SMS Emden

jwintjes wrote:

kapudan_emir_effendi wrote: The Turkish co-author Ahmet Güleryüz is the president of Turkish Ship Modelers Association and one of the leading graphic artists of our country. He's a very kind, amicable old gentleman. I worked with him in 2003 for his ambitious, bilingual book named "Galleys and Galleons in Ottoman seas". This work also includes the ottoman state issued shipwright's manual "mikyas-ı sefain" (measurement of ships) from 1831, transcribed and adapted into modern Turkish (and summerised to english also) for the first time. you can see the book here: For Yavuz, here is the only website devoted to him, made by my friend Aziz Evliyaoğlu from Ankara. The site is bilingual. Enjoy it http://battlecruiseryavuz.hypermart.net/ All my best Kapudan, lovely site - what a pity she wasn't preserved. The book you mention looks very interesting, too; do you happen to know how well it is illustrated? Jorit

Hello Jorit,

Mr Güleryüz is a very fine illustrator with a long career in marketing sector but he's not a professional draughtsman. However, I think he did quite well in the book; he has drawn many ships in color and he included as much draughts as he can. He's not a scholar and the text of the book immediately shows this reality but the basic text is more or less sound and renders the work very handy for a non-professional introduction to the subject. I think it deserves the price.

As you mentioned, the scrapping of Yavuz is the one of the most bitter sores in the heart of every history conscious Turk. I think this fateful decision was mainly caused by two factors: official state ideology and the traumatic view of military to Yavuz. Official state ideology of Turkish republic, until very recently, was set to furiously deny any evidence of continuity between the ottoman empire and the new republic. There was an incredible lack of official interest and widespread neglect towards what was left of the Ottoman empire, unless it carried a touristic value (like topkapı palace). As you know, preserving a battleship requires a vast amount of money that can only be subsided by governement. The military may have intervened but , as I listened the ideas of old admirals and officers about Yavuz myself, with the pathologic view to the ship on behalf of military, it was not possible. at the time Yavuz was decomissioned and disarmed, most of the top rank military officers were veterans of first world war. To them Yavuz was the symbol of the most disastrous 10 years of their life, the "guilty" of their empire's death. Their trauma was understandable: we have to remember that Ottoman empire was a world power, albeit of second rank, until 1918 while the republic they helped to establish and served for most of their careers was only a regional power. For them, Yavuz was a constant reminder of this period they always tried to forget. So, with a total lack of effort to save the ship, she went to her most undeserved fate.

İronic it is, the paradigm shifts we are experiencing turned whole things alot different. With liberal world system's final demise started; the classical notion of nation state started to change its context and an unstoppable trend towards "glocalisation" in every corner of the world, there came a sudden "regaining of memory" here in Turkey. The Turkish history, taught to the people in a most shallow and fraudulent way; is now being taken as a serious discipline by the public even. There is a boom in publication sector and the bestsellers are mostly history books. National rememberence days, reduced to parodical shows of hypocritic jingoism for so long, and thus started to appear repulsive even to the most sincere nationalists and patriots; are now being embraced with an incomparative sincerety both by the general public and by the more elite circles of society. Turks are making peace with their past and remembering their ancestors. So rises an "ottomanomania", everything, down to the ephemera such as bills, certificates etc. from ottoman times are being sought crazily. This rebirth of interest saved the last remaining ottoman warship, minelayer Nusrat from scrapyard and restored her former glory. You have to see the military museum and the naval museum in İstanbul. The latter is transformed from a dusty dumping depot of old damaged models and nauticalia visited by no more than 4-5 people even on holidays, to a world class museum with magnificent exhibitions in previously unused halls teeming with visitors whenever it is open. I'm very happy of all that is going around, for I know that no nation can think and act with reason by having such an unhealty relationship with its past.

All my best

MBT70 wrote:

Fulda ... I've put it on plenty of battle plans.  That was where we always expected the Warsaw Pact to make their main thrust when WW III would begin.  I'm so glad we stood firm and it never happened ... I'll bet you are, too.

Indeed. Seeing your name appear in the files of the GDR Staatssicherheit makes that painfully obvious; I'm still wearing the badge on my jacket.

Jorit

Fulda ... I've put it on plenty of battle plans.  That was where we always expected the Warsaw Pact to make their main thrust when WW III would begin.  I'm so glad we stood firm and it never happened ... I'll bet you are, too.  I guess the 11th Cav is at Fort Irwin in the Mojave desert now.

And Kapudan ... I agreee with jwintjes ... it's unfortunate that Yavuz wasn't preserved for posterity, espicially after surviving for so many years after it's contemporaries.  We have the USS Texas preserved from that time, but a WW I Battlecruiser would be rare indeed. 

kapudan_emir_effendi wrote:

The Turkish co-author Ahmet Güleryüz is the president of Turkish Ship Modelers Association and one of the leading graphic artists of our country. He's a very kind, amicable old gentleman. I worked with him in 2003 for his ambitious, bilingual book named "Galleys and Galleons in Ottoman seas". This work also includes the ottoman state issued shipwright's manual "mikyas-ı sefain" (measurement of ships) from 1831, transcribed and adapted into modern Turkish (and summerised to english also) for the first time. you can see the book here: For Yavuz, here is the only website devoted to him, made by my friend Aziz Evliyaoğlu from Ankara. The site is bilingual. Enjoy it http://battlecruiseryavuz.hypermart.net/ All my best

Kapudan,

lovely site - what a pity she wasn't preserved. The book you mention looks very interesting, too; do you happen to know how well it is illustrated?

Jorit

MBT70 wrote:

And Jorit ... I used to live in Frankfurt am Main ... three years with 3rd Armor Division, sister to 5th Panzer.  I loved the country and it's people.

I grew up in Fulda, home of the Blackhorse; lots of fond memories. Sadly they left in 1994. Parts of the 1st Infantry are currently stationed here in Würzburg.

Jorit

Great link, Kapudan, my thanks.  I'll spend some time looking that site over.  And Jorit ... I used to live in Frankfurt am Main ... three years with 3rd Armor Division, sister to 5th Panzer.  I loved the country and it's people. 

What a cool website this is ... good friends from all over the world.

jwintjes wrote:

MBT70 wrote: Kapudan, A good starting place is modelwarships.com.  They have links to a lot of dealers and maufacturers who may have the the right item for you.  By the way ... did you ever get to see Yavuz, the battleship that used to be the German Goeben?  I understand it was scrapped in 1974, but it's hard to find good photos of it here in the West.  A book with some interesting photos is Mäkelä's "Auf den Spuren der Goeben", which centers on her WW1 exploits, but also has some pictures of her being broken up. Another handy publication on the Ottoman Navy (I'm sure Kapudan will point as to a standard work of reference) is "Ottoman Steam Navy", which has a little bit on the Yavuz as well. Jorit

The Deans marine kit is an extremely good deal for its price. İt will do my work, thank you very much Jorit. İndeed, the book Ottoman Steam Navy is a wonderful reference, the definite work about the Ottoman navy in the age of steam, armor and shell gun. The Turkish co-author Ahmet Güleryüz is the president of Turkish Ship Modelers Association and one of the leading graphic artists of our country. He's a very kind, amicable old gentleman. I worked with him in 2003 for his ambitious, bilingual book named "Galleys and Galleons in Ottoman seas". This work also includes the ottoman state issued shipwright's manual "mikyas-ı sefain" (measurement of ships) from 1831, transcribed and adapted into modern Turkish (and summerised to english also) for the first time. you can see the book here:

http://www.denizlerkitabevi.com/magaza/?otr=e329a4cdb3953a017e334b449634c45a&is=203&ist=fbfa30d7303389686b827b70687e3111&sn=10766&taze=4434384459342

For Yavuz, here is the only website devoted to him, made by my friend Aziz Evliyaoğlu from Ankara. The site is bilingual. Enjoy it

http://battlecruiseryavuz.hypermart.net/

All my best

Currently in Würzburg, that's in the North of Bavaria, about 100km SE of Frankfurt.

Jorit

Thanks Jorit.  I'll check it out.  BTW - Where are you located?

MBT70 wrote:

Kapudan, A good starting place is modelwarships.com.  They have links to a lot of dealers and maufacturers who may have the the right item for you.  By the way ... did you ever get to see Yavuz, the battleship that used to be the German Goeben?  I understand it was scrapped in 1974, but it's hard to find good photos of it here in the West.

A book with some interesting photos is Mäkelä's "Auf den Spuren der Goeben", which centers on her WW1 exploits, but also has some pictures of her being broken up. Another handy publication on the Ottoman Navy (I'm sure Kapudan will point as to a standard work of reference) is "Ottoman Steam Navy", which has a little bit on the Yavuz as well.

Jorit

This for once is rather easy to answer  - there is a supposedly very good kit by Deans Marine in 1/96:

http://www.deansmarine.co.uk/Productpage/emden.htm

Deans Marine will probably sell you a hull alone.

Another high-quality producer is MZ-Modellbau of Germany; they sell kits, semi-kits and a huge range of fittings. For anyone scratchbuilding 1/100 Hochseeflotte ships I always suggest taking a deep look at their range. Their Emden is 1/100:

http://www.mz-modellbau.net/core/bausaetze/emden.html

On the whole the MZ kit is said to be the more detailed one, but it's also very expensive at over 1000,- Euros. The Deans kit comes in at around 230,- GBP ex-VAT.

Depending on how long you want to work on the model, it might be a good idea to get the Deans kit and upgrade it with MZ parts where desirable..

Jorit

Kapudan,

A good starting place is modelwarships.com.  They have links to a lot of dealers and maufacturers who may have the the right item for you.  By the way ... did you ever get to see Yavuz, the battleship that used to be the German Goeben?  I understand it was scrapped in 1974, but it's hard to find good photos of it here in the West.