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Ottoman submarine Abdül Hamid
Scrapped
Abdül Hamid was a Nordenfelt-class steam-powered submarine built for the Ottoman Navy and named after Sultan Abdül Hamid II. It holds the distinction of being the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo while fully submerged, achieved during trials in the Sea of Marmara around early 1888.
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Resources
+ Submit a resourceHistory & specifications
- USNI Proceedings: The Sultan's SubmarinesArticle
Detailed historical account of the acquisition, trials, and uncertain fate of the Abdül Hamid and Abdül Mecid submarines, useful for service history context.
- Wikipedia: Ottoman submarine Abdül HamidWebsite
Overview article with full specifications, service history, and fate of the submarine, useful baseline reference for a modeler.
Photos
- Wikimedia Commons: Nordenfelt submarine Abdülhamid.jpgPhoto
Public domain 1886-era photograph of the submarine, the clearest available historical image for visual reference.
History
Specifications
The boat displaced about 100 tons (160 tons submerged), was roughly 30.5 m (100 ft) long with a 6 m beam, and was built of steel. It was powered by a coal-fired 250 hp Lamm steam engine driving a single screw, giving 6 knots on the surface and 4 knots submerged, and could dive to about 160 ft with a crew of seven. Armament comprised two 356 mm torpedo tubes and two 35 mm Nordenfelt machine guns.
Service history
Built in sections in England by Des Vignes (Chertsey) and Vickers (Sheffield), the boat was shipped to Istanbul and reassembled at the Taşkızak Naval Shipyard on the Golden Horn under its designer George Garrett, launching on 6 September 1886. After diving trials in February 1887 and further tests near Izmit, it officially joined the Ottoman Navy on 24 March 1888. Despite its historic torpedo test, the submarine proved difficult to control underwater, with poor stability that worsened after firing a torpedo, and it was effectively out of active service by around 1909-1910.
Notable facts
The accounts of its ultimate fate vary: some sources describe it being scrapped around 1910, while a contemporary French expert claimed it was never really used and simply rotted away at the shipyard before being sold piecemeal to ironmongers. In 1914 the German Military Mission briefly considered using the corroded hulls of Abdül Hamid and its sister Abdül Mecid for harbor defense, but found them too badly deteriorated for service. A sister submarine of the same Nordenfelt class, Abdül Mecid, was built at the same time for the Ottoman Navy.