Legendary Ottoman naval ship commemorated 101 years on

ÇANAKKALE – Anadolu Agency

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A legendary Ottoman minelayer naval ship that served on the Gallipoli front in World War I has been commemorated 101 years after its passage through the Dardanelles.

TCG Nusret (N-16), an Ottoman ship known for laying 26 mines off the Erenköy harbor in the Dardanelles in 1915, performed a commemoration passage through the same route on March 8. 

The mines had been laid to defend against Allied battleships bidding to cross the Dardanelles, a strait between the European and the Asian sides of the northwestern Turkish province of Çanakkale, in order to reach Istanbul. 

“We never forget that we owe our today to them,” said Çanakkale Governor Saim Eskioğlu, referring to the martyrs of the Gallipoli front during World War I. 

“We are at the place where Nusret laid 26 mines. This is not just a victory of a great empire and the Turkish nation but also a symbol of the entire Islamic world standing against the Western offensive. As we commemorate the martyrs, we realize the importance of today much better,” added Eskioğlu, who left a wreath on the sea for the martyrs of the Gallipoli front.

Nusret is currently preserved at the floating pier of the Çanakkale Naval Museum.

Allied battleships HMS Irresistible and HMS Ocean and the French battleship Bouvet were sunk and the British battle cruiser HMS Inflexible was badly damaged by mines laid by Nusret at dawn on March 8, 1915. The development paved the way for the Ottoman troops to gain time and morale on the front, which the Ottoman forces defended successfully.  

Among those who participated in the ceremony were Çanakkale Bosporus and Garrison Commander Commodore Serdar Ahmet Gündoğdu and Çanakkale Deputy Mayor Ramazan Etik.