29 Nisan 2019 Pazartesi

TNT History Archives: Ottoman Ship’s Crew, Captured in 1915, Returned from Greek POW Camps 8 Years Later

//Ed. Note: The report below was submitted by Capt. Lütfü 
Talat after he was freed from 8 years in Greek prison camps
between 1915 and 1923.  In other words, the Demirhisar's
crew was captured at the start of World War I and released
at the end of the Turkish War of Independence.

TNT has transcribed/translated a number of these reports
and will be presenting them in the near future.//

sultanhisar torpidobotu ile ilgili görsel sonucu
    Sultanhisar Torpidobot, sister ship of the Demirhisar.

When the Ottoman Navy’s ‘Demirhisar’ torpido boat was on duty 
harassing Allied shipping in the north Aegean Sea during the early 
months of World War I in 1915, it played cat and mouse with the 
more powerful British Navy ships for a time but was finally cornered
off the coast off Greece’s Chios (Sakız) Island, near the Turkish 
mainland city of Çeşme, on 16 April 1915.  After a failed torpedo attack 
on the British troop transport ‘SS Manitou’, two British warships 
pursued and destroyed the ‘Demirhisar’, as its crew sought refuge in 
the supposedly neutral port of Kalamoti on Chios.   Instead, they were
taken prisoner by the Greeks. 

chios greece map ile ilgili görsel sonucu

Herewith, Capt. Lütfü's report submitted to Turkish authorities in May
1923, upon his return from captivity: 


“At the beginning of the Great War, the Demirhisar Torpedo warship was 
raiding the enemy fleet in the Aegean Sea.  During the last of these raids 
our ship was blown up by superior enemy forces in Kalamoti Gulf off 
Sakız (Chios) Island and our crew of 7 officers and 20 sailors requested 
asylum from Greece at the aforementioned location on Sakız Island.  
From that time until the date of our return we were transported to Şira 
(Sira, Siros) Island, Tripolis city, İtaki (İthaca) and again to Şira.  In 
those times there were no prison camps in the places where we stayed,
so on Şira Island, the last  place we lived, there were no Turkish 
prisoners besides us. 

Since I was not in contact with anyone other than the Demirhisar 
Torpedo’s crew and its officers, in particular, I have not been able to 
obtain any information about anyone other than our ship’s crew.  

Four sailors and one officer from our ship’s crew passed away and 
their names are given below:  
       
1 – Hüseyinoğlu Celal of Ordu
2 – Ahmedoğlu Ahmed of Samsun, on İtaki (Ithaca) Island from the 
Spanish flu.
3 – İsmailoğlu Halil of Biga
4 – Mehmedoğlu Ahmed of Bolaman

5 – I do not know the cause of death of the aforementioned individual 
because he was in Athens at the time.  However, based on my subsequent
investigation, I learned that he was brutally beaten by Greek soldiers, 
was unable to recover and died. 

6 – Deck Captain Hüseyin Adli bin Süleyman: he died from appendicitis 
on Şira Island and a funeral ceremony for him was arranged by the local 
government. No one from our ship’s crew was condemned: since we were 
separate, I do not know anything about any other naval prisoners.

Up until the declaration of war, relations between Greece and our 
government were good; but with the declaration of war (Turkish-Greek 
War of 1919-1923, known in Turkey as the War of Independence) and the 
coming to power of Venizelos, for no reason we were removed fromTripolis 
city and stuffed into Averof Prison in Athens.  Thanks to the intervention 
of the Dutch Ambassador, after three weeks we were transported to Ithaca
Island.  Our most important problem was lack of money.  The salary we 
received was most insufficient for our needs and our men were left half-
hungry and half-clothed.

Once on Ithaca Island and once on Şira Island we were attacked by the 
local population because of the Turkish Army’s Anatolian victory.  Both 
times, Greek Gendarmerie officers intervened and saved us.  At the end, 
we were held in isolation for about 50 days without being allowed any 
contact with anyone else.  In short, the Greeks’ treatment of prisoners is 
rather low.

Anadoluhisarı (Istanbul) – 28 May 1923
Captain Lütfü Talat, former commander of the Demirhisar Torpedo”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coincidentally, the ‘Demirhisar’’s attack on the ‘SS Manitou’ was 
chronicled by British seaman Harry Biles on 16 April 1915, and it 
tracks remarkably well with Ottoman Captain Lütfü’s account, 
although Biles thought the ‘Demirhisar’’s captain might have been a 
German: 

harry biles war diary click here to see Harry Biles's entire
diary.


"About 11.00 am a wireless call, SOS (help) was received. 
We immediately turned the ship about and steamed hard to 
the spot where the message was sent from. It appears that 
the transport  Manitou on passage from Alexandria to 
Lemnos with the RFA (6) and several other army units, 
together with the 29th Division Ammunition Column was 
intercepted between Lemnos and Skyros by a torpedo boat 
or gunboat which called alongside the Manitou and hailed 
her to stop, at the same time running up the Turkish flag. 
The officer in charge of the Turkish ship was reported to 
have been a German. After hailing the Manitou to stop, he 
shouted out to the captain that he would give him ten 
minutes to clear out of the ship as he intended sinking her. 
He then hauled away from the Manitou and fired three 
torpedoes at her, each one missing the ship.

The captain of the Manitou on receiving the order to leave 
the ship immediately started lowering the boats. Several 
were launched and the soldiers crowded in, putting their 
gunwales under causing several of the men to get washed 
out. One boat on being lowered, was thrown into the water 
through the davits snapping under the heavy load of a full 
boat. Two or three men thus received fatal injuries and 
immediately sank beneath the waves. Others were killed 
by rafts of all descriptions being thrown from the ship and 
striking them as they swam. The Turk after firing her third 
torpedo ran away at full speed, and could be seen by us, 
although we were not then in possession of the facts and 
had no idea of her nationality." 























The ‘Demirhisar’’s crew was held on Siros Island 
(just above the word ‘Cyclades’) twice, on Ithaca
island (far left) and in the city of Tripolis (in the 
center of the Mora peninsula, south of Patra), as well 
as 3 weeks in Athens.





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