"From  the point of view of  the  continuation of the
battle and the future of  the  world,  the  mines laid
by  Nusrat  had  very  definitive results.."
Sir Winston Churchill

The ships  inevitably  played  a  large  role,  in  British  Prime  Lord  of the Admiralty, Sir
Winston Churchill. However, there are only two small ships which through sheer  tyranny
determined Churchill' s  fate and whole career. One of these ships was the Nusrat mine
layer and the other was the battleship Bismarck..
One of the most effective methods of ensuring the safety of the  straits  againist  enemy
fleets was by laying down sea mines. However, even mines could be destroyed  as the
mine sweepers would  gather  up  the  mines  and  destroy  them. At  this  time, Turkish
movable ground  guns  were  sinking  all  the  small  vessels  which  came  within  close
range,  but   as   the  British  had  set  their  minds  on  crossing  the  straits,  they  were
consistently sweeping the mines.
They  had  carried  out  a  sweeping  operation  prior  to  the 18 th March. However, the
night before, a small, brave mine  layer  named  Nusrat,  captained  by Lieutenant Hafız
Hakkı  Bey, had  entered  the  strait  and  had  laid  her  last 26  mines  fifteen  seconds
apart, parallel  to  the  shore. The  other  mines  were  lying  accross  the  strait. In order
to carry  out  this  highly  dangerous   operation,   Nusrat   had  almost literally  held  her
breath by  decreasing  the  steam  and  reducing the circuit  of  the  machinery.  On  the
eighteenth  of  March,  under  the  impression  that  they  had  swept  the  seas  clear of
mines, the proud Allied  Fleet entered the strait. They anchored in  front  of  the Turkish
fortresses and opened fire for hours.
The Turkish fortresses  retaliated  with  opening  fire  on  ships, at  the moments,  finally
Bouvet  hit a mine and sank  almost instantly. This incident  became the turning point of
the battle. After  Bouvet, the  new  battle cruiser  HMS  Inflexible  hit  another  mine  and
retreated from the battle, closely followed by the Irresistible. The armored  cruiser HMS
Ocean, who came to the aid of the Irresistible  also  hit  a  mine  and  sank  too. The job
which had been started by the Turkish Ground gun batteries  had  been  finished by the
small mine layer Nusrat..
De Robeck  gave  the  order  to retreat. This was  the most  sensible command ever to
have been given, because of the heavy ship losses..
Rumors  has  it  that  the  British  mine  sweeping  team who  gave the report  declaring
the  area  free  of   mines  were  immediately   handed  over  the   supreme   court   and
sentenced  to  execution.  Apparently  later on  it was realised that at the  time of writing
the report, the area was actually  clean,  and  the  British Government apologised to the
families of those who had been  executed. The real  truth  will never be known, however
we do know what Churchill wrote about the Nusrat and  her deadly mines:
" From  the  point  of  view  of  the  battle  and  the  future  of the world, the mines  which
Nusrat  so  secretly  laid, had  a  much  more  definite  conclusion than any other efforts
made.  This  obstacle which ceased the battle, created  many  psychological problems
amongst  the  British  who  had   most   succesfully  started  the  Çanakkale Operation.
Turkey owes its thanks entirely to these mines, which lenghtened  the war considerably.
It is because of  this,  that  the European  victors  were shaken  just as those who were
defeated. The bones of the 6 million people who lay buried on French, Polish, Galician,
Balkan, Syrian, Palestine and  Northern  Italian  battle  fields were  not  defeated by the
enemy fire at  all. They were destroyed  entirely by 26  iron balls  (the  mines of  Nusrat)
which lay anchored to wire ropes under the  surface of the strait of Canakkale.."
The 1952 - 1953   issue  of  Jane' s  Fighting  Ships,  the  well  known  and   prestigous
publication, gives information on  Nusrat mineship with the following  description: "This
is  the  ship that laid the mines to strike Irresistible, Ocean and Bouvet in March 1915."


1/200 model of the minelayer Nusrat