The Bombardment of Samsun was a naval operation carried out by the

Greek Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...

and the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

against the Turkish town of

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The cit ...

in 1922. The ships fired 400 rounds at the town, and in return the single Turkish

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

in the town fired back 25 rounds.Cevizoğlu, 2007, page 77. The bombardment lasted almost three hours (15:02–18:00).

Causes

There were several reasons for the bombardment. One of them was to assist Pontic Greek rebels who were fighting Turkish forces in the area. Another reason was to disrupt the consignment of weapons and ammunition into inner

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

. Moreover, Turkish

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s were seizing

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

ships in the

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and putting them into Turkish service.Doğanay, 2006, page 169. Recently a large Greek ship named ''Enosis'' had been taken over by one Turkish officer and five soldiers on 25 April 1922.

Outcome

In the end, the attack did not cause any damage to the Turkish logistical system or military material, though it caused damage to civilian properties and loss of civilian lives.Doğanay, 2006, page 173. The ships stayed in Samsun until being recalled to Allied-controlled

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. Around 8pm, US Navy Admiral

Robert L. Ghormley Vice Admiral Robert Lee Ghormley (October 15, 1883 – June 21, 1958) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as Commander, South Pacific Area during World War II. Early years Born in Portland, Oregon, Ghormley was the oldest of six ...

went ashore, accompanied by a pharmacist, to see if any Americans were injured or dead.Doğanay, 2006, page 171. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reported the incident on 11 June 1922, stating that the Greeks claimed the firing was directed against the ammunition dumps. The newspaper further mentioned that few people died and the warehouse of the

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members ...

was slightly damaged. The ''Times'' published another article about the incident on 12 June. The article said that the commander of an American torpedo boat destroyer at Samsun reported, contrary to the Greek report, that there were 90 casualties as a result of the bombardment and a portion of the town was destroyed. The ammunition depots belonging to the Turks, which were situated three miles inland, were not damaged.''90 Casualties in Samsun.; American Officer's Report Differs From Greek Account of Bombardment.''
''The New York Times'', article from 12 June 1922. Civilian properties damaged or destroyed by the bombardment included:Doğanay, 2006, pages 171–172 * the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

's office destroyed * the house of the Greek

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

partially damaged * three houses belonging to local Greeks destroyed * one shop (Alston) partially damaged * one shop belonging to a

destroyed (worth 30,000 liras) * 25-26 houses belonging to

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

destroyed * 19 houses belonging to Turks damaged * 19

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s damaged (cost of repairs worth 1,500 liras) * Armenian church and its orphanage damaged * one sentry house destroyed * a depot belonging to the local merchants destroyed *

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...

and

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

in the petroleum depot belonging to the municipality burned, with the following containers of fuel listed: ** 9,496

tinplate Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap milled steel, the backing metal was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture ...

containers of American kerosene ** 19,800 tinplate containers of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n kerosene ** 41,700 tinplate containers of kerosene, ** 6,000 kg of Russian gasoline ** 33,000 kg of gasoline belonging to the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

** 8,368 kg of mercantile gasoline As a result of the bombardment, there were four dead and three wounded among the civilians.

External links

''Samsun′u Bombalayan Yunan Zırhlısı''
tarihtendersler.com; Article about the bombardment of Samsun.

Bibliography

*Hulki Cevizoğlu, ''1919'un Şifresi (Gizli ABD İşgalinin Belge ve Fotoğrafları)'', Ceviz Kabuğu Yayınları, Aralık 2007, . *Doğanay, Rahmi
''İstiklal Harbinde Samsun’daki Amerikan Filosu''
Geçmişten Geleceğe Samsun, Samsun 2006, (pages 163-174).

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017

History of Samsun Province 1922 in the Ottoman Empire 1922 in Greece 1922 in the United States June 1922 events United States Navy in the 20th century