TNT History Archives: Wreck of the Ship That Plunged Ottoman Turkey Into WWI (1914)

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 3 December 2018)


The Ottoman Navy's 'Midilli', after it had been the German
Navy's 'Breslau'.

The Ottoman Navy's 'Midilli' warship, one of the reasons that Turkey
entered World War I in 1914, sunk when it hit 5 sea mines near İmroz
(Gökçeada) Island in the northern Aegean Sea on 20 January 1918.
A team of Turkish, Greek and German underwater researchers has
been examining the Midilli in 73 meters of water and a documentary
about the investigation is being made by Savaş Karakaş.

On 10 August 1914, the German warships 'Goben' and ' Breslau'
fled British pursuit, entered the Dardanelles and became the
'Yavuz' and 'Midilli' of the Ottoman Navy.   Later, in October, the
ships bombed Russian ports in the Black Sea and Ottoman Turkey
entered the Great War on the side of Germany.

//Ed. Note.  Winston Churchill had commandeered the Ottoman 
warships 'Sultan Osman' and 'Reşadiye' that were being built in
England in early August 1914.  For related information see this
recent TNT report: Churchill Ottoman Warships //

Underwater researcher Selçuk Kolay first found the wreck of the
Midilli in 1993 in the waters off Imroz/Gökçeada.  Now, with Kolay
as their guide, 8 researchers (4 Turkish, 3 German and 1 Greek) are
diving to the wreck repeatedly to learn its 100-year-old secrets.

The Turkish Navy underwater salvage ship 'Alemdar' is helping
the effort with its advanced sonar and imaging systems.  The
'Alemdar' is named after a salvage ship that had many Black
Sea adventures during the Turkish War of Independence:

Alemdar 1921-1923 click here for the first Alemdar's wartime
adventures.


                     Imroz/Gökçeada (arrow)