Lest We Forget: TCG Dumlupınar

4 Apr 2020

A multibeam sonar scan of TCG Dumlupınar as she rests at the bottom. The damage of the collision is visible. This photo was published in Derinden Yansımalar by Mithat Atabay , Savaş Karakaş , Selçuk Kolay , Okan Taktak.

67 years ago today, the Turkish Navy suffered its biggest peacetime casualty when submarine TCG Dumlupınar (ex USS Blower) sunk at Nara point, in Çanakkale Strait.

TCG Dumlupınar and her sister boat TCG 1. İnönü were returning from NATO exercise. At 02:15 in the morning, Swedish flagged merchant ship M/V Naboland and TCG Dumlupınar encountered at Nara point,  the narrowest and difficult to navigate part of the Strait.  The civilian ship hit the submarine at starboard bow, just aft of the forward diving planes. The submarine rolled to port with the force of the impact and sunk immediately. 5 submarines who were at the sail during the collision were the only survivors. The rest of the crew was trapped inside.  She sunk to 85 meters.

22 sailors trapped in the aft torpedo compartment were able to release the submarine’s sunk buoy. Submarine rescue and salvage ships were rushed from the main naval base in Gölcük after the incident. But all efforts to reach the submarine and rescue the survivors failed cause of very strong water currents and insufficient equipment. All efforts to rescue the trapped man failed.

Since that fateful day, on every 4th of April, we remember those that have a watery grave were no rose will grow.

Filed under Accidents, Dardanelles Tagged with , ,

The Death Of MT Independenta

15 Nov 2019 1 Comment

40 years ago on this day, in the very early hours, İstanbul was shaken by a large explosion.  A powerful shock wave that broke the windows of many houses, was followed by a big large bright fireball.

The Romanian tanker MT Independenta was waiting for the pilot at the southern entrance of Istanbul Strait when the Greek cargo ship MV Evriali collided with her. The Romanian tanker was carrying 93,800 tons of crude oil from Libya as cargo and 260 tons of heavy fuel. Only 3 of the 43 strong crew survived the accident. The burning hull grounded half a mile away from the Haydarpaşa port and few meters from the breakwater. The tanker burned for one month until all the oil was consumed by the infernal fire. Attempts to fight the fire were unsuccessful.

My grandfather was lucky, to go on board and take some interesting yet grotesque and grim photos.   Some of them are below, to testify the intensity of the heat and days of burning.

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

My captured picture

Filed under Accidents, Bosphorus Tagged with , ,

Lest We Forget: DM-357 TCG Muavenet

2 Oct 2019

DM-357 TCG Muavenet in her better days. This photo from 1989 is special to me. This was my very first photo to be published in Jane’s Fighting Ships, in its 1991 edition.

27 years ago, during the NATO Display Determination ’92 naval exercise, two Sea Sparrow surface to air missiles fired accidentally from the aircraft carrier CV-60 USS Saratoga, hit the bridge of the Turkish destroyer DM-357 TCG Muavenet. 5 sailors including the commander of the ship were killed instantly and 15 badly hurt. A fire broke out on board. At the time of the incident, two ships were 3 miles apart and were streaming north in the Aegean.

Ships radar antenna, forward gun turrets, hedgehog launcher suffered from the shrapnel damage. The pieces of the second missile penetrated the forward gun turret, cabins of the supply officer and XO.

A fire started at the ammunition chamber of the Hedgehog system. The explosion of the Hedgehog rounds would have caused the loss of the ships.


These two photos -new scans- show the extensive damage caused by the missiles. Though the missiles were designed for shooting down enemy airplanes, they also succeeded in crippling an allied warship.

It was quite a skill to bring the fire under control before reached to the gun turret in the B position. If the fire has spread further to the turrets and ammunition chambers of the guns, she would not have survived.

All the fire fighting and damage control efforts were done in the absence of the commander of the ship. This fact speaks for the professionalism of the officers and the bravery of the whole crew. They simply did not give up the ship.

Commander Kudret Güngör
Ensign Alertunga Akan
Petty Officer 3th Class Serkan Aktepe
Sergant Mustafa Kılınç
Private Recep Akan,

Replenishment tanker TCG Yarbay Kudret Güngör passing through Istanbul after sunset on a December day back in 2017. His name and legacy lives.

paid the ultimate price for the defense of their country.

For further reading:
US Navy Court of Inquiry

Turkish Navy Court of Inquiry

Wikipedia

An interesting but technical legal article about why the USA did not pay indemnities to the Turkish sailors

My previous wrtings about the incident.

And one video documentary about the incident:

http://vimeo.com/58526103

Filed under Accidents, Aegean, Turkish Navy Tagged with , , , ,

Turkey Helps Pakistan To Recover The Wreck Of The Lost Helicopter

7 Sep 2018

The photo of the search and rescue team before their departure to Pakistan. Photo: Turkish Navy

One Sea King helicopter of Pakistani Navy crashed to the Arabian Sea on 31st August 2018. According to Pakistani Navy, the helicopter was conducting routine training operations when lost. 3 sailors were rescued and one dead were recovered. Pakistan asked Turkey to help to locate the wreck and recover the bodies of the 3 missing aircrews.

A 25 strong search and rescue team from the Turkish Navy was dispatched with an A-400M cargo plane of Turkish Airforce. Among the equipment, send are autonomous underwater vehicles.

Filed under Accidents, Turkish Navy Tagged with ,

Fire On Board TCG Beykoz

14 Jan 2018

TCG Beykoz sailing southward through Çeşme Strait. This photo was taken in November 2017.

In the early morning hours on 13th January 2018, a fire erupted in the engine room of the corvette TCG Beykoz. The ship was in a berth at Foça Naval Base. Damage control party interfered and put out the fire. 11 sailors were hospitalized of which 8 were later released the same day. According to news reports, the fire started at electrical cables.

The ship is assigned to Escort and Patrol Fleet and based in Foça, İzmir. The extent of the damage and whether the ship needs a lengthy overhaul and repair period is unclear.

Filed under Accidents, Aegean Tagged with , , ,

M/V Orca 2 Collided With Russian Navy Landing Ship Yamal

11 Jan 2018

The damaged Yamal in Sevastopol. All damage seems to be on the superstructure. There is no visible damage to the hull. That is good. Photo: Artem Balabin.

I might be mistaken but the damaged area supposed to be the living quarters of the crew and the transported troops. Thus I sincerely hope no one was injured. The blow seems to be strong. Photo: Artem Balabin.

Another photo showing the extent of the damage to Yamal. Photo: Artem Balabin.

It is a pity that we -the ship spotters in Istanbul- have missed the northbound passage of Yamal on 1st January 2017. Otherwise, the Russian Navy would not be able to cover it up for 10 days.

Container ship ORCA 2 collided with Russian Navy Landing ship YAMAL at around 1300 UTC Dec 30 in Aegean sea some 8 nm northwest of Rhodes port, Rhodes island. Container ship was en route from Alexandria to Gemlik Turkey Marmara sea, and according to Russian Navy official statement, was overtaking YAMAL, when suddenly veered starboard and collided with YAMAL. ORCA 2 is to be blamed for collision, said Russian Navy. Both ships sustained undisclosed damages. YAMAL was en route from Syria to Sevastopol, Crimea, understood she resumed sailing, while ORCA 2 was taken to Rhodos anchored and remained at anchor until Jan 4. On Jan 4 she resumed voyage, and on Jan 6 arrived at Gemlik. On Jan 10 she was still at Gemlik.
There were no news on this accident until Jan 10, when suddenly, Russian Navy made an official statement, published by Russian News Agency TASS.

The omission of Yamal from Syrian Express supply runs will make life of logistics planners very difficult. She was one of the most prolific ships, making 10 deployments in 2017 before the accident. She may be out of service for a couple years.

Filed under Accidents, Aegean Tagged with , ,

Lest We Forget: DM-357 TCG Muavenet

2 Oct 2017


On 2nd October 1992, 11 minutes past midnight, during the NATO’s Display Determination ’92 naval exercise, two Sea Sparrow surface to air missiles fired accidentally from the aircraft carrier CV-60 USS Saratoga, hit the bridge of the Turkish destroyer DM-357 TCG Muavenet. 5 sailors including the commander of the ship were killed instantly and 15 badly hurt. A fire broke out on board. At the time of the incident two ships were 3 miles apart and were streaming north in the Aegean.

One of the missiles hit the ship approximately after a flight of ten seconds. The first missile hit the front of the ships bridge and destroyed it. The second missile exploded in the air probably because the blast of the first missile and peppered the ship with shrapnel. Ships radar antenna, forward gun turrets, hedgehog launcher suffered from the shrapnel damage. The pieces of the second missile penetrated the forward gun turret, cabins of the supply officer and XO.

A fire started at the ammunition chamber of the Hedgehog system. The explosion of the Hedgehog rounds would have caused the loss of the ships. After the hits general quarters were sounded and the fire fighting teams started to tackle the fire. On the other hand the damage control teams were throwing the ready ammunition in the forward gun turrets and other explosives near the fire over the board as a safety measure.

The fire was under control in 10 minutes but the water caused damage in the decks that were not harmed in the initial blast.

The extend of the damage resulting both from missile impact and fire is obvious. It was quite a skill to bring the fire under control before reached to the gun turret in B position. If the fire has spread further to the turrets and ammunition chambers of the guns, the she would not have survived.

All the fire fighting and damage control efforts were done in the absence of the commander of the ship. This fact speaks for the professionalism of the officers and the bravery of the whole crew.

They simply did not give up the ship.

Commander Kudret Güngör
Ensign Alertunga Akan
Petty Officer 3th Class Serkan Aktepe
Sergant Mustafa Kılınç
Private Recep Akan

Paid the ultimate price for the defence of their country.

 

For further reading:
US Navy Court of Inquiry

Turkish Navy Court of Inquiry

Wikipedia

An interesting but technical legal article about why USA did not paid indemnities to the Turkish sailors

 

Filed under Accidents, Aegean, Turkish Navy Tagged with , , , ,

Bulgarian Naval Helicopter Crashed

14 Jun 2017 1 Comment

F-41 BS Drazki during her northbound transit in Bosphorus, on 3 June 2011.

On 9. June 2017, a Panther helicopter of Bulgarian Navy collided with the frigate Drazki and crashed into the sea. The two of the 3 strong crew were rescued. The pilot unfortunately lost his life.

Bulgarian Navy purchased 3 AS 565MB Panther helicopters from Airbus in 2011. The Panther has replaced older Soviet era helicopters for naval operations. Since none of the Bulgarian warships have landing platforms or hangars, all the helicopters are land based.

On 9 June the helicopter was conducting a naval training with the frigate Drazki and other warships when the helicopter collided with the mast of the frigate and crashed. The pilot Captain Georgi Atanasov died while the Captain Pavel Simeonov and captain Anatoly Apostolovwere rescued by the sailors from the ship. The survivors are in stable condition.

With this accident Bulgarian Navy lost %30 percent of her aviation assets.

Filed under Accidents, Black Sea Tagged with , , ,

Russian Intelligence Gathering Ship Liman, Sunk Off The Coast Of Istanbul

27 Apr 2017 8 Comments

The stricken Liman look very much just like this ship, her sister Kildin. Here Kildin moving northbound in November 2016.

On 27th April 2017 the Russian intelligence gathering ship Liman sunk off the coast of Istanbul.

The Project 861 / Moma class ship of Russian Black Sea Fleet was approximately 17 nautical miles northwest of the northern entrance of Istanbul Strait when Togo flagged livestock carrier Youzarsif H hit Liman. The accident happened at 08.41 UTC (11:41 local time). There was fog and the visibility was limited. This part of the Black Sea is usually used as a staging area for the ships as the wait for their turn to sail the Bosphorus. Thus there are usually many ships either adrift or sailing with very slow speed.

It was apparently Youzarsif H that hit Liman since Russian ships hull was  breached below the waterline. Both ship are similar in displacement around 1.500 tons and size. The damage to the Russian ship has overwhelmed the damage control party and the ship sunk at 11:48 UTC (14:48 local time).

The proximate location of the incident.

Turkish Directorate General of Coastal Safety dispatched life boats Kıyı Emniyeti 3, Kıyı Emniyeti 6, Kıyı Emniyeyi 8 and tug Kurtarma 3 to the accident site.

Of the 78 sailors on board of Liman, 26 were rescued by life boat Kıyı Emniyeti 3, 37 by Kıyı Eminyeti 8 and 15 by Youzarsif H. There are no casualties.

Liman was one of the 3 Project 861M / Moma class intelligence gathering ships. All are based in the Black Sea. The ship was deployed to the Mediterranean in Winter 2016 and was last seen passing northbound through Istanbul on 26 January 2017.

Liman was not expected to pass southbound through Istanbul Strait. This means she was sailing just outside of the Turkish territorial waters for collecting intelligence.

Intelligence gathering ships are equipped with highly sensitive sensors, special eavesdropping hardware and software to record and decipher the collected data. Some of the sailors on board must be “scientist” specialized gathering and interpreting data. A good question is whether the Russians had time to destroy the sensitive equipment before abandoning the ship. Another question is whether there will be any efforts to raise the ship or salvage any sensitive equipment that was not destroyer by the crew.

Though we don’t have details, how the accident ever happened and who was right according to COLREG, it is kind a ironic, that a ship with a mission to gather all the intelligence around it, fails to see an ungainly merchant ship sailing directly on it.

Filed under Accidents, Black Sea Tagged with , , ,

Update On TCSG-25’s Collision With M/V Tolunay

16 Apr 2017

On 17 August 2016, Turkish Coast Guard vessel TCSG-25 collided with the Cook Island flag and Turkish owned bulk carrier M/V Tolunay, near the southern entrance of Bosphorus.

TCSG-25 was tasked to escort the Russian Natya class mine hunter Valentin Pikul which was returning from her Syrian deployment. The coast guard boat capsized after the collision.  Lieutenant Ali Rıza Yücel, Petty Officers Yavuz Gökhan Şahin, Bülent Demirkaya and rating Sinan Göktaş died while the remaining 3 crew members were rescued.

The captain of M/V Tolunay, Abdullah Hamadı and 2 members of the crew are currently on trial. They are charged with causing death and injury through negligence. The prosecution asks for imprisonment from 4.5 years to 22.5 years.

There is a video taken by a sailor on board of the Russian mine sweeper showing the accident. TCSG-25 had the agility and the speed to sprint and move away from the merchant ship.

Filed under Accidents, Turkish Coast Guard Tagged with , ,

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