List of Battleships of The Ottoman Empire - Yavuz Sultan Selim

Yavuz Sultan Selim

SMS Goeben was originally a German battlecruiser and a member of the Moltke class. Goeben and her sister ship Moltke were ordered in 1909 and 1908 respectively. Before being transferred to the Ottoman Navy, Goeben was assigned to the Mediterranean as the flagship of the German Navy's new Mediterranean Division. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau attempted to evade the British fleet. With the assistance of the entire Austro-Hungarian Navy the two ships managed to safely make their way to Constantinople, arriving in the Bosporus on 11 August. They were then transferred to the Ottoman Navy. Upon transfer, SMS Goeben was renamed as Yavuz Sultan Selim. The German transfer of Goeben to the Ottoman Empire helped gain public support for the nation's entry into World War I on the side of the Central Powers following the British seizure of other Ottoman battleships. Yavuz Sultan Selim mainly operated in the Black Sea against the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed in Sevastopol. In 1918, Yavuz Sultan Selim attacked British forces outside the Dardanelles; during the conflict, she struck three mines. Under attack by British bombers, she managed to beach herself and was towed back for repairs three days later. The battleship underwent a series of repairs and upgrades between 1927 and 1930. In 1936 her name was officially shortened to Yavuz. The battlecruiser continued to serve in the Turkish Navy in World War II and had her anti-aircraft battery upgraded in 1941. Yavuz was decommissioned from active service on 20 December 1950 and stricken from the Navy register on 14 November 1954. In 1973 she was sold for scrap.