Ship Modelers Database
Image: Public domain (U.S. Navy official photograph) · commons.wikimedia.org
Ottoman cruiser Mecidiye
Scrapped (sold for scrap in 1952, broken up 1952–1956)
Mecidiye was a protected cruiser built for the Ottoman Navy by the American firm William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia, ordered in 1900 as part of an Ottoman naval modernization program. She is notable among modelers both for her unusual US parentage (her sister-type Hamidiye was built in Britain for comparison) and for her eventful career spanning three navies.
Kits of this ship
+ Add a kitNo kits listed for this ship yet.
Plans
No plan sets listed for this ship yet. Know of museum, archive or publisher drawings? Add them so the next builder can find them.
Links go to the publisher's or museum's own page. Ship Modelers Database lists plan sets; it doesn't host or display the drawings.
Build logs
+ Link a build logNo build logs linked yet.
Resources
+ Submit a resourceHistory & specifications
- Naval Encyclopedia: Turkish Cruiser Mecidiye (1903)Article
Detailed technical article covering hull, protection, powerplant, armament changes over her career, and a narrative service history useful for modelers wanting fitting-out detail.
- Wikipedia: Ottoman cruiser MecidiyeWebsite
Comprehensive overview of the ship's construction, specifications, armament, and full service history including her sinking and time as Prut.
Photos
- Wikimedia Commons: Turkish cruiser Mecidiye c1940s photoPhoto
Public domain U.S. Navy photograph (originally published in All Hands magazine, 1948) showing the ship in her later Turkish Navy training-ship configuration.
History
Specifications
She displaced 3,485 tons normal (3,967 tons full load), measured 102.4 m (336 ft) overall with a 12.8 m (42 ft) beam and 4.8 m (16 ft) draught. Armament comprised two 152mm L/45 guns, eight 120mm L/45 guns, six 47mm and six 37mm quick-firing guns, plus two 457mm torpedo tubes. Propulsion was two vertical quadruple-expansion steam engines fed by coal-fired water-tube boilers, producing 12,500 ihp for a trial speed of 22 knots, though in Ottoman service she typically cruised nearer 18 knots due to poor boiler maintenance.
Service history
Commissioned in December 1903, Mecidiye fought in the Balkan Wars, shelling Bulgarian positions near Varna and taking part in the battles of Elli and Lemnos against the Greek Navy, and survived a torpedo attack by the Greek submarine Delfin in December 1912 — one of the first submarine torpedo attacks in history. In World War I she operated in the Black Sea until she struck a Russian mine and sank off Odessa on 3 April 1915; the Russians raised and recommissioned her as the cruiser Prut later that year. Germany captured her at Sevastopol in 1918 and returned her to the Ottomans, after which she served the Turkish Republic as a front-line cruiser and later cadet training ship until decommissioning in 1947.
Notable facts
Her design suffered from chronic stability and trim problems traced to inadequate Turkish supervision during construction, and a 1914 German inspection found her boilers had been incorrectly installed, causing overheating issues that plagued her active service. A full ship model of Mecidiye is on permanent display at the Mersin Naval Museum in Turkey, useful reference for scale builders seeking an as-preserved configuration.