Saros Bay or Gulf of Saros is an inlet of the northern Aegean Sea

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...

 located north of the Gallipoli

Gallipoli

The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...

 Peninsula in northwestern Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

.
The bay is 75 km long and 35 km wide. Far from industrialized areas and thanks to underwater currents, it is a popular summer recreation resort with sandy strands and crystal-clear sea. [Scuba diving], windsurfing and fishing are the most practiced water sports here.

Settlements around the bay are: Gökçetepe, Mecidiye, Erikli, Danişment, Yayla, Karaincirli, Vakıf, Büyükevren, Sultaniçe, Gülçavuş and Enez

Enez

Enez is a district of Edirne Province, Turkey, as well as the name of the center-town of the district. Its ancient name was Aenus. The mayor is Ahmet Çayır . The population is 3,826 as of 2010....

, all in Edirne Province

Edirne Province

Edirne Province is the westernmost province of Turkey, located in Eastern Thrace along the Greek and Bulgarian border. The city's wealth, population and importance increased after it was declared as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire...

. The islands of Gökçeada (Imbros) and Samothrace

Samothrace

Samothrace is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a self-governing municipality within the Evros peripheral unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,723 . Its main industries are fishing and tourism. Resources on the island includes granite and...

 lie in the Aegean Sea just outside of Saros Bay.

The North Anatolian Fault Zone, the most prominent active fault in Turkey and the source of numerous large earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

s throughout the history, passes through the Gulf of İzmit and traverses the Marmara Sea reaching to the Saros Bay to the southeast.

On the Southern shore of the Dardanelles, across from Gallipoli, was the place of legendary Troy

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

.

Non-combat military incident

The bay served for a long time as a place for NATO's amphibious exercises. In the fall of 1992, the Turkish

Turkish Navy

The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 TCG Muavenet

TCG Muavenet

TCG Mauvenet may refer to one of the following ships of the Turkish Navy:, a torpedo boat of the Ottoman Navy that entered service in 1910; transferred to the Turkish Navy upon that navy's creation; taken out of service in 1923; scrapped, 1953, a ordered from the United Kingdom just prior to World...

(DM 357) was hit by two Sea Sparrow

AIM-7 Sparrow

The AIM-7 Sparrow is an American, medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, as well as various allied air forces and navies. Sparrow and its derivatives were the West's principal beyond visual...

 missiles fired by the U.S.

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 USS Saratoga

USS Saratoga (CV-60)

USS Saratoga , was one of four Forrestal- class supercarriers built for the US Navy in the 1950s. Saratoga was the sixth US Navy ship, and the second aircraft carrier, to be named for the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War.Commissioned in 1956, she spent most of her career in...

during the NATO exercise "Display Determination" held in the bay. The incident cost the lives of several Turkish officers, while many others aboard were injured seriously.