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Tuesday 19 December 2017

The organisation of the Turkish navy according to the Dutch magazine Marineblad dated 1939 no. 6

Yavuz Selim as the German SMS Goeben

An item referred to the magazine Marine Rundschau dated April 1939 reporting that Turkey did not have a supreme navy commander but that marshal Feofi Tschadkmak [] held at the same time hat function. Under his command was a deputy secretary for the navy and a fleet commander (vice admiral Okan). The fleet was divided in an active and a reserve squadron. The active squadron consisted of the battle cruiser Yavuz Selim, destroyers Tinaztpepe, Zafer, Adatepe and Cocatepe and the submarines Saldiray, Sakaria, Dumlupizar, Gür and Nos. 1 and 2. The reserve squadron consisted of the aged cruisers Hamidiye (3) and Medicine (4) and some smaller ships. The ships were stationed in the Sea of Marmora.

Notes
1. Mustafa Fezvi Çakmak (12 January 1876 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire-10 April 1950 Istanbul, Turkey), field marshal, chief of general staff  and politician
2. German Moltke-class battle cruiser Goeben. Sister ship Moltke. Building ordered on 8 April 1909, laid down at the shipyard of Blohm&Voss, Hamburg, Germany on 28 August 1909, launched on 28 March 1911, commissioned on 2 July 1912, handed over to the Turkish government on 16 August 1914, renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and commissioned in the Turkish navy. Decommissioned on 20 December 1950, renamed Yavuz in 1935, stricken on 14 November 1954 and finally broken up in 1973.
3. Building ordered in 1900, laid down by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth&Co. Ltd., Newcastle, England with yard number 732 in April 1902, launched on 25 September 1903, decommissioned in March 1947 and finally broken up in 1966.
4. The Mecidiye, laid down by William Cramp&Sons, Philadelphia, USA on 7 November 1901, launched on 25 July 1903, commissioned on 19 December 1903 and broken up between 1956-1956.