Turkish raid on Odessa

On the morning of 3 April 1915 the Turkish cruiser Mecidiye struck a Russian mine a dozen or so miles from Odessa and settled on the bottom. Together with the cruiser Hamidiye and four torpedo boats she was to have shelled the port, where according to Turkish intelligence Russian transports were gathering. The same day the battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim, formerly Goeben, and the cruiser Midilli, formerly Breslau, which were covering the raid, clashed with the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The long-range exchange of fire was indecisive.

A reply to the shelling of the Bosporus

At the end of March Russian battleships shelled the Bosporus forts for the first time. The commander of the Ottoman fleet, the German admiral Wilhelm Souchon, decided to reply with a strike on Odessa. Reports were reaching Constantinople that the Russians were assembling ships and troops there for a landing on the Bosporus. The two old cruisers, with torpedo boats adapted for minesweeping, were to destroy as many ships in the port as possible and damage the quays. The squadron was commanded by a German officer, Büchsel. At the same time Goeben and Breslau were to show themselves off Sevastopol, hunt Russian ships and draw off the attention of the Black Sea Fleet. The ships left the Bosporus on 1 April.

The mine off Odessa

In the night of 2–3 April, from Good Friday to Holy Saturday, Büchsel’s squadron approached Odessa. In 1915 Easter fell on 4 April by both calendars. According to the Russian chronicle of fleet operations, at about 6.40 a.m. Mecidiye, following the sweeping torpedo boats, struck a mine from the field guarding the approaches to the port. The explosion tore open the port side in the area of the forward boiler room. The cruiser began to sink by the bow, and when her commander steered her into the shallows she settled on the bottom in about 10–12 metres of water. Her funnels, masts and bridge remained above the water. Twenty-six sailors were killed (some Russian sources give about 30). The rest of the crew were taken off by Hamidiye and the torpedo boats.

The Turks did not want to leave the ship to the Russians. The torpedo boat Yadigar-ı Millet fired a torpedo into the wreck, but because of the shallow depth failed to destroy it. Sources differ on the times: according to some the mine exploded early in the morning and the torpedo struck an hour later, according to others it all went on until the afternoon. After the loss of Mecidiye the raid was broken off and the remaining ships turned back to the Bosporus.

Goeben off Sevastopol

That morning Goeben and Breslau appeared near Sevastopol. Off the Crimea they sank two Russian steamers carrying sugar, Vostochnaya Zvezda and Provident. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Andrei Eberhardt, led out of Sevastopol five battleships with the flagship Evstafi, two cruisers and destroyers. Breslau tried to drive off the Russian destroyers that were shadowing the enemy. Goeben opened fire on the cruiser Pamiat Merkuria from a range of about 24 kilometres, but her shells fell short. When the Russian battleships came into view, Souchon turned away to the south. The battleship Panteleimon fired a few rounds at Breslau, which also made off at full speed.

The Russians chased the Germans until dusk, according to the British official history for about five hours, but the faster Goeben kept out of range of their guns. During the night Russian destroyers went out to search for the enemy and one of them fired torpedoes, but all missed. On the morning of 4 April both ships returned to the Bosporus. Only on the way back did Eberhardt learn of the sinking of Mecidiye.

Prut

The wreck lay in shallow water not far from a Russian port, so the Russians quickly set about raising it. At the beginning of June 1915 the cruiser was brought to the surface and towed to Odessa. According to Russian sources a Turkish signal book and radiotelegram forms were found on board, which helped to read Turkish messages. After repairs and rearmament the ship joined the Black Sea Fleet as Prut. The name was chosen in memory of the minelayer that her crew had scuttled on 29 October 1914, when Goeben attacked Sevastopol. After the Germans occupied Sevastopol in May 1918 the cruiser was returned to the Turks and served under her old name until 1947.

The raid on Odessa brought the Turks no benefit. According to the British official history, however, it increased fears in Constantinople of a Russian landing on the Bosporus. For the Russians something else proved more important: after the chase of 3 April Eberhardt reported to the Allies that Goeben could still steam at 26 knots. In this situation, carrying a landing corps across the sea under the cover of old battleships seemed too risky.