The Ottoman ironclad Mesudiye was lying at anchor near Nara when the British submarine B11 came up the Dardanelles on 13 December 1914 and put a single torpedo into her stern from 750 metres. She capsized and sank in shallow water, and her guns were later salvaged to strengthen the strait's defences. The park's dive table lists the wreck at 12 metres.
Also known as Ottoman ironclad Mesudiye.
Where it is and how deep
40.1963° N, 26.4012° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Mesudiye went down more than four months before the landings, and the park's table lists her at 12 metres near Nara Burnu, inside the Dardanelles where the current runs hard. The dive is timed on the water rather than the clock, and at 12 metres it is short on depth and long on story: the guide's briefing covers B11's transit up the strait on the morning of 13 December 1914 and the single torpedo fired from 750 metres.
The torpedo hit her stern and did serious damage; her guns fired briefly at B11's periscope before she capsized and sank in shallow water, taking 10 officers and 27 enlisted men. A salvage effort afterwards stripped out the 150 mm and 76 mm guns and used them to strengthen the Dardanelles defences, so what you dive is a picked-over hull — 101 metres of ironclad stripped of those guns. No operator publishes a route or a condition report for the wreck.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Mesudiye
- Type
- Ottoman ironclad battleship
- Length
- 101 m (331 ft)
- Sunk
- 1914
- Cause
- Torpedoed in the stern by the British submarine B11
- Lies
- Capsized and sank in shallow water near Nara; her guns were salvaged
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Gallipoli: April–May and August–September bring the best conditions; the wrecks can be dived all year.
Know before you go
- Nara Burnu sits inside the Dardanelles and divers report strong currents around the strait wrecks; the dive goes on the guide's call.
Dive videos
MESUDIYE ZIRHLISI_ Derinlere Saygı Dalışı (DESAD) · derinleresaygidalisi on YouTube
Sources
- Gallipoli Wrecks dive site table — Gallipoli Wrecks
- Ottoman ironclad Mesudiye — Wikipedia
- Deep Heritage: cathodic protection for Dardanelles wrecks — Western Front Association
- East Cheshire Sub-Aqua Club Gallipoli trip report — ECSAC
- Mesudiye Battleship — Gallipoli Historic Site Directorate (divinggelibolu.com)
Photo credits
- Line drawings of the Ottoman battleship Mesudiye in profile and plan from Brassey’s Naval Annual 1903, showing gun positions. by Sydney Barnaby (1855-1925), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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