Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye (protected cruiser)

Type

Protected Cruiser

Period

20th Century

Nation

Ottoman Empire

Overview: Hamidiye was an Ottoman protected cruiser best known for a daring solo raiding cruise through the Aegean and Mediterranean during the First Balkan War, an exploit that made her the most celebrated ship in Ottoman naval history. She was built in Britain and later served the Turkish Republic for decades after the empire's fall. Specifications: Built by Armstrong Whitworth at Elswick, Newcastle, she was laid down in April 1902, launched 25 September 1903, and commissioned in April 1904. She displaced 3,904 tons, measured 112 m long with a 14.5 m beam and 4.8 m draught, and could make about 22 knots on trials. Original armament comprised two 150mm and eight 120mm quick-firing guns, six 47mm and six 37mm guns, and two 457mm torpedo tubes. Service History: Originally named Abdül Hamid after Sultan Abdülhamid II, she was renamed Hamidiye following the 1908 Young Turk Revolution. During the First Balkan War, under Captain Rauf Bey, she evaded a Greek naval blockade and conducted a celebrated months-long raiding campaign against Greek shipping before returning triumphantly to Istanbul. She also served in the Black Sea during World War I; after the war she came under British control from 1918 before being ceded back to the Turkish Navy in 1925. Notable Facts: Her near-sister Mecidiye, built to the same specifications in the United States, was sunk by a mine off Odessa in 1915. Hamidiye underwent modernization at Gölcük in the mid-1920s and served as a Turkish Navy training ship from 1940 until she was decommissioned in March 1947 and finally sold for scrap in 1964. A "Cruiser Hamidiye Medal" was struck in 1913 to commemorate her famous raiding voyage.