Turkish Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Turgut Reis
The Turkish pre-dreadnought battleship Turgut Reis was originally built for the Imperial German Navy as SMS Weissenburg, one of the Brandenburg-class battleships. Weissenburg was launched in 1891 and commissioned into the German Navy in 1894. She, along with her three sisters (Brandenburg, Wörth, and Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm), was notable for carrying six heavy guns in three twin turrets, a distinctive arrangement that set them apart from many contemporary designs.
In German service, Weissenburg participated in a number of fleet manoeuvres and served in overseas deployments, including the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China (1900–1901). By the early 1910s, however, the Brandenburg-class ships were considered obsolete compared to the dreadnought battleships then entering service. Seeking to modernize its navy but constrained financially, the Ottoman Empire purchased two of the class in 1910—Weissenburg and Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm—which were renamed Turgut Reis and Barbaros Hayreddin after famous Ottoman admirals.
As Turgut Reis, the ship became one of the most powerful vessels in the Ottoman fleet, supplementing older ironclads and filling the gap until new dreadnoughts (later seized by Britain at the outbreak of the First World War) could be delivered. During the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), she saw action in engagements against the Greek Navy, including the battles of Elli and Lemnos. Despite her heavy armament, she, like Barbaros Hayreddin, was outclassed by the faster and more modern Greek armoured cruiser Georgios Averof, which dominated the Aegean.
In the First World War, Turgut Reis continued to serve in the Ottoman Navy, though her age and slow speed limited her usefulness. She operated in the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara, mostly in a coastal defence role. Unlike her sister Barbaros Hayreddin, which was sunk by a British submarine in 1915, Turgut Reis survived the war.
After 1918, the ship remained in the Turkish Navy but was quickly relegated to secondary duties. She served as a training and accommodation ship through the 1920s and 1930s. Remarkably, she remained in existence until 1950, when she was finally decommissioned and scrapped, giving her one of the longest service lives of any pre-dreadnought.
