''Tarihi Kadırga'' ( Turkish for "historical galley") is an Ottoman

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

constructed in the late 16th or early 17th century for the use of

Ottoman sultans The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

on inshore waters. She is the only surviving original galley in the world, and has the world's oldest continuously maintained wooden hull.

Design

''Tarihi Kadırga'' has a length of and has a beam of , she was equipped with 24 pairs of oars, and crewed by 144 oarsmen. She had two masts, but these are now removed.

History

''Tarihi Kadırga'''s date of construction is unknown. However, it is presumed that she was built in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in the period between the reigns of Sultan

Murad III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...

(1574–1595) and Sultan

Mehmed IV Mehmed IV (; ; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693), nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to b ...

(1648–1687), as evidenced by

AMS radiocarbon dating Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a form of mass spectrometry that accelerates ions to extraordinarily high kinetic energies before mass analysis. The special strength of AMS among the different methods of mass spectrometry is its ability t ...

and dendrochronological research. The ship had a long service life, remaining in use until the reign of Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

(1808–1839). The first recorded mention of her dates from 1861, when the Istanbul newspaper ''Şehbal'' stated she was recorded by a French naval architect. In 1885, the ship underwent major repairs ordered by Sultan

Abdulhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

, in which decayed planks below the waterline were replaced, and the ship was refurbished. The galley was kept at the

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...

until 1913, when she was moved to the Imperial Naval Arsenal at Kasımpaşa. By 1923, she was in a state of disrepair, with photographs published in '' The Mariner's Mirror'' showing damage to her lower strakes. However, by 1939, another photograph published in ''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' showed her condition to have improved. The kiosk was restored in 1944, and the hull in 1950. During this restoration, some of the decoration on her hull was repainted by members of Istanbul University's Fine Arts Faculty. She remained at Kasımpaşa until 1956, when she was moved again, now to

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

, where she stayed until her final move in 1970. This time she was moved by barge to the

Istanbul Naval Museum The Istanbul Naval Museum (Turkish language, Turkish: ''İstanbul Deniz Müzesi'') is a national naval museum, located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was established in 1897 by the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Minister of the Navy ...

. She was given another restoration in 1982 and 1983, which included the replacement of decorative elements and repainting of the entire ship.

Gallery

File:IstanbulNavalMuseum18.JPG, The bow is decorated with symbols such as star, crescent, sun, stylized leaves, and flowers File:IstanbulNavalMuseum38.JPG, A view of the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

showing the ornamented kiosk File:Istanbul Naval Museum 8308.jpg, Rowers' benches File:Istanbul Naval Museum 8356.jpg, Close-up of the decoration under the kiosk File:Istanbul Naval Museum 8245.jpg, One of the two

basilisk In European bestiary, bestiaries and legends, a basilisk ( or ) is a legendary reptile reputed to be a Serpent symbolism, serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to the ''Natural History (Pliny), Naturalis Histo ...

carvings

Notes

References

External links