Three warships - one frigate and two supply ships - and one uncrewed surface vessel were commissioned into the Turkish Navy on 19 January 2024. The commissioning ceremony was held at Sefine Shipyard in Yalova, where the largest vessels, TCG Derya, and the smallest one, Marlin USV were constructed. With the commissioning of the USV,... Continue Reading →
Turkish Parliment Extends The Presence Of The Navy In Gulf Of Aden For One Year
On 17 January 2024, The Grand National Assembly of Turkey extended the presence of the Turkish Navy in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and adjacent seas for one more year. The first bill allowing the Turkish government to deploy Turkish Naval Forces for anti-piracy operations was accepted on 10 February 2009. It was extended... Continue Reading →
A Week of Reflection on the Pivotal Naval Moments of 2023: Day 7
In this last instalment of my, week-long exploration of the significant naval developments that shaped the maritime landscape from my point of view in 2023, I must confess that little did I imagine back in 2022 that the Russians would tragically lose a submarine to a nation without ASW capabilities in 2023. The vast and... Continue Reading →
A Week of Reflection on the Pivotal Naval Moments of 2023: Day 6
In this penultimate installation of my week-long exploration of the significant naval developments that shaped the maritime landscape from my point of view, we will look a little closer to the first of İstif class frigates TCG Istanbul. The first indigenous frigate constructed in Turkey, TCG Istanbul is not commissioned yet, however, she was the... Continue Reading →
A Week of Reflection on the Pivotal Naval Moments of 2023: Day 5
The Russian Invasion of Ukraine has brought one of the oldest and maybe one of the most potent and silent killers of the seas back to our daily lives: the sea mines. The first floating mine near Istanbul was spotted on 26 March 2022 by a merchant ship at anchor near the northern entrance of Bosphorus... Continue Reading →
A Week of Reflection on the Pivotal Naval Moments of 2023: Day 4
The Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrated again that nations need to invest regularly in their navies. It is not cheap or simple to build and maintain a navy and keep it up-to-date against contemporary threads. Today we are going to briefly examine the new warship construction or acquisition projects of the Black Sea countries. For... Continue Reading →
A Week of Reflection on the Pivotal Naval Moments of 2023: Day 3
Yesterday, when I was writing about the lessons to be learned from the war in the Black Sea, I did not mention the use of expandable USV in detail, as I intend to do that today. Ukraine faced a formidable challenge in reshaping the maritime dynamics of the Black Sea conflict. Illustrating its ability to... Continue Reading →
A Week of Reflection on the Pivotal Naval Moments of 2023: Day 2
The maritime theatre of the conflict in the Black Sea region unfolds as a captivating saga of strategic manoeuvres, asymmetric responses, and lessons in the resilience of nations. This was my thought in the early months of 2023 about the war in the Black Sea: In the first few weeks of the invasion, the Russian... Continue Reading →
A Week of Reflection on the Pivotal Naval Moments of 2023: Day 1
Embark on a journey with me as we set sail through the tumultuous tides of 2023. In this week-long blog series, I will try exploring the significant naval developments that shaped the maritime landscape from my point of view. For me, one of the naval highlights 2023 was the test firing of the Akya heavy-weight... Continue Reading →
A Closer Look To The Barbaros MLU Project
Let us take a closer look at the Barbaros mid-life modernisation program as the first ship to undergo this modernisation, TCG Oruçreis, started her sea trials this week. First, focus on the external changes: 1. The Sea Zenith turrets are gone. The two aft turrets, on both sides of the hangar are replaced with the... Continue Reading →
