Turkish government examining German merchant steamships to be used as transports according to the magazine Mitteilungen aus dem Gebiete des Seewesens dated 1911 No. 3

An item referred to the German newspaper Berline Tageblatt reporting Turkish officers visited Bremerhaven to examine 5 steamships of the Norddeutschen Lloyd in which the Turkish government was interested. It were the Roon (8.133 tons tonnage,  14,5 knots speed, built in 1902), Seydlitz (7.964 tons tonnage, 14,5 knots speed, built in 1902), Oldenburg (5.006 tons tonnage, 13 knots speed, built in 1890), Darmstadt (5.012 tons tonnage, 13 knots speed, built in 1890) and the Sigmaringen (5.710 tons tonnage, built in 1900). The Oldenburg and Darmstadt were bought and after conversion into transports commissioned.