During the Battle of Cape Sarych in November of 1914, the Turkish Yavuz Sultan Selim
battlecruiser engaged a superior Russian fleet while sailing through mine-infested waters.
To avoid getting sunk and be able to head back to Constantinople,
Yavuz had to risk it and confront the Russians head-on.
It was before the beginning of World War 1 that Germany began developing a new type
of battlecruiser to match the hegemony of the British Royal Navy. One of them was SMS Goebens,
a Moltke-class battlecruiser that quickly proved her worth.
Transferred to the Ottoman Navy in 1914 and baptized as Yavuz Sultan Selim,
the ship single-handedly kept the entire Russian and British ships at bay during the war. Usually
outnumbered, outgunned, and outmanned, Yavuz always found a way to escape from her hunters
while leaving behind a trail of destruction. Still, getting away in one piece during that
fateful day in the Black Sea was not going to be easy, but the seasoned German crew aboard Yavuz
and their Ottoman allies were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep fighting another day…
Moltke-class battlecruisers In the early 20th century, the young Prussian
Empire was slowly becoming the most affluent, advanced, and prosperous empire within Europe.
However, the French, Austrians, Russians, and mostly the British
did not see the new competitor with good eyes, as the Germans would sooner or later become a
threat to the United Kingdom's hegemony. During the years before the outbreak
of World War 1, the Kaiserliche Marine, or German Imperial Navy,
got entangled in an arms race with the British Royal Navy to dispute the supremacy of the sea.
Then, in a May 1907 conference, the Imperial Navy Office discussed a new
type of battlecruiser that was expected to begin development the following year.
The program’s objective was to increase the caliber of the primary batteries and armor
in the existing SMS Von der Tann battlecruiser design.
This ship had a main battery of 28 centimeters, and the plan was to increase it to 30.5.
A budget of 44 million marks guaranteed the project's possibilities.
Still, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz argued that it was preferable to increase the number of guns
from 8 to 10 with the same caliber. And based on data from the Construction Department of the Navy,
the 28-centimeter guns had more than enough range to engage similar battleships.
In addition, the new battlecruiser had to be built with increased armor
and a top speed of 45 kilometers per hour.
The project was approved for two Moltke-class battlecruisers, SMS Moltke and SMS Goeben,
which were assigned the contract names Cruiser G and Cruiser H.
During development, many changes were made to the citadel, ammunition stores, boiler systems,
armor thickness, and other areas, resulting in an overall weight increase.
Still, Blohm & Voss Shipbuilding company delivered as expected.
The ship that carried the name of legendary Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke
was laid down in December of 1908 and launched in April of 1910.
As for Cruiser H, baptized after the Franco-Prussian War veteran General
August Karl von Goeben, was laid down in August of 1909 and launched in March of 1911.
SMS Goeben SMS Goebens was manned by
1,050 officers and sailors, and during wartime, the crew size could be increased to 1,350.
Both Moltke-class battlecruisers were 186.6 meters long and 29.4 meters wide, with a beam
of 30.33 meters and a draft of 9.19 meters. They also displaced 25,400 tons under maximum load, and
were easy to handle but not highly maneuverable. SMS Goeben was powered by four-shaft Parsons
turbines. Her propulsion system provided over 51,000-shaft horsepower, but she barely exceeded
the minimum value set by the program, reaching a maximum top speed of 47.2 kilometers per hour.
Strangely enough, SMS Moltke achieved a top speed of 52.6 kilometers per hour during her trials.
It was also noted that SMS Goeben could reach up to 7,630 kilometers at a speed of 26 kilometers
per hour, while her maximum operational capacity was 12,000 kilometers at a rate of 10 knots.
The ship was designed to carry 1,000 tons of coal, but up to 3,000 tons could be stored if adequately
accommodated. Meanwhile, her Krupp cemented-steel belt armor ranged from 280 millimeters to 76
millimeters thick, and deck armor protection ranged from 25 to 76 millimeters wide.
As for weaponry, Goeben’s main armament consisted of a main battery of ten 28-centimeter SK L50
guns. They were distributed in five twin-gun turrets, with two of them placed amidships in
an echelon formation, two in a super firing pair aft, and the last turret was placed forward.
The guns' mountings used electric pumps to drive hydraulic elevation gear,
and their training was powered by electric generators.
If SMS Goeben had to flee from the enemy, the ship could fire 8 guns from the aft turrets.
On the other hand, if the ship was on the hunt, she could fire six guns from the forward turrets.
Secondary armament comprised twelve 15-centimeter SK L45 guns placed in the ship’s central section.
And for anti-aircraft defense, another twelve 8.8-centimeter SK L45 guns were distributed
in the bow, stern, and conning tower. Additionally, SMS Goeben carried four
500-millimeter submerged torpedo tubes to increase her firepower.
The Mediterranean Division
At the outbreak of the First Balkan War, SMS Goeben was sent to the Mediterranean as part
of the so-called Mediterranean Division. Her objective was to demonstrate German sea power in
the region. Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau left Kiel in November of 1912 and visited Venice,
Naples, and Constantinople under Vice Admiral Wilhelm Souchon.
When the Second Balkan War broke out in June of 1913, the ships continued patrolling
the region and visiting several ports. But as World War 1 finally broke out in
Europe after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Souchon knew
it was a matter of time before Germany went to war against France and the British Empire.
Then, on August 3, 1914, SMS Goeben and Breslau bombarded Philippeville and Bone,
subsequently heading for Constantinople but first steaming to Italy to gather more coal.
Admiral Souchon had secret orders to convince the neutral Ottoman Empire to join the war
on Germany's side. However, the British, who were still not at war with Germany, were aware
and dispatched a group of twelve ships under Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne to search
and shadow the two German vessels. A game of cat and mouse ensued.
As the outnumbered German vessels reached Messina and resupplied,
they decided to leave at midnight on August 5 to evade the British ships tracking them.
HMS Gloucester then sighted SMS Goeben and Breslau
and tried to block their exit, but the German ships quickly steamed east.
The Admiralty then ordered Gloucester to close in and fire at the Germans to slow their escape,
to which Breslau retaliated, but no ships were damaged.
Four armored cruisers of the Royal Navy were subsequently dispatched to attack and sink the
two German vessels with torpedoes, but Souchon outsmarted them by heading towards the Adriatic.
By August 10, Goebens and Breslau arrived in Turkish waters and sighted the coast of Gallipoli,
forcing the British to head back as they did not dare break into Ottoman waters.
Still, the fight for the Mediterranean was just beginning…
Yavuz Sultan Selim and Midilli
After reminding the Turks that Britain had broken a contract with them after the
purchase of two battleships and their plans for taking over some of their territories,
they were convinced that sooner or later the war would come to their doorstep.
Then, on September 23, 1914, the Ottomans purchased the two German battlecruisers,
and the ownership was transferred to the Ottoman Navy.
The Kaiser allowed the Turks to retain the German crews to train the novice
Turkish crewmen in the art of war, and Souchon himself accepted to command the Turkish fleet.
Goeben was then renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim after one of the Empire’s most iconic Sultans,
while Breslau was baptized as Midilli after the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, taken from
the Ottomans during the First Balkan War. Now sailing under the Turkish flag, Yavuz,
Midilli, and other Turkish light cruisers set sail for Russian waters to go to war against the Tsar.
War With Russia On October 29,
the Turkish fleet bombarded Sebastopol, putting destroyer Lieutenant Puschin out of commission
while also sinking a minelayer and two steamers. Yavuz’s guns wreaked significant havoc,
destroying many of the port’s facilities and military defenses.
On the following day, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire and dispatched the
Black Seas fleet to attack Turkish ports and any enemy ship sighted in the region.
Then, after bombing Trebizond on November 18, Yavuz and Midilli faced the Russian
Black Sea fleet at the Battle of Cape Sarych. Russia’s capital ship, Evstafi, confronted Yavuz
in a one-on-one fight, with one hit penetrating Yavuz’s secondary guns and taking the lives of
12 men. Meanwhile, Evstafi was damaged on her middle funnel and lost her fire-control radio.
Yavuz then landed four more hits before deciding to break contact
with the enemy after 15 minutes of combat. Evstafi remained afloat but lost 50 men.
During December of 1914, Yavuz and Midilli continued providing support for troop transport
while bombing Batum and several other areas. The ships were then struck by mines in the
Bosphorus, and went through repairs from January to May of 1915 while also providing support and
escort missions to other Turkish light cruisers. On April 25, both ships set sail for Gallipoli
to bombard the ANZAC forces the United Kingdom had landed, but were interrupted by an attack
from the dreadnought Queen Elizabeth from which they managed to escape.
Then, throughout July, Yavuz hunted down Russian ships in the Bosporus and helped escort Turkish
coal transports, even surviving a torpedo attack from the Russian submarine Tyulen.
Yavuz had another dangerous encounter in early 1916 when she faced the Russian
ship Imperatritsa Ekaterina. Still, neither ship scored any hits, and they broke action.
Coal shortage eventually prevented Yavuz and Midilli from continuing with more operations,
and they remained in port until December of 1917,
when the armistice between Russia and Turkey was signed and the coal transport resumed.
Post-war Service
On January 20, 1918, both ships participated in the Battle of Imbros under the command of
Vice-Admiral Rebeur-Paschwitz, who replaced Souchon after being assigned to the Fourth
Battleship Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. Yavuz and Midilli sank the monitors
Raglan and M28, but Midilli was eventually sunk by several mines.
While retreating to the Dardanelles, Yavuz was hunted down by the British forces.
Outnumbered once again, she miraculously survived after being towed off to Constantinople by the
German pre-dreadnought battleship Turgut Reis. Then, on March 30, Yavuz escorted the Ottoman
Armistice Commission to Odessa after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed.
When the war formally ended, the ship was to be handed over to the Royal Navy,
but with the outbreak of the Turkish War of independence, this never happened.
Yavuz would remain in service with the Ottoman Navy until December of 1950.
Then, thirteen years later, the Turks offered the ship to Western Germany as a museum ship,
but the offer was rejected. SMS Goeben, or Yavuz, was finally scrapped in 1976, becoming
one of the last standing dreadnought ships. The legendary German ships that fought for
the Ottoman Empire will always be remembered for the havoc they created wherever they went,
with even Prime Minister Winston Churchill writing that Yavuz brought: (QUOTE) “More slaughter,
more misery, and more ruin than has ever before been borne within the compass of a ship.”
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