The Story Of Battlecruiser TCG Yavuz / SMS Goeben

SMS Goeben' s new name : Yavuz - 2

After these  historic events, Goeben' s  boilers  repaired  and got ready for new
actions as a Turkish battlecruiser. Admiral Souchon quickly  prepared  a  good
battle  filotilla  with  Yavuz, Midilli, Hamidiye ( a  famous Turkish  cruiser ) and a
few  destroyers. These  all  were  ready for future actions. The Ottoman Empire
was secretly planning to enter  the world  war and  fight  with Russia. After a full
series of trials and exercises  in  both  Marmara Sea  and  Black Sea, Admiral
Souchon sailed to high seas again and directly toward the Russian harbors.
 

The bombardment of some Russian harbors

On 29.10.1914, just after the dawn, the Turkish warships opened  fire on some
very  important  Russian  harbors.  Yavuz   especially  bombarded  Sevastopol
harbor, sank the Russian minelayer Prut  and  heavily  damaged  the destroyer
Lieutenant Puschin. After a short  time, she  captured  the steamer  Ida, off  the
Balaklava  Coast  en  route from  Mariupol to Sevastpol. On the other hand, the
light  cruiser Midilli, in  the night of 29.10.1914, laid sixty mines near the Kertch
strait entry, that resulted  in  sinking  of another Russian steamers named Yalta
and Kazbek.

Yavuz' s heavy 28 cm shells seriously  damaged  the  harbors, many  important
buildings and some critical points. Some arsenals exploded due  to  the  hits. It
was  a  big  disaster  for  Russia. During  the  bombardment of Sevastopol and
Odessa, the  Russian ground  batteries  opened fire on Turkish ships but could
not be succesful to give any serious damage. During the shell exchange, Yavuz
received two heavy shells from a  battery, causing  minor damage. Her second
funnel received a shell but the explosion was not enough to penetrate the deck
armor of the battlecruiser.

After these actions, on October 30, 1914, Russia declared  war to Ottomans &
also the Great Britain and France. The fate of  an  old  empire has to  changed.
After  the  declaration  of  war, some  Russian  pre-dreadnoughts  and  cruisers
steamed to Turkish harbors and  bombarded  some  important  bases. But  the
Turkish fleet was ready to put an action againist Russian warships, so Admiral
Souchon sailed immediately to the Black Sea waters with Yavuz and Midilli.

The Battle of Cape Sarych

During her colorful life, perhaps the most important fight of Yavuz was the  fight
at  Cape Sarych. After the Russian attack on Turkish bases, Souchon decided
 to attack the  slower  and  older  Russian  warships. Opposing Yavuz  was  the
Russian  Black Sea Fleet,  under the command of Admiral Andrei Avgustovich
Ebergard. But  the  Russian  fleet' s  warships  were  some  pre-dreadnoughts
which had a full speed at least 10 knots slower than Yavuz. The battlecruiser' s
speed  was naturally  superior. The  Russian ships were named as Evstafy, Tri
Sviatitelia, Panteleimon, Rostislav  and  Ioann  Zlaotust.  Some  of  them  were
carrying 12 inch guns, which were bigger then Yavuz, but  their armor  was not
thick as the battlecruiser and their slow speed was a negative factor.