Minelayer Nusret

When the British were trying to force their way through the Dardanelles Straits with battleships in March 1915 there were Turkish forts on either side that fired shells at the ships. The Turkish also had mines, which are explosives inside a metal case, like the one to the left. When a ships hits one of the spikes it blows up. These were either tied to strong cables just below the surface of the sea or were floated down the Dardanelles on the current

To the south side of the mouth of the Dardanelles Straits is a wide inlet called Eren Koy Bay. After the war it was discovered that the Turkish had noticed that the large British and French ships used this bay to turn in when leaving the straits. In late February 1915 Nusret laid 26 mines in the Eren Koy Bay area. On 18th March, three British and French battleships were sunk by mines, and this ended the attempts to force through the narrows.

Although it can never be proved that the mines were those laid by Nusret, it seems quite likely that this was the case, and like the River Clyde and Simpson Kirkpatrick above, the Nusret became a symbol for a nation. The Nusret sank in 1989 at Mersin but was raised ten years later and is now being restored at Tarsus, in southern Turkey. A replica of the Nusret (lright) is displayed at Canakkale, the nearest large town to the Gallipoli pensinsula.