Seventy-three years ago today, the Turkish Navy suffered its greatest peacetime loss when the submarine TCG Dumlupınar (formerly USS Blower) sank at Nara Point in the Çanakkale Strait.
TCG Dumlupınar and her sister boat, TCG 1. İnönü, were returning from a NATO exercise when, at 02:15, the Swedish-flagged merchant ship M/V Naboland collided with TCG Dumlupınar at Nara Point—the narrowest and most challenging part of the strait to navigate. The civilian ship struck the submarine on its starboard bow, just aft of the forward diving planes. The impact forced the submarine to roll to port and sink immediately. Five sailors who were on the submarine’s sail at the time of the collision survived, while the rest of the crew was trapped inside as the submarine descended to a depth of 85 meters.
Twenty-two sailors, trapped in the aft torpedo compartment, managed to release the submarine’s buoy. Rescue and salvage ships were dispatched from the main naval base in Gölcük, but strong currents and inadequate equipment thwarted all efforts to reach the submarine and save the trapped men. Tragically, all rescue attempts failed.
Since that fateful day, every April 4th, we remember those who rest in a watery grave, where no rose will ever grow.
devrimyaylali.com 