''Mecidiye'' (in older publications also spelled as ''Medjidiye'', or Médjidié) was a

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

that saw action during the

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 ...

and

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 ...

.B. Langensiepen, A. Güleryüz, J. Cooper,
The Ottoman Steam Navy, 1828–1923
" Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, United States, 1995. p. 149. It was ordered by the Ottoman Navy in 1900 to the United States shipbuilding company

William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) of Philadelphia was founded in 1830 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder of the late 19th century. Company hi ...

. It was laid down in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

on 7 November 1901; launched on 25 July 1903; its sea trials began in October 1903; and it was commissioned on 19 December 1903. It weighed 3,485 tons (3,967 tons full load); was long with a beam of and a draught of ; and was named after the Ottoman Sultan

Abdülmecid ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد المجيد) is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Majīd'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to th ...

. It had two 152mm L/45 quick firing guns, eight 120mm L/45 quick firing guns, six 47mm quick firing guns, six 37mm quick firing guns, and two 457mm

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s. ''Mecidiye'' was powered by two sets of VQE

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s producing 12,500 ihp and providing a top speed of , and carried a nominal complement of 302 (in 1903), 355 (in 1915), and 310 (in 1936.)

History

''Mecidiye'', named after Sultan

Abdülmecid I Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...

, was launched on 25 July 1903 and commissioned on 19 December 1903.

Balkan Wars

In October 1912, ''Mecidiye'' shelled

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n forts near

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

and other military targets. On 9 December, she was attacked by the Greek submarine at 800 meters, but the torpedo missed. ''Mecidiye'' also participated in the two major naval battles of the war, against the Greek Navy, at

Elli In Norse mythology (a subset of Germanic mythology), Elli (Old Norse: , "old age"Orchard (1997:38).) is a personification of old age who, in the ''Prose Edda'' book ''Gylfaginning'', defeats Thor in a wrestling match.Graeme Davis (2013). ''Tho ...

(16 December 1912) and

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

(18 January 1913), suffering slight damage in the first. On 18 February 1913, ''Mecidiye'' was part of the covering naval force for the Ottoman shore landing at

Şarköy Şarköy, previously known by its Greek name Περίσταση (Peristasi), is a seaside town and district of Tekirdağ Province situated on the north coast of the Marmara Sea in Thrace in Turkey. Şarköy is 86 km west of the town of Tek ...

World War I

During the

First World War 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 ...

, ''Mecidiye'' operated in 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 ...

. In December 1914, the ship transported Hafiz Hakki Bey to Trebizond to deliver messages to the 3rd Army's Chief of Staff.Erickson (2001), p. 54 On 3 April 1915, while shelling the port of

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, the ship was sunk by hitting a Russian mine off the coast of Vorokoskiy-Mayak near Odessa in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. 26 crewmen lost their lives. The ship was raised by the Russians on 31 May 1915,Gardiner (1985), p. 307. and salvaged on 8 June 1915. It was refitted at the Ropit Yard in Odessa before being commissioned by the Russian Navy with the name ''Prut'' (

Pruth The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

) on 29 October 1915. On 1 May 1918 it was captured 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 ...

forces at

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

and was returned to the Ottoman Navy on 13 May 1918, which re-commissioned the ship as ''Mecidiye''.

Turkish Navy service, 1927–1947

Under the terms of the

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...

in 1920, Ottoman warships were to be handed over to the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, in particular the United Kingdom, as war compensation. However, the ensuing

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

culminated in the abrogation of the Treaty of Sèvres; it was replaced by 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 ...

in 1923, which permitted the new

Turkish Republic Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

to retain the former Ottoman fleet, including ''Mecidiye''. All warships of the former Ottoman Navy which survived World War I (they were interned at the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( tr, Altın Boynuz or ''Haliç''; grc, Χρυσόκερας, ''Chrysókeras''; la, Sinus Ceratinus) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with t ...

and the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

under Allied control) were transferred to 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 ...

in 1925. After reparation works at the

Gölcük Naval Shipyard Gölcük Naval Shipyard ( tr, Gölcük Donanma Tersanesi) is a naval shipyard of the Turkish Navy within the Gölcük Naval Base on the east coast of the Sea of Marmara in Gölcük, Kocaeli. Established in 1926, the shipyard serves for the bui ...

between 1925 and 1927, ''Mecidiye'' was commissioned by the

in June 1927. It was among the large surface combatants of the Turkish Navy between 1927 and 1940, when it became a cadet training ship, being used for this purpose until being decommissioned on 1 March 1947. The ship was sold for scrap in 1952, and broken up between 1952 and 1956.

Notes

Bibliography

* Erickson, Edward J., ''Defeat in detail: the Ottoman Army in the Balkans'', 1912–1913, Greenwood Publishing, 2003. * Erickson, Edward J., ''Ordered to die: a history of the Ottoman army in the First World War'', Greenwood Press, 2001. * Gardiner, Robert, Randal Gray and Przemyslaw Budzbon, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921'', Naval Institute Press, 1985. * Sondhaus, Lawrence, ''Naval warfare, 1815–1914'', Routledge, 2001.

External links

Article on the ''Mecidiye'' at the ''Turkey in the First World War'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mecidiye 1903 ships Ships built by William Cramp & Sons Cruisers of the Ottoman Navy Naval ships of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Wars World War I cruisers of the Ottoman Empire Maritime incidents in 1915 World War I shipwrecks in the Black Sea Ships sunk by mines Captured ships Ships of the Imperial Russian Navy Ships of the Turkish Navy