The U.K. confiscates Ottoman ships
Prior to World War I, the Ottoman State had commissioned a number of ships of various sizes to England to reinforce her fleet. Initially, two dreadnoughts then-worth 4 million pounds were ordered. These powerful battleships were to be named Re?adiye and Sultan Osman. The commadner of Sultan Osman was the legendary Hero of Hamidiye, Rauf Bey (Orbay).
As the Treasury lacked the funds to finance the ships, the Naval Association launched a wide donation campaign and even students were recruited to help. The cost of the ships was thus collected from the public cent for cent.
Due to the increasing tension; however, England was reluctant to deliver the vessels. First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill was certain that failure to deliver the vessels would instigate a diplomatic crisis, but he was also concerned with the possibility that the battleships in question could be used against his country.
Rauf Bey reached Newcastle on July 27, 1914 to receive Sultan Osman. Only a day later, World War I broke out when the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Sarajevo. The turn of events complicated the delivery of the ships. Indeed, on August 3, 1914, merely hours before the flag ceremony of Sultan Osman, the British government announced that it was confiscating the battleship.
Although the Ottoman government vehemently protested the confiscation, no one cared. The name of Sultan Osman was immediately changed to Agincourt and the vessel was made part of the British fleet. Re?adiye was renamed Erin. However, when it became evident during practice on August 22nd that the ship’s guns were out of order, it was put on the stocks, never to be used again.
