Cape Helles at the end of the Gallipoli peninsula is a very peaceful and quiet place. On a nice sunny
summer day, you can see the islands Bozcada, Gökçeada and ımros in the distance. If you go to the
Mehmetçik lighthouse at the cape you can walk through its garden, visit the small museum there and
go down to the beach. You can watch ships carrying goods and occasional passengers entering or
exiting the Dardanelles.
Despite its current tranquillity, this area was hell on earth 120 years ago. That beach at the lighthouse
was marked as Beach W on military maps. The only ships that dared to enter or exit from the Strait
were the military. The plain between cape Helles to the rest of the Gallipoli peninsula was a
battlefield. Soldiers on both sides were throwing at each other all sorts all death that mankind could
create.
HMS Majestic was a Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. Commissioned in
1895, she was the largest predreadnought launched at the time. In 1915 she was dispatched to the
Mediterranean to take part in the Gallipoli campaign. On 27 May 1915 HMS Majestic was off Cape
Helles provided gun support for the troops on land. She was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-21
under the command of Lieutenant Otto Hersing just two days after HMS Triumph was sunk by the same
submarine.
In October 2021 the wrecks of HMS Triumph, HMS Majestic and other smaller barges from the
Gallipoli War has been opened for divers. All the 14 wrecks are now part of the Gallipoli Historic
Underwater Park is an underwater museum.
The wreck of HMS Majestic lies approximately 25 meters below the surface just a few hundred
meters away from the shore. The wreck sits on her keel.
In 1920’ies the Turkish Government allowed some of the easily accessed shipwrecks of the war to be
dismantled for scrap metal. The wreck of HMS Majestic was partly dismantled between 1930 and
1960 in various phases by different salvage companies.
Nevertheless, the wreck of the warship is still majestic. The aft barbette is still very recognisable.
There are even some 12-inch rounds lying among the wreck.
The final resting place of the ship is nowadays full of aquatic life. Both fish and plants do find shelter
and ground to grow on the remainder of the ship.
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