18 March 1915 must have been an unforgettable day for a ship spotter. A mighty Allied fleet consisting of HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Agamemnon, HMS Lord Nelson, HMS Inflexible, HMS Prince George, HMS Triump, HMS Ocean, HMS Majestic, HMS Swiftsure, HMS Vengeance, HMS Irresistible, HMS Albion from Royal Navy, Gaulois, Charlemagne, Bouvet, Suffren from French... Continue Reading →
Russian Submarine Krasnodar Transited Southbound Trough Istanbul
Today improved Kilo class (Proj. 636.3) submarine of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Krasnodar made an unexpected southbound passage through Bosphorus. The submarine one of the six units built specially for the Black Sea Fleet has been deployed in the region since 7.8.2017. She has 6 533mm torpedo tubes and carries a combination of up... Continue Reading →
The Participants In Mavi Vatan Exercise (Part 2)
An update to the major units taking part in the exercise Mavi Vatan: Small landing craft and auxiliaries taking part in the exercise are not included in the list. For further information regarding the exercise click here. Additional information: Frigates: TCG Gökçeada is deployed with the SNMG-2 and TCG Geliblou is in Gulf Of Aden... Continue Reading →
The Participants In Mavi Vatan Exercise
Regular readers of this blog will know, that I like to name the units that are taking part in an exercise. It is not easy to identify the participating units to the Mavi Vatan naval exercise. First, there are 103 units taking part in this drill. I would be able to get to name them... Continue Reading →
What Does The Exercise Mavi Vatan Mean?
Today, 96 ships of various types and 7 submarines sailed away from their ports this morning as the naval exercise Mavi Vatan started. Mavi Vatan means Blue Motherland (or Fatherland or Homeland depending your own orientation) and refers to the seas around Turkey. The exercise is held in the Eastern Mediterranean, Aegean and in the... Continue Reading →
Korkut-D Air Defence System Remodeled
Today TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa made a northbound passage through Istanbul. This ship was built for Germany Navy as FGS Donau, by Schlichting-Werft in Travemünde as a tender for fast attack boats. She was transferred to the Turkish Navy in 1995 to replace the old ship of the same name. TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa was selected... Continue Reading →
Dynamic Manta 2019 Has Started
NATO’s Submarine Warfare Exercise Dynamic Manta 2019 kicked off yesterday, off the Sicilian coast, with ships, submarines, aircraft and personnel from 10 Allied nations. According to NATO press release submarines surface units and ASW planes and helicopters from Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, and USA, under the control of Commander,... Continue Reading →
TCG Ufuk Launched
The previously unnamed test and evaluation ship has now a name and a pennant number: A-591 TCG Ufuk. The ship, the first one in Turkish Navy to bear that name, was launched on 9th February 2019. TCG Ufuk shows a striking resemblance to Ada class corvettes. Even some main physical attributes like the length, width,... Continue Reading →
Test And Evaluation Ship Takes Shape
The project was first made public in a presentation made by Undersecreteriat for Defence Industries, (SSM) during the 7th Naval Systems Seminar in 2017. SSM simply told that they have signed a contract for a Test and Evaluation Ship. More information was released in a presentation made by the engineering company STM during the same... Continue Reading →
A New Naval Base In The Black Sea
Turkish Navy has started the necessary bureaucratical procedures to establish a new naval base in the Black Sea. Turkish Navy was thinking about establishing a naval base in the eastern Black Sea for almost one decade. The main Turkish naval base in the Black Sea is in Karadeniz Ereğli in the western part of the region. This... Continue Reading →
