Tales of the Sea: Goeben, Part IV
By On August 10, Goeben faced Turkish shore batteries on one side and British battlecruisers on the other. Admiral Souchon feared that he would be forced to fight the cruisers, the batteries, or both. Instead, the Turks decided to allow the entry of Goeben and Breslau into the Dardanelles. A few hours later, the Turks denied entry to the British fleet. Turkey had, initially at least, hoped to remain neutral in the Great War. The British seizure of Sultan Osman I had infuriated the Turks, but they were not immediately willing to fight. The crew intended to man Sultan Osman I remained in Great Britain, detained indefinitely. Turkey did have designs on parts of Russia, but, of course, did not want to end up on the losing side of the conflict. The arrival of the German ships forced the Ottoman hand.
On August 16, Germany pulled off a magnificent foreign policy coup. The Germans knew that the Turks were irritable. They also knew that the Goeben would be destroyed by the Royal Navy battlecruisers sitting outside the Dardanelles. In the Black Sea, where the Russian Navy was weak, Goeben could have a real effect. The German decision was nothing less than inspired. The Imperial Navy formally transferred ownership of Goeben and Breslau to the Ottoman Empire. These ships would go some way to compensate Turkey for the theft of two dreadnought battleships by Great Britain. On August 17, fezzes were distributed to the crews of Goeben and Breslau, and the official day of worship was moved from Sunday to Friday. Goeben became Yavuz Sultan Selim
The British were furious. The Royal Navy thought that the Goeben problem had been solved; neutral countries are required to inter warships that stay too long in their waters. They had expected the Turks to seize the German ships, and had never imagined that the Germans might willingly give them up. The British insisted that the Turks remove the German crews from the ships, and the Turks replied that the crews were, in fact, Turkish. They had fezzes, after all. If only it were so easy for Turks to gain German citizenship today. . .
On September 23, Admiral Souchon was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman Navy. He knew his job. Out for “maneuvers” a month later, Yavuz Sultan Selim bombarded three Russian cities and sank several Russian ships. Within a week, Russia declared war. The British and French quickly followed, and Turkey joined the Central Powers. The failure of the Royal Navy to sink Goeben had resulted, in the very least, at an acceleration of Turkey’s entrance into the war. Of course, Britain and France desired Ottoman territory in the Middle East, and Russia had long wanted various pieces of Turkey, so war probably would have happened anyway. Oddly enough, Turkish entry probably contributed in no meaningful way to the outcome of the war. Even the forces deployed by the British and French at Gallipoli would not have made much of an impact on the Western Front. The entry of the Ottoman Empire did, however, mean that the fate of Turkey and the entire Middle East was tied to the success of the Prussian war machine. The failure of that machine would lead to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the modern Middle East.
To be continued.