In the lead-up to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, there were three British naval missions to the Ottoman Empire, sent to help modernize and reform the Ottoman Navy. The missions were led by admirals

Douglas Gamble Admiral Sir Douglas Austin Gamble (8 November 1856 – 23 May 1934) was a Royal Navy officer who commanded the 4th Battle Squadron. Naval career Gamble joined the Royal Navy in 1870. After serving in the Naval Intelligence Department at the Ad ...

(February 1909 – March 1910),

Hugh Pigot Williams Admiral Hugh Pigot Williams (1 September 1858 – 28 June 1934) was a British officer of the Royal Navy. In 1910–1912, while a Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy, he served as head of the British naval mission to the Ottoman Empire and Fleet Comm ...

(April 1910 – April 1912), and

Arthur Limpus Admiral Sir Arthur Henry Limpus, (7 June 1863 – 3 November 1931) was a Royal Navy officer who became Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard. Naval career Promoted to commander on 1 January 1898, Limpus was posted to the protected cruiser H ...

(May 1912 – September 1914). Despite enjoying extensive formal authority, with the heads of the mission serving concurrently as Fleet Commanders of the Ottoman Navy, the success of the mission was limited due to political instability, pro-German tendencies within the leadership of the Young Turks, and the involvement of the Ottoman Empire in the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

and the two

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

in 1911–1913, which led to naval defeats and the loss of several smaller units.

Sources

* * {{cite journal , first = Chris B. , last = Rooney , title = The International Significance of British Naval Missions to the Ottoman Empire, 1908-14 , journal = Middle Eastern Studies , volume = 34 , issue = 1 , year = 1998 , pages = 1–29 , doi = 10.1080/00263209808701207 , jstor = 4283915 1900s in the Ottoman Empire 1910s in the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire–United Kingdom relations Ottoman Navy