Battlecruiser

Blohm & Voss GmbH
Hamburg, Germany

N/A

N/A

July 2, 1912

December 7, 1909

1954 (Turkey)

March 28, 1911

June 7, 1963 (Turkey)

Scrapped beginning in 1973, completed in 1976.

611' 8"

4 Parsons geared steam turbines

96' 7"

24 Schulz Thornycroft (coal fired)

30' 1"

4

22,616 std. / 24,999 full

70,000 (forced on trials 85,661)

27 knots (forced on trials 28 knots)

1,053

N/A

10

11"/50 (280mm)

5 twin turrets

23,730 yards @ 22.5° (13.4 miles)
666 lb. AP shell
Rate of fire 3 RPM

12

5.9"/45 (150mm)

single mounts
(casemates)

19,250 yards @ 30° (10.9 miles)
99.8 lb. HE shell
Rate of fire 5-7 RPM

12

3.46"/35 (88mm)

single mounts

12,030 yards (6.8 miles)
22 lb. HE shell
Rate of fire 6 RPM

4

19.7" (500mm)
torpedo tubes

all submerged

G-7 torpedoes
4,370 yards @ 37 knots (2.4 miles)
10,170 yards @ 27 knots (5.2 miles)
430 lb. Hexanite warhead

Fleet exercises.

Assigned to the Mediterranean Division.

Exercises in the Mediterranean.

Under repair at Pola, completed on Oct. 16, 1913.

Exercises in the Adriatic.

Under repair at Pola, completed July 27.

Coaling at Messina, Italy when Italy declared it's neutrality. Goeben and SMS Breslau
sailed under the overall command of Rear Admiral Wilhelm Anton Souchon to intercept
the repatriation of French troops from North Africa.

Bombarded the port Philippeville, Algeria (Breslau bombarded Bone), after which he
receives orders from Admiral von Tirpitz to head for Constantinople, Turkey. While en route
to refuel in Messina HMS Indomitable and HMS Indefatigable located the two German ships,
but at this time Britain was not at war with Germany so the British ships were ordered to
shadow the two German ships. War was declared later in the day, but by then the German
ships had outrun the British. They arrived in Messina on the 5th. but as was was declared
on the 4th the German ships were now considered belligerents and were allowed only 24
hours at a neutral port. Italy also refused to coal the ships and Souchon was forced to
have coal removed from German merchant ships that were in port.

Departed Messina for Turkey.

HMS Gloucester attempted to engage Goeben in the Straits of Messina by firing on Breslau
in an attempt to make Goeben slow down and assist Breslau, however this failed and both
ships continued without further action. Gloucester broke off the chase near Cape Matapan
as she could not keep up with the German ships.

Refueled off Denusa Island, Greece.

Arrived off Constantinople, Turkey, but the ships were denied access to the Turkish port
until given permission by Ismail Enver (AKA Enver Pasha), the Minister of War on Aug. 12.
This action ultimately led Turkey into war with Russia.

Sold to Turkey and renamed TCG Yavuz Sultan Selim.
(It appears this "sale" was in name only, the ship retained it's German crew and
continued to operate under German orders.)

Rear Admiral Souchon is named Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman Navy.

Souchon and a squadron of ship including Goeben and Breslau (now named Midilli) sorted
into the Black Sea and bombarded the Crimean ports of Sevastopol, Odessa and Theodosia.
Goeben is hit 3 times by coastal batteries. While returning to Turkey engaged four Russian
ships, 3 destroyers and the minelayer Prut. The destroyer Leitenant Pushchin was badly
damaged and Prut had to be scuttled. Goeben received no damage from the battle.

Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire.

Britain declares war on the Ottoman Empire.

Battle of Cape Sarych, engaged in battle with the Russian battleships Rostislav,
Tri Sviatitelia, Pantelimon and Evstafi. Goeben is hit by one 12" shell in the #3 port
casemate, 13 of her crew are killed and 3 are wounded. Evstafi received four hits from
Goeben.

Hit two mines while entering the Bosporus (Istanbul Strait), one mine on port side and
one on the starboard side. Under repair until late March 1915.

Sank two Russian merchant ship during a mission in the Black Sea.

Engaged Russian battleships Evstafi and Ioann Zlatoust in the Bosporus, Goeben received
2 or 3 hits from 12" shells while scoring no hits on the Russian ships.

Attacked by Russian submarine Morz, received no hits.

Engaged Russian battleship Imperatrica Ekaterina II. Apparently no hits were scored by
either side.

Surprised by Russian ships near the Bosporus, Goeben escaped due to her superior speed
and errors made by the Russians.

Hit a mine while en route to attack British troop transports in the Mediterranean. Goeben
and SMS Breslau (TCG Midilli) were attacked by HMS M-28 and HMS Raglan off Imbros
(Gökçeada) Island, Turkey in the Aegean Sea. Both M-28 and Raglan were sunk. Following
this battle the operation was cancelled, but returning to base Breslau hit five mines and
sank. Goeben hit two mines and was attacked by RAF aircraft, she was finally grounded
to avoid sinking in the Dardanelles narrows. She was attacked several more times by the
RAF until she was refloated on Jan. 26.

Arrived at Sevastopol for drydocking and repairs.

Arrived at Novorossijsk, Russia for further repairs.

Officially handed over to Turkey.

Out of service, moored at Izmir, Turkey.

Modernized and repaired by Chantiers & Ateliers de St Nazaire (Penhoet) at Izmir. A
floating drydock was specially constructed by Flenderwerke, Lübeck, Germany and taken
to the site in Izmir for the repairs as there was no drydock there large enough to accommodate a ship of that size.

Renamed TCG Yavuz.

Carried the body of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey and
Turkey's first President, from Istanbul to Izmit for burial.

Modernized.

Immobile training ship moored at Izmir.

Decommissioned.

Removed from the navy list. The German government attempted to purchase the ex-Goeben
but Turkey refused to sell the ship.

Ship is offered for sale, but this time German declines to purchase it.

The longest serving battlecruiser in history and the last one of her kind was scrapped.