelles at 9:30; 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
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
Georgios Averof and three Hydra class ironclad warships
Hydra class battleship
The three Hydra-class ships, Hydra, Spetsai and Psara, were ordered from France in 1885 during the premiership of Charilaos Trikoupis, as part of a wider reorganization and modernization of the Greek armed forces, which had proved themselves inadequate during the Cretan uprising of 1866 and the...
, sailing from the island of Lemnos
Lemnos
Lemnos is an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos peripheral unit, which is part of the North Aegean Periphery. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina...
, altered course to the northeast, in order to block the advance of the Ottoman battleships. The Ottoman ships opened fire on the Greeks at 9:50, from a range of about 15000 yd (13,716 m); the Greeks returned fire 10 minutes later, by which time the range had decreased significantly to 8500 yd (7,772.4 m). At 10:04, the Ottoman ships completed a 16-point turn, which reversed their course, and headed for the safety of the straits. Within an hour, the Ottoman ships had withdrawn into the Dardanelles. The battle was considered a Greek victory, because the Ottoman fleet remained blockaded.
The Naval Battle of Lemnos
Naval Battle of Lemnos
The Battle of Lemnos , fought on , was a naval battle during the First Balkan War, which defeated the second and last attempt of the Ottoman Empire to break the Greek naval blockade of the Dardanelles and reclaim supremacy over the Aegean Sea from Greece....
resulted from an Ottoman plan to lure the faster Georgios Averof away from the Dardanelles. To do so, the protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
Hamidiye
Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye
HamidiyeThe name is also sometimes rendered as Hamidieh in English; see Gardiner and Gray, p. 389 and Halpern, p. 228. was an Ottoman cruiser that saw extensive action during the Balkan Wars and World War I...
evaded the Greek blockade and broke out into the Aegean sea. Despite the threat posed by the cruiser, the Greek commander refused to detach Georgios Averof. Presuming that the plan had worked, Barbaros Hayreddin, Turgut Reis, and other units of the Ottoman fleet departed the Dardanelles on the morning of 18 January, and sailed towards the island of Lemnos. Georgios Averof intercepted the flotilla approximately 12 miles from Lemnos, which prompted the retreat of the Ottoman ships. A long range artillery duel that lasted for two hours began at around 11:25; towards the end of the engagement, Georgios Averof closed to within 5000 yd (4,572 m) and scored several hits on the fleeing Ottoman ships. During the battle, both Barbaros Hayreddin and her sister had a barbette disabled by gunfire, and both caught fire as a result. Between Barbaros Hayreddin and her sister Turgut Reis, the ships fired some 800 rounds, mostly of their main battery 28 cm (11 in) ammunition but without success. This was the last attempt of the Ottoman fleet to enter the Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
during the war.
On 8 February 1913, the Ottoman navy supported an amphibious assault at Şarköy
Sarköy
Şarköy is a seaside town and district of Tekirdağ Province situated on the north coast of the Marmara Sea in Thrace in Turkey. Şarköy is 86 km west of the town of Tekirdağ, and can be reached either by the inland road or by the winding coast road, which goes on to Gallipoli...
. Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis, along with several cruisers provided artillery support, from about a kilometer off shore. The ships supported the left flank of the Ottoman army once it was ashore. The Bulgarian army provided stiff resistance that ultimately forced the Ottoman army to withdraw, though the withdrawal was successful in large part due to the gunfire support from Barbaros Hayreddin and the rest of the fleet. During the battle, Barbaros Hayreddin fired 250 rounds from her 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and 180 shells from her 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns.
In March 1913, the ship returned to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
to resume support of the Çatalca garrison, which was under renewed attacks by the Bulgarian army. On 26 March, the 28 cm (11 in) and 10.5 cm (4.1 in) shells fired by Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis helped to turn back the advance of the 2nd Brigade of the Bulgarian 1st Infantry Division. 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 Barbaros Hayreddin; the assault gained the Ottomans about 1500 m (1,640.4 yd) by nightfall. In response, the Bulgarians brought the 1st Brigade to the front, which beat the Ottoman advance back to its starting position.
World War I
In the summer of 1914, World War I broke out in Europe, though the Ottomans remained neutral until early November, when the actions of the German battlecruiser , which had been transferred to the Ottoman navy, resulted in declarations of war by Russia, France, and Great Britain. Between 1914–15, some of the ship's guns were removed and employed as coastal guns to shore up the defenses protecting the Dardanelles. On 8 August 1915, Barbaros Hayreddin was en route to support the Ottoman defenses at the Dardanelles when she was intercepted by the British submarine E 11HMS E11
HMS E11 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy launched on 23 April 1914. E11 was one of the most successful submarines in action during the 1915 naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, sinking over 80 vessels of all sizes in three tours of the Sea of Marmara.-European operations:In...
off Bolayır in the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
. The submarine hit Barbaros Hayreddin with a single torpedo; the ship sank with the loss of 253 men.