The naval relation between Greece and Turkey is a topic discussed earlier on this weblog. The Turkish navy depended heavily on the Greeks to serve as sailors, while the soldiers came from Turkey. In the Greek war for independence became this relationship obvious a problem. Warships for the Turkish navy were built not only at Constantinople but also at Boudroun [Bodrun]. William Turner mentioned the latter yard in his journal published in 1820, when he visited it 19 December 1815.
P. 53: “The Greeks have no landed property, and are almost all of them masons and builders. The Turks here are very peaceable and moderate, a certain sign of which is that the Greeks do not complain of their treatment. These latter pay only about thirty piastres a year for kharatsch and all tributes, but they are forced to work gratis, for the Turks, on an average about two months of the year. Their labour consists in making voyages in the Aga's ships to fetch materials for ship-building or other articles necessary for the town. At Boudroun there is constantly building a ship of war for the Turkish navy. This is a tribute levied on the Pashas and Governors of Anatolia. The Sultan appoints commissioners to provide for its being built, and Boudroun is chosen for the dock-yard, on account of its admirable harbour. A seventy-four is now building at the western extremity of the port. The Greeks are forced to work at it under a Greek builder, educated at Constantinople, but are paid forty paras a day. The time they take to finish it is from four to seven years, and it is in general, owing to its being made with unseasoned wood, half decayed before it is launched. The present one is constructing at the expense of the Musselim of Smyrna; the last was paid by Kara Osman Oglu, and the one before that by the Musselim of Melasso, being the second he had furnished, as he was an old governor. The expense is not great, consisting only of the pay of the workmen, the materials being furnished and brought gratis from the interior
p. 54: of the country. I was told it seldom exceeds 300 purses, a little more than 6,000L.”
Source
William Turner. Journal of a tour in the Levant. Vol. II. London 1820. Digitized by Google.
P. 53: “The Greeks have no landed property, and are almost all of them masons and builders. The Turks here are very peaceable and moderate, a certain sign of which is that the Greeks do not complain of their treatment. These latter pay only about thirty piastres a year for kharatsch and all tributes, but they are forced to work gratis, for the Turks, on an average about two months of the year. Their labour consists in making voyages in the Aga's ships to fetch materials for ship-building or other articles necessary for the town. At Boudroun there is constantly building a ship of war for the Turkish navy. This is a tribute levied on the Pashas and Governors of Anatolia. The Sultan appoints commissioners to provide for its being built, and Boudroun is chosen for the dock-yard, on account of its admirable harbour. A seventy-four is now building at the western extremity of the port. The Greeks are forced to work at it under a Greek builder, educated at Constantinople, but are paid forty paras a day. The time they take to finish it is from four to seven years, and it is in general, owing to its being made with unseasoned wood, half decayed before it is launched. The present one is constructing at the expense of the Musselim of Smyrna; the last was paid by Kara Osman Oglu, and the one before that by the Musselim of Melasso, being the second he had furnished, as he was an old governor. The expense is not great, consisting only of the pay of the workmen, the materials being furnished and brought gratis from the interior
p. 54: of the country. I was told it seldom exceeds 300 purses, a little more than 6,000L.”
Source
William Turner. Journal of a tour in the Levant. Vol. II. London 1820. Digitized by Google.
