Lütf-ü Hümayun (1892)

Ottoman Navy: Unprotected cruiser (commissioned 1896)

Lütf-ü Hümayun, also orthographed “Lufti Humayun” in western publications, is probably the worst case of shipbuilding failure in the entire Turkish Naval construction. It also reflected on the sorry state of the Ottoman Navy at the eve of the 1897 war with Greece. And the cruiser here, despite being commissioned a year before, was never deployed, staying at berth for training… Lütf-ü Hümayun was an unprotected cruiser of the Ottoman Navy, ordered in 1880, started in 1882 at Tersâne-i Âmire, Istanbul, buy only launched on 16 August 1892, trialled in July 1896 and commissioned in October but used as a stationary training ship. In 1905, she was dismantled with plans to rebuild her by Ansaldo but this went nowhere, and she was decommissioned in 1908, sold for BU in November 1909. So technically she was no longer around in 1914. A superb demonstration of a complete shipbuilding failure.

Development

In 1880, the Turkish Ottoman Navy was a fleet of ironclads in various state of degradation. In 1878 indeed, after the 1877 war with Russia when they mostly failed to do any impression, most of them were just mothballed for two decades. No maintenance was performed, crews were part-time conscripts only gathered for parades and when a periodic assessment was needed. Meanwhile, the hull fouled rapidly, and rust settled everywhere. But in 1879 the Turkish Ottoman admiralty was also acutely aware that having only ironclads was not sufficient, notably to deal with a new generation of torpedo boats that the Russian Black Sea fleet started to procure. For this, cruisers were needed.

Design of the class

Hull and general design

Lutf-ü Hümayun was 64 metres long, 9.1 metres wide and had a draft of 3.9 metres (or 210 ft long, 30 ft wide with a draft of 13 ft). She displaced 1,313 tons and was built with a composite of iron and wood. She was a scaled-down version of the design of her half-sister Heibetnuma, which saw action. She had a single funnel.

Powerplant

Lutf-ü Hümayun was powered by a single vertical triple expansion steam engine (VTE) each having three cylinders but with a single 4-bladed (likely) bronze screw. The engine was from the company Tersane-i Amire, and they were fed by likely four coal-fired boilers. Together they produced 2,160 ihp. (1,610 kW), enough for a maximum designed speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). However, she reached 12 knots on her sea trials, which was quite slow for a cruiser and more appropriate for a gunboat. She also had a coal capacity of 205 tons for an unknown range, perhaps around 1000 nautical miles. She had a failing rig as well.

Armament

Lutf-ü Hümayun originally was armed with typical guns of the late 1870s and early 1880s, four 170 mm L/25 QF Krupp guns, six 120 mm L/25 QF Krupp guns, four 47 mm QF Hotchkiss guns, six machine guns and two 450 mm torpedo tubes. However, given their abysmally long construction time, this was near obsolete by 1896, so it was changed to three 170 mm L/25 QF Krupp guns forward, six 120 mm L/25 QF Krupp guns, six 47 mm QF Hotchkiss guns and two 450 mm torpedo tubes on sponsons amidships, which was still old-fashioned, but in 1899 it was changed again to two 150 mm L/40 QF Krupp guns, two 120 mm L/25 QF Krupp guns, four 37 mm QF guns, two 450 mm torpedo tubes. However, by 1905 her artillery was dismantled and sent to fortified positions, they were seen in action at Gallipoli notably in 1915.

Fate of the Cruiser

Lutf-ü Hümayun had been ordered in 1880, started when funding was approved in 1882, at Tersâne-i Âmire. Exact date is unknown. What is painfully obvious was the duration of her construction: She was launched only on 16 August 1892, after ten years of construction, four years of outfitting. Then sea trials commenced in July 1896. She entered service in October 1896 and spent her career as a stationary training ship, in Istanbul. In 1905, guns, machinery and masts were dismantled. Ansaldo was contacted to modernize her in Istanbul, but this never happened. Instead, she was decommissioned in 1908 to free crews for new ships, and mothballed until sold as scrap for dismantling in November 1909. This lasted until 1921.

This composite-hulled cruiser, laid down in 1882 and completed in 1894, was a reduced version of Heybetnüma, and was wood-sheathed and had one funnel. She was armed with 17cm/25 Krupp BLs fore and aft and 12cm/25 Krupp BLs in sponsons amidships. Designed armament included 4 17cm/25 and 6 12cm/25 Krupp BLs. Modernized in 1899 her three 173mm/22 Krupp, six 120mm/22, six 47mm/37 Hotchkiss, were replaced by two 149mm/37 SK L/40 C/97 Krupp guns, two 120mm/37 SK L/40 C/97 Krupp, and four 37mm/37 SK L/40 C/91, also Krupp. She was commissioned as stationary training vessel from the start given her sub-par speed and many obsolete features, and for training gunners with her armament, and machinists. But she wads completely stripped down eventually, her armament sent in fortified positions as said above, the masts and machinery landed in 1905. She remained in the mothballs until stricken in 1908.

Turkish Source: Construction of the ship, ordered in 1880, began at the Imperial Shipyard (Tersane-i Amire) in 1882. Following a ten-year construction period, the ship was launched on August 16, 1892; after four years of fitting out, sea trials were conducted in July 1896. It entered service in October 1896. The ship spent its career in Istanbul as a stationary training vessel. In 1905, its armament, machinery, and masts were removed. Although Ansaldo planned to rebuild the ship in Istanbul, this did not materialize. It was decommissioned in 1908 and sold for scrap in November 1909; its dismantling continued until 1921.

Read More/Src

Books

Büyüktuğrul, Afif (1974). Osmanlı Deniz Harp Tarihi (PDF). Genelkurmay Başkanlığı Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı.
Gardiner, Robert (1985). Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press.
Langensiepen, Bernd; Güleryüz, Ahmet (1995). The Ottoman Steam Navy 1828–1923. London: Conway Maritime Press.

Links

Osmanli Deniz Harp Tarihi 1974, on the Ottoman Navy History
tr.wikipedia.org
Navypedia Turkish Cruisers
navypedia.org lutfu_humayun
en.wikipedia.org