Ottoman torpedo boat Sultanhisar

''Sultanhisar'' was a torpedo boat of the Ottoman Navy. She was built in 1907 by Schneider & Cie in Chalon-sur-Saône, France, and transferred the same year to Turkey.Bernd Langensiepen, Ahmet Güleryüz, ''The Ottoman Steam Navy, 1828-1923'', Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1995, , pp. 156-157. She is best known for her action during the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I as she sank Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS AE2 in the Sea of Marmara and captured her crew.

Task

As of 16 October 1912, ''Sulthanisar'' was assigned to the Bosporus Fleet Command. From 19 December 1912 on, she served at the Armoured Warship Division.

During the naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign of World War I, the torpedo boat ''Sultanhisar'' was tasked with patrolling in the Dardanelles Strait. In addition, she daily transported German general Otto Liman von Sanders, who was the adviser and military commander of the Ottoman Army, between Eceabat and Gallipoli. On 29 April 1915, she received orders to return to Constantinople by sailing along the west coast of the Sea of Marmara. On the way, Commander Ali Rıza Bey changed his route and sailed eastwards in response to reports of the presence of a possible enemy submarine in that area.

Attack on Australian submarine

The Australian submarine HMAS ''AE2'' was able to pass through the blocked Dardanelles Strait and entered the Sea of Marmara on the early hours of 25 April 1915. She was the first Allied ship to perform the feat.

''Sultanhisar'' sighted the submarine in the morning of 30 April in the Erdek Bay near Bandırma. ''AE2'' tried to escape by diving and surfacing several times. Torpedoes were exchanged between the two warships unsuccessfully. In the meantime, ''Sultanhisar'' called the Ottoman gunboats ''Zuhaf'' and ''Aydın Reis'', which were patrolling in the area, for help. Finally, the submarine surfaced about from the torpedo boat. ''Sultanhisar'' opened fire and hit the submarine's engine room.

Lieutenant Commander Henry Hugh Gordon Stoker scuttled ''AE2'' by opening all tanks and flooding his submarine, which was unable to maneuver. The crew abandoned the vessel, and she went down at 10:45. At this moment, the two Ottoman gunboats arrived at the scene and offered to rescue the submarine's crew, who had all survived the attack. Rejecting that offer, Commander Ali Rıza Bey took the 32 sailors on board and sailed back to Gallipoli. After picking up two more POWs, one French and one British soldier, in Gallipoli, ''Sultanhisar'' headed for Istanbul.

Aftermath

''Sultanhisar'' served until the end of the war and was decommissioned by the end of October 1918, after the Armistice of Mudros. Following the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 in place of the dissolved Ottoman Empire, she returned in 1924 to service in the Turkish Navy. She was decommissioned in 1928 and was broken up in 1935.

Namesakes

The name "Sultanhisar", a town in the Aydın Province of Aegean Region in Turkey, was given later to two other warships of the Turkish Navy:
*, a
* a

See also

* List of major surface ships of the Ottoman Steam Navy
* World War I naval ships of the Ottoman Empire

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultanhisar
Ships built in France
1907 ships
Torpedo boats of the Ottoman Navy
World War I naval ships of the Ottoman Empire
Torpedo boats of the Turkish Navy
Gallipoli campaign