The Kushimoto Turkish Memorial and Museum ( ja, トルコ軍艦遭難記念碑), aka Frigate ''Ertuğrul'' Memorial and Museum ( tr, Ertuğrul Anıtı ve Müzesi,), is a monument and a museum to commemorate the sailors of the Ottoman frigate ''Ertuğrul'', which sunk in 1890 off

Kushimoto, Wakayama 270px, Shionomisaki Southernmost Point Park is a coastal town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,192 in 8354 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The ...

in Japan.

Background

''Ertuğrul'' was an 1863-built sailing

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 ...

of the Ottoman Navy. She left

İstanbul 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, ...

on July 14, 1889 with around 600 sailors and officers on board for an official visit to Japan. She completed her visit on September 16, 1890 after a three-month stay, and set sail from

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

for return. Around midnight on September 16, the vessel hit reefs and fell apart in stormy weather. She sank off

Kii Ōshima is an inhabited island lying off the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula and the southernmost point of Honshū, Japan. It has an estimated population of around 2000, and is administratively part of the town of Kushimoto, Wakayama, Kushimoto in Wakay ...

while only six officers and sixty-three sailors survived, most of them with injuries. The survivors were transported home aboard two Japanese

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 ...

s in October 1890, who were received by the sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

in January 1891.

Cemetery and monument

In February 1891, 150 bodies recovered from the wreckage were buried in a newly established cemetery. On September 15, 1891, the first anniversary of the disaster, a monument was erected far from the site of the accident, near the Kashinozaki Lighthouse of Kushimoto. A second memorial stone was erected by the Japanese-Turkish Trade Association on April 5, 1929 and visited by

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

on June 3 the same year. After this information reached Turkey, its government proposed a new monument. The construction started on October 22, 1936, and the opening ceremony took place on June 3, 1937 with attendance by the Turkish ambassador.

Museum

A museum was established near the memorial in cooperation with the Kushimoto Municipality and the Turkish Embassy in Japan. It was opened on December 14, 1974. In the museum, objects initially recovered from the wreckage by the fishermen, belongings and photographs of the ship's officers and the seamen as well as a

ship model Ship models or model ships are scale models of ships. They can range in size from 1/6000 scale wargaming miniatures to large vessels capable of holding people. Ship modeling is a craft as old as shipbuilding itself, stretching back to ancient t ...

of the frigate are on display. Later, a corner was added to the museum devoted to

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Also items sent from Kushimoto's

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

in Turkey,

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

and

Yakakent Yakakent is the central town of Yakakent district in Samsun Province of Turkey, located on the Black Sea coast. Sister cities Yakakent has one sister city: * Kushimoto (Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is ...

, are exhibited in the museum.

Visitor attraction

Turkish Memorial and Museum Kushimoto Wakayama pref Japan01-b

The Turkish memorial and museum are a visitor attraction in Wakayama region. The venue ranks first in the must-see list of the local municipality. It is also the third most-visited place. Admission to the monument is free. The museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00 hours local time. Turkish high officials pay tribute at the monument and the memorial cemetery during their visit to Japan.

Monument in Turkey

The "Association of Turkish-Japanese Friendship and Frigate ''Ertuğrul'' Martyrs' in Ünye" erected a monument in Topyanı neighborhood of

Ünye Ünye (''Oinòe'', Οἰνόη in ancient Greek) is a large town and district of Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 76 km west of the city of Ordu. In 2009 it had 74,806 inhabitants. İrfan Akar is the President of the Chamber of ...

, a town at the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

province of

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, historically also known as Cotyora or Kotyora ( pnt, Κοτύωρα), and the capital of Ordu Province with a population of 229,214 in the city center. Name Kotyora, the ori ...

, northern Turkey in commemoration of native sailors, who were on board the sunken ship. The opening ceremony was held on September 14, 2014, the 124th anniversary of the disaster, in presence of the Ambassador of Japan to Turkey, Turkish high-ranked local officials and the crew of the Turkish frigate TCG ''Oruçreis'' (F-245) representing the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces ( tr, ), or Turkish Navy ( tr, ) is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was establi ...

References

External links

{{commons category, Turkish Memorial and Museum (Kushimoto, Japan) Buildings and structures completed in 1929 Buildings and structures in Wakayama Prefecture Cemeteries in Japan Japan–Turkey relations Monuments and memorials in Japan Museums established in 1974 Museums in Wakayama Prefecture Naval history of the Ottoman Empire Naval museums Tourist attractions in Wakayama Prefecture Turkish military memorials and cemeteries outside Turkey Maritime museums in Japan Kushimoto, Wakayama 1929 establishments in Japan 1974 establishments in Japan