The Entrance of the Ottoman Empire to the World War I and the British Naval Mission

After the proclamation of the Constitutional Monarchy in 1908, Admiral Arthur Henry Limpus was the last British adviser appointed as the naval adviser and the commander of the navy to the Ottoman Ministry of Marine. This study examines his efforts to establish a new naval base in the Gulf of Izmit and the end of his service period in the Ottoman Government after the outbreak of World War I. As the Imperial Naval Arsenal’s condition was far from meeting the repair and maintenance needs of both the naval warships and of the Reşadiye and Sultan Osman-ı Evvel dreadnoughts under construction in Britain, important steps were taken to realize a project for the establishment of a new naval base in the Gulf of Izmit with the cooperation of Armstrong-Vickers group and the Ministry of Marine. During the process that started with the confiscation of the Reşadiye and Sultan Osman-ı Evvel dreadnoughts by the British Government in July 1914 and the purchase of the German battlecruisers Goeben and Breslau by the Ottoman Government in August 1914, the British naval mission led by Admiral Limpus played an active role in the British Government's diplomatic campaign for the preservation of Ottoman neutrality. Based on Admiral Limpus’ private documents kept in the Caird Archive of the British National Maritime Museum the paper examines these developments

Ancient history · Archaeology · Christian ministry · Economic history · German · Management · Navy · Political science · Proclamation · World War II · Historical Turkish Studies · History · Law · Ottoman and Turkish Studies · Ottoman Empire History and Society

• The international significance of British naval missions to the Ottoman Empire, 1908–14

  Chris B Rooney•Middle Eastern Studies•1998

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