The Feth-i Bülend was torpedoed and sunk by the Greek Torpedo-boat No.11 in Salonika harbour on 31st October 1912. No.11 was one of six vessels that had been built at the Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, Germany, for the Greek navy, and she had been commissioned in 1885.
A model of Torpedo-boat No.11.
Her characteristics were:
- Displacement: 85 tons
- Dimensions:
- Length: 37.5m (123ft)
- Beam: 4.66m (15ft 4in)
- Draught: 1.65m (4ft 5in)
- Propulsion: A locomotive boiler providing steam to a vertical compound steam engine (1,000ihp) driving a single propellor
- Speed: 18 knots
- Complement: 20
- Armament: 1 x 57mm (3-pounder) Hotchkiss quick-firing guns; 2 x 14-inch (356mm) bow torpedo tubes; 1 x 14-inch (356mm) trainable torpedo tube
Torpedo-boat No.11 was wrecked near Mudros Bay on 13th April 1913.
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It must have been very fast for it's time. Interesting boat. Looks like similar Norwegian torpedo boats from that period.
ReplyDeleteRoger,
DeleteCertain shipbuilders - like Thornycroft in the UK - had lots of experience of building fast launches and steam yachts and applied it to designs of the early torpedo boats. As a result, many of the early designs looked very similar to the fast launches and steam yachts built for private owners.
What interested me was the use of a locomotive style boiler, where the heat was carried by tubes through the water rather than a water tube boiler where the heat passed around tubes full of water. The latter seem to have been more efficient and required less intense daily maintenance … but I understand that they were more expensive to build and required more highly qualified/experienced staff to operate.
All the best,
Bob
Bob - It would be interesting to add this to the Hellenic flotilla of torpedo boats. And maybe I will some day. Update on the 'Feth-i Buland' ironclad: I've built it. Unpainted, yet, but with its 6x3inch QFs festooning its upper deck the thing is fair bristling with guns.
ReplyDeleteI upscaled it very slightly to 7.5cm length and 2.5cm beam, giving it 9 or maybe 10 Flotation Points. Even then it's a tiny thing for a battleship! I gave it two masts - and I'll probably dispense with the fighting top(s).
Cheers,
Ion
I'll name the thing 'Ali Zafer', having much the same sort of meaning as the original.
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteThe design of the TB is very simple and should be easy to replicate as a tabletop model.
As for the Turkish ironclad battleship … she sounds a lot more potent than the original design, and the new name sounds right for her.
All the best,
Bob