Discoveries of the Gallipoli mission

We have received another report from the General and Romano, who have got off to a good start with dusting off the history of the Battle of Gallipoli. In addition to the dives, there is no shortage of sightseeing of the monuments located on land. And underwater, during a dive on the battleship Masudiye, an interesting discovery was made, which adds to the historical knowledge of the period. See for yourself what information they sent us from Turkey.

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MONDAY 05-09-2011

We are already after the tour of ancient Troy. Interesting, but leaves a certain unsatisfactory feeling. This place has absolutely nothing in common with Troy presented in Petersen’s film. Anyway, we didn’t come here to write about it now. Piotrek Nykiel takes over the guide’s baton and we go to the first entrance fort on the Asian shore – Orhaniye.

Along the way we stop in a small village, where a German ship cannon, calibre 150 mm, with a torn barrel, is lying in a small square in the street. Inside, there is still a shell with a working pressure fuse.

We are back from Orhaniye and my jaw has just dropped. Firstly the driver who drove us said he had never heard of a foreigner ever being here before. The fort houses a fantastically preserved cannon from the Turkish battleship Mesudiye. It just so happened that tomorrow we are exploring the wreck of this very ship.

Along the way a stop at the local Efes and on to Dardanos Fort….

We stop for a moment at the cemetery, where there are fourteen graves of soldiers from the fort located nearby. In the fort we find two 120 mm calibre cannons, on the concrete cover of one of them, on the finial we find an inscription in Turkish, with the date 1915 and a name and surname. A quick investigation with Peter, who speaks perfect Turkish, proved that this inscription must have been made after 1936, because at that time only the Arabic alphabet was used and no surnames were used. It was only after 1936 that surnames came into use and Arabic was replaced by Turkish. It is likely that when the fort was being renovated, a worker wrote his name on the fresh concrete.

One more stop, this time on a hill where two 280mm gun batteries are situated, from the Turkish liner Turgut Reis. What can I write about them? They are real giants like I have never seen before…

The Dardanos Battery and here a huge disappointment, as the Turks, one could say, have completely profaned it. Nothing has been preserved there in its original condition. Five guns of 150 mm calibre were placed on concrete bases, on a tiled floor, separated by a macabre-looking modern pelengation tower. It’s a nightmarish sight, one that makes you feel sorry for yourself. How can one’s national heritage be treated in this way? The view from the Dardanos battery is sensational. One marvels at the strategic position and the awareness of how easily this battery could and did strike at the enemy entering the strait. We now realise exactly what a failed idea it was for the Allied fleet to attempt to break through the ‘Golden Horn’.

And another disappointment. Piotr took us to the cemetery of Turkish soldiers killed in the Anadolu Hamidiye fort and what turned out? The cemetery has been moved somewhere and in its place stands a brightly painted modern apartment building. Well, another episode of this very interesting story has been forgotten.

A busy day tomorrow on the battleship Masudiye…

TUESDAY 06-09-2011

An amazing day. I don’t even want to write that we were the first Polish divers to explore it, because what we do here is generally pioneering work. We inventory the Turkish battleship Masudiye. The wreck is in very poor condition, in fact not much is left of it. The dive, although relatively shallow, is quite difficult due to the fact that this is the Dardanelles Strait, and therefore currents and poorer visibility. The most important thing we found is that we found artillery shells on the bottom and this would not be unusual if it were not for the fact that they were 240mm calibre shells. This is a very important and unusual discovery, because two guns of this calibre on the ship had been dismantled before the war and sent to England for repair. After the start of the war between England and Turkey there was not the slightest chance that they would ever return to Masudiye. Until now it was thought that the ammunition for these particular guns had long since been disposed of after the fact. Our exploration has proved otherwise. The 240mm calibre shells are still on the ship. We are not modest in stating that with this discovery we are expanding our historical knowledge of the naval battle for the Golden Horn.

A while ago I talked to Piotr Nykiel, who is supporting us during the expedition with his historical knowledge. He told me that he had already contacted the University of Cracow and that the information about our discovery caused quite a sensation.

Another report from General and Romano, especially for Divers24 readers, is coming soon. Expect some photos too!

Source: Piotr Wytykowski and Roman Zajder, Divers24