Gölcük Naval Shipyard ( tr, Gölcük Donanma Tersanesi) is a

naval shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

of the Turkish Navy within the

Gölcük Naval Base Gölcük Naval Base ( tr, Gölcük Deniz Ana Üssü) is the main base of the Turkish Navy on the east coast of the Sea of Marmara in Gölcük, Kocaeli. It is the principal base for logistic support with various facilities stretched over of land ...

on the east coast of the Sea of Marmara in Gölcük, Kocaeli. Established in 1926, the shipyard serves for the building and the maintenance of military vessels. A total of 3,221 personnel are employed at the shipyard stretching over an area of with covered structures of .

History

To repair the war damages of the Turkish

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

TCG ''Yavuz'' after

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 ...

, a

floating drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

, large enough to hold the big vessel, was needed. The site chosen was Gölcük on the southern shore of the

Gulf of İzmit Gulf of İzmit (Turkish language, Turkish: ''İzmit Körfezi''), also referred to as Izmit Bay, is a bay at the easternmost edge of the Sea of Marmara, in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. The gulf takes its name from the city of İzmit. Other cities a ...

. With the construction of the floating drydock and the housing

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

shipbuilding company

Flender Werke Flender Werke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Lübeck. It was founded in 1917 as a branch of Brückenbau Flender AG of Benrath on the Rhine. In 1926 it was made a fully independent business and renamed Lübecker Flenderwerke AG. It ...

, Gölcük Naval Shipyard was established in 1926. The maintenance facilities were extended in 1942 with various other buildings, such as machine plant and foundry, stretching over a big swampland, a small lake and hazelnut

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

fields in Gölcük. The Convention on the Turkish straits, part of the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...

signed in 1923, banned military facilities in the Turkish Straits. So, Turkish Navy's infrastructure, like shipyards and naval facilities, at the Golden Horn and İstinye in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

were systematically relocated to Gölcük. The principal development of the shipyard took place after 1947 within the frame of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

subsidies. Gölcük Naval Shipyard is today capable of building ships like

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

landing ship An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crud ...

s and commercial vessels up to 30.000 DWT. It is the second biggest shipbuilding facility in Turkey after

Pendik Naval Shipyard Istanbul Naval Shipyard ( tr, İstanbul Donanma Tersanesi), also known as Pendik Naval Shipyard, is a naval shipyard of the Turkish Navy on the northeastern coast of the Sea of Marmara in Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey. It is the largest shipbuilding fa ...

Tuzla, Istanbul Tuzla is a municipality of the province in Istanbul, Turkey on the Asian side of the city next to the municipality of Pendik. Tuzla is on a headland on the coast of Marmara Sea, at the eastern limit of the city. The mayor is Şadi Yazıcı ( AK ...

Milestones

Following the completion of repair works on TCG ''Yavuz'', the shipyard started with the building of its first ship. On July 26, 1934, an oil tanker was laid down. The long vessel was constructed in 16 months, named MT ''Gölcük'' after the shipyard and launched on November 1, 1935, being also the first ship built in the Republican era. MT ''Gölcük'' served until 1983. In 1980, an ''Ay'' class submarine of 1,000 tons was constructed at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard marking an important turning point in the Turkish shipbuilding history. Also, the building of a modern frigate, the TCG ''Fatih'' (F 242), in 1988 earned the naval shipyard international prestige. As of January 4, 2008, a total of 454 vessels were built at Gölcük Naval Shipyard. TCG Orucreis (6209083562)

Notable ships built

Floating dock Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched * ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes * Floating (psychological phe ...

of 7,500 tons lifting capacity * ''Akar'' class

Logistics Support Vessel An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxi ...

(Supertanker) * ''Yavuz'' class frigates (MEKO 200 TN Track I) ** launched April 24, 1987, commissioned October 12, 1988 ** launched July 22, 1988, commissioned November 17, 1989 * ''Barbaros'' class frigates (MEKO 200 TN II-A) ** launched July 28, 1994, commissioned May 23, 1997 * ''Salih Reis'' class frigates (MEKO 200 TN II-B) ** launched July 28, 1998, commissioned June 8, 2000 * ''Ay'' class submarines (Type 209/1200)
** TCG ''Yıldıray'' (S 350) commissioned July 20, 1981 ** TCG ''Doğanay'' (S 351) commissioned November 16, 1984 ** TCG ''Dolunay'' (S 352) commissioned September 14, 1990 * Type 209 submarine, ''Preveze'' class submarines (Type 209/T1.1400) ** TCG ''Preveze'' (S 353) commissioned July 28, 1994 ** TCG ''Sakarya'' (S 354) commissioned December 21, 1995 ** TCG ''18 Mart'' (S 355) commissioned June 29, 1998 ** TCG ''Anafartalar'' (S 356) commissioned October 12, 1998 * ''Gür'' class submarines (Type 209/T2.1400) ** TCG ''Gür'' (S 357) commissioned July 24, 2003 ** TCG ''Çanakkale'' (S 358) commissioned December 13, 2004 ** TCG ''Burakreis'' (S 359) commissioned November 1, 2006 ** TCG ''Birinci İnönü'' (S 360) launched May 24, 2007, commissioned June 27, 2008 * ''Kılıç II-B'' class fast patrol boats ** TCG ''Atak'' (P 337) launched in 2006, commissioned July 24, 2008 * Turkish ''Type 80'' class coast guard boats ** TCSG-3 Coast Guard Boat ** TCSG-92 Coast Guard Fast Attack Boat * ''Kaan'' class coast guard boats ** MRTP-15, MRTP-29, MRTP-33

Projects

* Coast guard search and rescue ship * Enhanced fast patrol boats * Fast patrol boats * Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) * Landing Ship, Tank (LST) * Landing Platform Dock (LPD) * A class Minehunters * New type patrol boat * Reis class (Type 214TN) AIP submarines * Rescue and towing ship * Submarine rescue mother ship (MOSHIP)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golcuk Naval Shipyard Turkish Navy shipyards Defence companies of Turkey Economy of Kocaeli Province Military in Kocaeli Buildings and structures in Kocaeli Province

History

Milestones

Notable ships built

Projects

See also

References