Turgut Reis

Turgut Reis | Ahmet Güleryüz collection

Tonnage: 10,060 tonnes
Length: 115.7 m.
Beam: 19.5 m.
Draught: 7.6 m.
Engines: 2 triple 3 cyl, 10,110 hp, Vulcan
Speed: 10 kts.
Armament: 4-280 mm L/40, Krupp | 2-280 mm L/35, Krupp | 6-88 mm L/35 quick firing guns, Krupp | 3 torpedo tubes 450 mm, Schwartzkopf.

  • Launched on December 14, 1891.
  • Commissioned by the German Navy on June 5, 1894, named SMS Weissenburg.
  • Sold to the Turkish Navy in August 1910 and renamed Turgut Reis.
  • Took part in the Balkan War.
  • On February 18, 1915, Turgut Reis anchored off the coast in the Dardanelles to be used as a floating battery.
  • On March 18, 1915, when the Allied fleet attempted to force the Dardanelles, Turgut Reis was anchored at Maydos. No action was taken.
  • On April 25, 1915, Turgut Reis shelled the British landings in Gallipoli.
  • On June 5, 1915, Turgut Reis returned to Istanbul after a shell exploded on deck. It was laid up at the Golden Horn until February 1918, when it assisted in Yavuz's salvage.
  • Laid up at Istanbul on October 30, 1918.
  • Used by the Turkish Navy as a stationary school ship betwen 1924-1933.
  • Decommissioned in 1933 and turned into barrack vessel for dockyard workers.
  • Scrapped in 1953.
Turgut Reis | Naval Museum Istanbul
Turgut Reis | Donanma Mecmuası (courtesy of www.donanmatarihi.com)