The New Turkish War-Ship “Mendouhiye”

Description

This engraving depicts the battleship Hamidiye, a symbolic ship of the Ottoman Empire's efforts to modernize its navy in the last quarter of the 19th century. Initially built as Mahmudiye, the ship was renamed Hamidiye in February 1876 to honor the accession of Sultan Abdulhamid II to the throne. Designed by Ahmed Pasha, the Ottoman Navy's chief constructor, she was finalized with technical assistance from the British Admiralty and built in England by the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company. Measuring 332 feet (101 m) long, 59 feet (18 m) wide, 19 feet (6 m) deep, with a cargo capacity of 5,349 tons and a displacement of approximately 9,000 tons, the ship was a feat of advanced engineering for its time, boasting 71 watertight compartments. Her hull was reinforced with 12-inch (30 cm) thick armor plates, and the main battery line was reinforced with 12 inches of armor at the waterline and 10 inches at the upper deck. Its bow is equipped with a special iron head designed to penetrate enemy armor. Its weaponry is extremely impressive. its 148-foot-long battery line carried twelve 18-ton guns, plus additional guns at the bow and stern. Thanks to her corner gun mounts, the ship could fire from bow, stern, and broadside. Her engines, with a nominal horsepower of 1,250, were manufactured by the Maudslay and Field firm. This horsepower gave the ship a remarkably high speed for the time. Hamidiye was seen as a symbol of the Ottoman Navy's growing naval power and was expected to play a significant role during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. However, this magnificent warship did not serve in the Ottoman fleet for long. Following the 1877–78 Russo-Turkish War, as a result of rising international tensions, the United Kingdom, pursuing its own strategic interests against Russia, seized (or purchased) the ship and incorporated it into the Royal Navy on February 20, 1878, under the name HMS Superb. Thus, the Hamidiye went down in history as both a symbol of the success of the Ottoman military modernization effort and a sign of imperial power that had been taken away from it under the shadow of international politics.