Unearthing the Hidden Gems of Haliç Shipyard

My first encounter with the Haliç Shipyard was in 1978 when I was assigned as the 3rd Engineer while waiting for the Malazgirt coaster to be launched (ship waiting). I was soon assigned to the Meriç ship. Years later, I made a few more visits for work reasons, but during my last visit this year, I had the chance to thoroughly tour the shipyard with the permission of my dear brother, Deputy Director of the Shipyard, Engineer Yağız Yekin Azizler. We were guided by Master Engin Bayraktar. While providing information about the dock covers, Master Engin pointed out the filling and emptying channels of the covers. He explained that when water is taken into the dock and reaches sea level, they press air into the cover, and the air-filled cover becomes lighter, allowing it to be moved aside for the ship to enter. After the ship enters, they place the cover back in position and drain the water from the dock through the channels inside, starting the repair by resting the ship on the skids in the dock. He asked if we wanted to see the center where this operation is carried out. I immediately accepted.

In this way, I had the opportunity to learn about the pumping station, which very few people get to see, and its history. I had the chance to meet the pumping station chief, Zafer Terzi, and I was very happy. It was a separate pleasure for me to learn that Master Engin and Master Zafer graduated from the vocational high school at the Haliç Shipyard. Of course, in the meantime, I solved the mystery of the rising chimney at the Haliç Shipyard.

The black pumps in the back are steam-powered pumps. They started to be used in the 18th century and were decommissioned in 1930. Steam was required for the old steam pumps. To obtain steam, a boiler is needed, and coal is required to burn the boiler. The rising chimney at the Haliç Shipyard is manufactured as the chimney for this boiler. Until 1930, it served as a chimney for the coal boiler. Then it lost its function but continued to rise.

What you see here is also the most interesting and beautiful part of our story. The cover compressor, which is a GL (General Electric) brand from the 1930s, is still operational with parts made by Master Zafer, even though there are no spare parts available. This is a miracle. It is the best example of loving one's work, knowing one's work, and having work ethics. Technicians from GL wanted to take the electrical panel to a museum in America, but they did not give it. Because it belongs to this shipyard.

Such a value must be preserved and approached rationally to be passed on to future generations. This shipyard must operate, and industry and museology should be exhibited side by side. The stone docks should continue to dock ships; one of the greatest legacies from the Ottoman era should be kept alive.

The story of this place should continue as the stories of all Haliç Shipyards. This is the last memory bank we have related to maritime and shipbuilding. D.B. Deniz Yolları no longer exists, nor does its museum. D.B. Deniz Nakliyatı no longer exists, nor does its archive and past.

If this place goes away in one way or another, it will be a great loss. I believe that intelligent nations must have a past to tell and show if they want to raise intelligent generations. Otherwise, it is easiest to tear down and build anew. I think there has been enough destruction in this country.

HISTORY OF HALİÇ SHIPYARD AND DRY DOCKS The Haliç Shipyard is one of the surviving sections of the Ottoman Empire's 'naval base,' Tersâne-i Âmire. Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror decided that Haliç, which was the center of Ottoman shipping and trade, was suitable for shipyard construction and assigned Captain Derya Hamza Pasha; thus, in 1455, the first shipyard was established, consisting of a few bays and a mosque, laying the foundations of Tersâne-i Âmire. During the reign of Selim I, the boundaries of Tersâne-i Âmire, which was planned to be developed into a 300-bay facility, expanded from Galata to Kasımpaşa with new additions in 1515.

Over the years, Tersâne-i Âmire continued to grow; it gradually transformed into a large maritime complex that included various building groups such as ship bays, docks, skids, barracks, divanhaneler, mosques and prayer rooms, dungeons, cellars, factories, workshops, pavilions, gates, piers, and schools. In the 16th century, the shipyards within the borders of the Ottoman Empire were administratively connected to Tersâne-i Âmire; this shipyard was of great importance for the Ottoman Empire, which became a significant naval power in this century, to establish a strong fleet and maintain its dominance at sea. Generally, the shipyard built oared and sailing vessels, while the construction of steam-powered ships began in the 19th century. In 1913, Tersâne-i Âmire was divided into three parts: Taşkızak Shipyard, Camialtı Shipyard, and Haliç Shipyard; all three shipyards have managed to survive to this day. The only active shipyard among them, Haliç Shipyard, is located between the Kasımpaşa Stream and the Atatürk Bridge; it consists of 3 docks, 2 skids, workshops, and administrative buildings.

From the late 18th century and early 19th century onwards, under the leadership of Sultan Mahmud II, the Ottoman Empire, which underwent profound changes in state bureaucracy, science, technology, and social life and experienced a westernization process, also saw significant reforms in its Naval Forces. One of the reforms was the construction of dry docks at the Haliç Shipyard.

In the historically significant Haliç Shipyard, there are currently three dry docks built in the 18th and 19th centuries, named sequentially as 1, 2, and 3, which are still used for the maintenance, repair, and docking of passenger and car ferries.

Dry Dock No. 1: 125 meters long, 22.5 meters wide, 11 meters deep Dry Dock No. 2: 82 meters long, 19 meters wide, 10 meters deep Dry Dock No. 3: 154 meters long, 19 meters wide, 10 meters deep

In the late 18th century, it was decided to construct a dry dock for ship maintenance at the Haliç Shipyard, and offers were received from French and Swedish engineers located in Istanbul. The engineers prepared reports explaining their dry dock projects and construction techniques and presented them to the Ottoman authorities. French engineers proposing the system applied by Gorignard in Toulon between 1774-1777 stated that they would clean the dry dock site with a rake, break the rocks and stones that might be encountered underwater to level the ground, and build the dry dock inside a large wooden caisson. In the system applied by Gorignard, stones and water were filled into a wooden caisson measuring 100x30x11 meters, which was submerged, and after the water was drained, the dry dock was constructed inside the caisson. After the construction was completed, water leaking from cracks in the dry dock walls was prevented by pouring pozzolanic concrete underwater as a result of various interventions.

Swedish engineers, on the other hand, stated that they would drive sheet piles on the sea side and continuously drain the water, conducting earthworks and construction within the dry construction pit.

Regarding the construction of the dry dock at Haliç Shipyard, the opinions of the technicians were that the Swedish technique was more suitable. Thus, the tender was awarded to the Swedish engineers. The fact that the implementation cost of the French dry dock project was approximately twice that of the Swedish project also played a significant role in awarding the tender to the Swedish engineers.

Under the leadership of Swedish chief engineer A. E. Rhode, Swedish engineers opened inspection wells measuring 18x18x10.5 meters, where water could be drained, and identified the exact location where the dry dock could be constructed. Thus, the team formed by Swedish engineers and technicians under Chief Engineer A. E. Rhode and Ottoman technicians began construction in 1796.

During the construction works, while the front of the dry dock site was being cleaned with a rake at the Haliç Shipyard, wooden sheet piles were driven into the shore to prevent seawater from filling the construction pit. The dry dock construction site was excavated to dimensions of 37.5 x 75.0 meters and a depth of 10.50 meters, while water was continuously drained, and the construction was carried out in the dry construction pit supported by braces.

In the construction of the dry dock built as masonry, blue Devonian limestones extracted from the quarries in the Bosphorus were used, and a pozzolanic mortar, which has the property of hardening underwater and is a mixture of volcanic ash and lime brought from Italy, was applied in the stone laying. The dock floor was formed with a thickness of 0.75 meters and was covered with stone. The side walls of the dry dock, constructed in a stepped manner inward, were completed in 1799.

The Ottoman Empire rewarded the shipyard engineer Rhode, ship engineer F.L. Klintberg, and Swedish and Ottoman technicians who carried out the dry dock construction.

Dry Dock No. 3, which was repaired from time to time, was extended landward by Vasil Kalfa between 1874-1876 due to the increasing size of ships in the 19th century, resulting in the need for larger dry docks.

In line with the developing needs in the 19th century; following the example of the construction of Dry Dock No. 3, the constructions of Dry Docks No. 2 and No. 1 were also carried out at Haliç Shipyard. Dry Docks No. 2 and No. 1 were constructed by the same people who worked on the construction of Dry Dock No. 3 and also utilized the construction records of this dock. Construction of Dry Dock No. 2 began in 1821 by Chief Engineer Ali Bey and a knowledgeable person who had also worked on the first dry dock construction, Manol Kalfa. In 1822, Ali Bey was replaced by Abdülhalim Efendi, the 3rd Caliph of the Engineering School (I.T.Ü.), who was appointed as the head of the construction. The construction of Dry Dock No. 2 was completed in 1825 in a dry construction pit created by driving wooden sheet piles along the shoreline and continuously draining the water. A scaled model of the dry dock was also prepared by Abdülhalim Efendi.

Dry Dock No. 1: 125 meters long, 22.5 meters wide, 11 meters deep Dry Dock No. 1 Constructed in the 19th Century (1857-1870):

The construction of Dry Dock No. 1, which was interrupted between 1861-1869 and completed in 1870, also utilized the techniques applied in the construction of Dry Docks No. 3 and No. 2.

The inscription on the gravestone in the shipyard reads: 'I was once Suleiman, I ruled against the winds, Do not think I was Sultan Suleiman, I was the bellows worker Suleiman at the shipyard!'

Source: SeaNews Türkiye