The Turkish or Ottoman ship of the line Mahmoud

Thanks to the American Kay’s account of his journeys in Turkey we get inside information dealing with the Turkish or Ottoman navy and of one of her opponents, namely the Russian navy. Kay managed to visit the Mahmoud, the largest ship of the line ever built, even larger than her American opponent Pennsylvania from the same period. (1)

P. 311: “The Mahmoud is chiefly remarkable for being the largest ship in the world, and is built upon the French model. We were fortunate in visiting her in company with the chief naval constructor of the empire, who pointed out such parts as seemed particularly worthy of notice. Although no sailor, we could not fail to notice some particulars in her construction and arrangement in which she differs from our vessels. The birth and spar-decks had no knees, and the beams which were six feet apart had no carlins between them. Instead of hammocks there were a number of little raised platforms on the birth-deck for the men to lie down

p. 312: upon, and between these and the sides of the vessel were small lockers to contain the clothes of the men. The Mahmoud, although commenced only a few years ago, yet from carelessness or ignorance in the selection of materials (all sorts of timber in every possible condition having been employed) the dry-rot has already appeared in her, and made no inconsiderable progress. Through the politeness of the chief constructor we were furnished with the following statement of her dimensions, which was afterward verified by one of our friends in English feet and inches. Length of the lower gun-deck 223’, extreme breadth 61’8”, depth from the base-line 30’, height of birth-deck 7’9”, lower deck 8’, second deck 7’6”, third deck 7’6”, upper deck 7’, length of the mainmast 139’, diameter of do 4”, draft forward 26’11”, aft 27’9” and burthen 3934 tons. She is planked inside and out with soft pine, and the workmanship is very rough, although her model is good. She is pierced for 140 guns, which are to be 42’s, 32’s, and 18’s, with 60 Ib. carronades. It is to this vessel that the author of Anastasius alludes when he says, “The capital prepares to launch a three-decker so prodigious that none of our seas will have room enough to work her;” and she is in fact the largest ship in the world, not even excepting our Pennsylvania ship of the line. Immense sums have been idly expended on each of these marine monsters, which can serve no other purpose than to make a national raree-show.”(2)

Source

James Ellsworth Kay. Sketches of Turkey in 1831 and 1832. New York, 1833.

Notes

1. See also earlier notes on this weblog dealing with both ships.

2. Original footnote “For the purpose of comparison, we give below the dimensions of the ship of the line now building at Philadelphia, length between perpendiculars 220’, breadth of beam for tonnage 67’, depth of hold 23’, extreme depth amidships 51’ and burthen 2306 tons. With respect to this ship, it has been asserted by skilful naval architects who have examined her lines with much attention, that to render her an efficient sea-vessel, it will merely be found necessary to close her lower ports, or to take off her upper deck.