Ottoman ironclad Feth-i Bülend

Feth-i Bülend during repairs in Ansaldo factory.
History
Ottoman Empire
NameFeth-i Bülend
BuilderThames Iron Works, London
Laid downMay 1868
Launched1869
Commissioned1870
FateHulk in 1910, sunk by Greek torpedo boat in 1912
General characteristics
Class & typeFeth-i Bülend class
Displacement2,762 metric tons (2,718 long tons)
Length72 m (236 ft 3 in) (p.p.)
Beam11.9 m (39 ft 1 in)
Draft5.2 m (17 ft 1 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement16 officers, 153 sailors
Armament4 × 229 mm (9 in) Armstrong guns
Armor

Feth-i Bülend (Ottoman Turkish: "Great Victory") was an Ottoman ironclad warship built in the late 1860s, the lead ship of her class. The Ottoman Navy ordered her from the British Thames Iron Works, and she was laid down in 1868, launched in 1869, and commissioned in 1870. She was armed with four 229 mm (9 in) guns, was powered by a single-screw compound steam engine with a top speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).

Feth-i Bülend saw action during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, where she battled the Russian steamer Vesta in an inconclusive engagement. The Ottoman fleet was laid up for most of the next twenty years, and Feth-i Bülend saw no activity during this period. Modernized in 1890, she was nevertheless still not in condition for active service at the outbreak of the Greco-Turkish War in 1897. She was therefore heavily rebuilt in Germany between 1903 and 1907. At the start of the First Balkan War in 1912, the ship was stationed in Salonica; the ship was disarmed so the guns could be used to strengthen the port's fortifications. On the night of 31 October, a Greek torpedo boat slipped into the harbor and sank Feth-i Bülend, killing seven of her crew.