The Turkish Steam Frigate, "Feiza Baari" At Southampton

Description

Feyza-i Bahri, one of the first true steamships of the Ottoman navy, made history as the first Ottoman steam warship to visit England during its Istanbul-Southampton voyage in 1851. An engraving depicts Feyza-i Bahri anchored in Southampton Harbor during this historic visit. Feyza-i Bahri was one of four wooden-hulled paddle-wheel frigates of the Mecidiye class built for the Ottoman Navy and among the first Ottoman-built steam-powered warships. Launched at the Haliç Shipyard in 1848, the ship was 69 meters long, 11.7 meters wide, and 5.1 meters deep, displacing 1,443 tons. Powered by two coal-fired boilers, the steam engine produced 900 horsepower and gave the ship a maximum speed of 9 knots. Her crew consisted of 320 men. In terms of armament, she carried six cannons on the upper deck and twenty-four on the main deck. She served in the Black Sea during the Crimean War of 1853, engaged in a seven-hour engagement with the Russian frigate Flora off Pitsunda. She participated in the Sinope Disaster of the same year, but was not damaged. Later, during the Cretan Revolt of 1866, she transported troops to the island in support of the Ottoman campaign. In 1867, her guns were dismantled and she was converted into a transport ship. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, she was assigned to the Danube Flotilla. Completely dismantled and scrapped in 1880, Feyza-i Bahri, one of the first examples of steam technology in Ottoman naval history, played a significant role in both diplomatic and military operations, becoming a symbolic ship of the empire's modernization process.