Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Hizmetinde Breslau (Midilli) Kruvazörü

Abstract

The Otoman Empire, one of the most important reasons for entering the World War I ships Goeben and Breslau was the penetration of the Dardanelles The Ottoman Empire announced that they had unilaterally purchased Goeben and Breslau for 80 million German Marks. Althought reluctant to do so, the German Ambassador Wangenheim approved the “fait accompli” of the purchase to avoid turnning Ottoman public opinion against his country. Ultimately, the Navy Minister Cemal Pasha officially accepted the two ships into the Ottoman Navy in a ceremony that took place on the 16 August 1914. The ships were renamed as “Yavuz” and “Midilli”. Admiral Souchon, who arrived in the Black Sea on 27 October, participated in the bombarding of Odessa, Sivastopol and Novorossisk harbour on the night of 29/30 October with the Ottoman Navy consisting of 11 vessels including Yavuz and Midilli. The Tsardom of Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 2 November 1914. Then Middilli, during the World War I that determines the fate of the Otoman Empire was one of the ships at sea. The other was Yavuz. In this article, artivities up to the sinking of the cruiser Midilli were discussed.

Keywords

• World War I
• Goeben
• Breslau
• Dardanelles
• Souchon