THE OTTOMAN STEAM NAVY 1828 – 1923 pdf download

The Ottoman Steam Navy 1828 – 1923

THE OTTOMAN STEAM NAVY 1828 – 1923

Ottoman shipbuilders had enjoyed a fine reputation, but the navy like the Empire had failed to keep up with the latest technology.

 Towards the end of the eighteenth century, foreign engineers and constructors began to take over the management of the istanbul yards, and some improvement was soon apparent.

Among these foreign technicians were the Swede Klensburg and the Frenchmen le Brun and Benois, who designed modem ships of the line which were then constructed in large numbers.

In 1805 work began on a major new dockyard on the Hali in the Aynalikavak district; earlier, in 1792, Klensburg had con¬ structed a drydock further up the Halig, near the present Atattirk Bridge.

 A second drydock, large enough for the navy’s biggest ships, was built in 1825, and in the succeeding years the space between these facilities and Aynalikavak was filled with new buildings for the navy’s bureaucracy and the Divanhane, the Ottoman naval ministry.

The head of the navy was the Derya Kaptan, a position which combined the role of navy minister and fleet commander. Senior positions in the Ottoman state at this time were rarely secured by merit, bribery and personal contacts being more effective.

 Thus the Derya Kaptan at the time, Popuccu Ahmet Pa§a, was a former shoemaker, who made little or no attempt to pretend he was carrying out his duties competently.

 He had as an adviser a British naval officer, Adolphus Slade, who managed to hold down the position for forty years, so he evidently came to terms with the limi¬ tations of Ottoman administration.