Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye

Hamidiye

Company type	Warship / Cruiser
Industry	Naval military
Predecessor	Abdül Hamid (original name)
Founded	1903
Headquarters	Newcastle upon Tyne (built) , United Kingdom
Products	Cruiser warship
Number of employees	Approx. 400 crew (1904), 355 crew (1915)

Hamidiye, occasionally spelled as Hamidieh, and known in French as Hamidié, was a notable Ottoman cruiser actively engaged during the Balkan Wars and World War I. Originally bearing the name Abdül Hamid, this vessel was commissioned by the Ottoman Navy in 1900 from the British shipbuilder Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. Ltd., based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Construction commenced at Elswick in April 1902, followed by its launch on 25 September 1903. Sea trials began on 17 December 1903, and the ship officially entered service in April 1904.

The cruiser displaced 3,904 tons under normal load, measured 112 meters in overall length with a beam of 14.5 meters and a draught of 4.8 meters. It was named in honor of Sultan Abdülhamid II.

Armament included two 150mm L/45 quick-firing guns, eight 120mm L/45 quick-firing guns, six 47mm L/50 quick-firing guns, six 37mm quick-firing guns, and two 457mm torpedo tubes. Propulsion was provided by two sets of four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines delivering a maximum speed of 22.2 knots. The crew complement was approximately 400 personnel in 1904, decreasing to around 355 by 1915.

Following the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, the ship's name was changed from Abdül Hamid to Hamidiye. According to the Treaty of Sèvres, which concluded hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied Powers after World War I, this cruiser was to be surrendered to the United Kingdom as part of war reparations. However, the Turkish War of Independence led to the annulment of that treaty and its replacement by the Treaty of Lausanne, which allowed the newly established Republic of Turkey to retain its naval forces, including Hamidiye. Subsequently, the ship was repurposed as a training vessel.

General characteristics

The cruiser Hamidiye measured 112 meters (367 feet) in overall length and had a length between perpendiculars of 103.6 meters (340 feet). Its beam spanned 14.48 meters (47 feet 6 inches), while the draft reached 4.88 meters (16 feet). The vessel's standard displacement was approximately 3,904 metric tons. Protection was provided by Krupp armor, featuring an internal armored deck. The horizontal sections above the waterline amidships were 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) thick, and the sloped armor plates extending below the waterline measured 4 inches (10 cm) in thickness. Propulsion came from vertical triple-expansion engines driving two shafts, powered by cylindrical boilers. This machinery delivered an indicated horsepower of 12,500, enabling a maximum speed of 22.2 knots.

Armament

Hamidiye carried a diverse battery of medium and smaller caliber weapons. Its main artillery comprised two Armstrong quick-firing guns of 6-inch caliber with a barrel length of 45 calibers, each mounted on a center-pivot with an open-backed gunshield—one located at the bow and the other at the stern. These guns fired projectiles weighing 100 pounds at a firing rate between five and seven rounds per minute. The mounts allowed for an elevation of up to 20 degrees, resulting in a maximum firing range of approximately 14,600 yards (13,350 meters). Complementing this primary armament were eight 4.7-inch /50 Armstrong quick-firing guns situated amidships on both port and starboard sides, each in single shielded center-pivot mounts—four per side.

The secondary battery included six 3-pounder and six 1-pounder guns, all installed in individual mounts. Additionally, Hamidiye was equipped with two torpedo tubes measuring 18 inches in diameter, positioned beneath the forebridge in trainable mounts.

Following World War I, the ship underwent rearmament; both original main gun types were removed and replaced with Krupp-manufactured artillery consisting of 5.9-inch SK L/45 and 3-inch SK L/50 guns.

1908–1909

In 1908, Hamidiye played a role in suppressing a Greek rebellion on Samos Island. The following year, it was assigned to support the army led by Mahmud Şevket Pasha during the march on Istanbul aimed at quelling the counter-revolution known as the 31 March Incident. During this operation, the cruiser was anchored off Yeşilköy opposite Şevket Pasha’s command center.

Balkan Wars

During the Balkan Wars, the cruiser Hamidiye operated under the leadership of Captain Rauf Orbay and was the sole Ottoman vessel to gain notable recognition in the conflict. In November 1912, while bombarding Bulgarian positions in the First Balkan War, Hamidiye sustained damage at the Battle of Kaliakra inflicted by the Bulgarian torpedo boat Drazki. Despite this, Orbay asserted that he had sunk two additional torpedo boats. The attack resulted in a 10 ft (3.0 m) breach on the starboard bow and caused eight fatalities among the crew. Although the bow was largely submerged, the ship managed to return to its home port for necessary repairs. On 14 January 1913, Hamidiye stealthily passed through the Greek naval blockade at the Dardanelles under cover of darkness and launched raids against Greek shipping in the Aegean Sea. The following day, near Syros, it sank the Greek armed merchant cruiser Macedonia and shelled Ermoupoli. Subsequently, it sailed towards Beirut and Port Said. The ship's ability to operate across the Mediterranean, disrupting enemy shipping and causing damage while evading capture, served as a significant morale enhancer for Ottoman forces. However, its primary mission—to divert the Greek cruiser Georgios Averof and allow the Ottoman fleet to engage other elements of the Greek navy in support of land operations—ultimately did not succeed.

Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye in 1913

Following this, Orbay directed Hamidiye to bombard Greek and Serbian coastal positions in Albania. On 12 March 1913, Hamidiye attacked thirteen Greek merchant vessels unloading Serbian troops arriving from Salonika at the port of San Giovanni di Medua, Albania. The cruiser succeeded in sinking or severely damaging six Greek ships and inflicted damage on a neutral Austrian vessel, while also shelling a Serbian military encampment. However, when two Serbian mountain guns began firing from the deck of the merchant ship Trifimia, Orbay chose to increase distance by several kilometers due to limited friendly repair facilities nearby. This action, combined with ineffective Ottoman gunfire and constrained ammunition supplies, prevented further harm to allied forces. The incident prompted strong protests from Serbia regarding insufficient protection by the Hellenic Navy for their chartered transports, leading Greece to assign escort duties for future convoys to the ironclad Psara. Meanwhile, Hamidiye evaded pursuit by Greek destroyers and set course for Egypt. A subsequent operation south of Crete resulted in capturing another Greek merchant vessel; however, reports of Greek warships near Rhodes compelled Hamidiye, whose boilers had sustained damage reducing its speed, to seek refuge in the Red Sea, where it remained until the war concluded.

World War I

File:Hamidiye3.jpg

Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye (right) viewed from the battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm at the İzmit Naval Base in the Sea of Marmara

Turkish minelayers near the Bosporus around 1915, under the protection of cruisers HAMIDIYE and BERC-I-SATWET

Throughout World War I, Hamidiye engaged the Russian Navy within the Black Sea, collaborating with Yavûz Sultân Selîm and Midilli to secure control over strategic Black Sea routes and harbors. The vessel participated in multiple naval confrontations, sustaining several hits. Operating alongside Yavûz and Midilli, Hamidiye undertook various missions; notably, on 23 September 1914, it departed with Yavûz for Trebizond to escort three transport ships. In November of the same year, it launched bombardments against Russian military positions at the port of Tuapse. In January 1915, Hamidiye again set out together with Midilli; on 9 January, both ships unexpectedly encountered Russian naval forces near Yalta. During this brief clash, Midilli scored a hit on the Russian battleship Evstafi. As they retreated, Russian vessels gave chase. The recently repaired Yavûz emerged from the Bosporus to provide cover for the returning Hamidiye and Midilli, successfully driving off their pursuers.

Post World War I

The conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 1920. Under this agreement, Hamidiye, along with Yavûz and several other warships, was to be handed over to Great Britain as part of war reparations. Nevertheless, following the Turkish War of Independence led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a new Turkish nation emerged; the Treaty of Sèvres was abandoned and replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne. This treaty restored much of Turkey's naval fleet to the newly established republic. In 1925, Hamidiye became the first Ottoman warship transferred to the Turkish Navy.Template:Fix/category

On 23 October 1937, a collision occurred between Hamidiye and Ordu at Beşiktaş. The incident resulted in the sinking of Ordu, causing two fatalities among its crew.

Awards

View of the Golden Horn near Istanbul in 1955. The laid-up Hamidiye is visible on the right.

The sole Ottoman military decoration issued for service during the Balkan Wars was the Cruiser Hamidiye Medal 1913, awarded to all 394 crew members aboard the ship.

After serving as a cadet training vessel from 1940 onwards, Hamidiye was officially decommissioned in March 1947. Between 1949 and 1951, it functioned briefly as a museum ship moored at Kabataş in Istanbul, situated on the European side of the Bosphorus. Subsequently, it remained laid up in the Golden Horn from 1951 until 1964, when it was sold for dismantling on 10 September. The ship was then towed to Paşabahçe in Istanbul's Beykoz district on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus, where its scrapping was completed by 1966.

Footnotes

Books

• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
• Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• Hall, Richard C. (2000). The Balkan Wars, 1912–1913: prelude to the First World War. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-22946-3.
• Hough, Richard (1966). The Big Battleship. Periscope Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-904381-14-3.
• İnci, Tevfik (1952). Hamidiye's Raids During The Balkan Wars (Balkan Harbinde Hamidiye Kruvazörünün Akın Harekâtı) (in Türkçe). Istanbul, Turkey: Deniz Basımevi.
• David Nicolle and Raffaele Ruggeri, The Ottoman Army 1914–18, Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1994.
• Saraçoğlu, A Cemaleddin (2006). Rauf Orbay and Hamidiye : Veteran Hamidiye's Glory and Adventures (Rauf Orbay ve Hamidiye : Gazi Hamidiye'nin şanlı maceraları) (in Türkçe). Istanbul, Turkey: Yeditepe.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval warfare, 1815–1914. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21478-0.

Online

• DiGiulian, Tony. "Navweaps.com: Naval Weapons, Naval Technology and Naval Reunions". Bucks County, Pennsylvania.