The Memory of the Dumlupınar Submarine at 90 Meters Depth and the Republic of Turkey
"...Every day, just as I addressed you in the signals I sent to the Command of Dumlupınar, with the same genuine and sincere expression, but this time for the last time, on behalf of all my friends in the fleet, on behalf of my colleagues in the Navy, I bid you farewell. Dumlupınar, rest in peace... Rest in peace and trust in the loyal heart of your nation for the bitterness of your fate that you inscribed in the immortal pages of history like the glorious and honorable ancestors who lie in this sea, surrounded by those mountains, rocks, and shores... This homeland, this country, and this profession will one day give life to you again under your name. Your spirit will undoubtedly take the place of the sentinel in your nation's struggle for life and independence with a new Dumlupınar one day. While you wait for eternity beneath the seas you have descended and ascended hundreds and thousands of times, you will live forever in the heart of your noble nation."
At a sorrowful ceremony held on April 7, 1953, at 1500 hours on the deck of the TCG Başaran Repair Ship off Nara, Rear Admiral Fahri Korutürk, Commander of the Submarine Fleet, bid farewell to the 81 sailors of the Dumlupınar submarine, which lies at a depth of 90 meters in the Dardanelles, entrusting our martyrs and Dumlupınar to the Blue Homeland Watch that will last forever.
SUBMARINE, THE STRATEGIC WEAPON OF THE NAVY
Our TCG Dumlupınar submarine sank after colliding with the Swedish-flagged Naboland cargo ship while returning to Gölcük from an exercise in the Aegean Sea on the evening of April 4, 1953. It took its name from Dumlupınar, the site of the Great Commander’s Battle on August 30, 1922, which changed the fate of Turkey and the Turks. This glorious name was first used for our submarine acquired from Italy in 1931. Its other sibling was named Sakarya. Both were retired in 1949. Atatürk had chosen their names. Naming submarines after great victories served a purpose. Anatolia had been occupied due to lack of a navy. The newly established navy should not repeat the past and must represent the spirit of independence, that is, the struggle for freedom. The submarine fleet was the backbone of the Republic Navy. Victory names suited the backbone. After the proclamation of the Republic, despite budget constraints, rapid procurement of submarines began. For submarines, like today, utilized the mystery of the sea bottom. This was a strategic weapon.
THE LOVE OF SUBMARINES IN THE U.S. TOWARDS TURKEY
At the end of World War II, we were pushed to the side of the Atlantic system, and our independent security and foreign policies were adapted to new paradigms; independence took its first wound. With Marshall aid and the Truman Doctrine, surplus American weapons and equipment began to flow into the Turkish Armed Forces. Our submarine fleet received the largest share of this flow. The main reason the U.S. provided a significant number of relatively new submarines to Turkey was the Black Sea. Due to the Montreux Convention, foreign submarines, and thus American submarines, could not enter the Black Sea. The Turkish Naval Forces could only pose a risk or threat to the Soviet Navy in the Black Sea with submarine weaponry. Interestingly, while the U.S. provided its best diesel-electric submarines to the Turkish Navy, it did not give even one of the hundreds of aging cruisers that were decommissioned instead of the Yavuz. Between 1949 and 1983, a total of 23 submarines were transferred to the Turkish naval forces as aid from the U.S. Dumlupınar was the third submarine in this group. On December 19, 1950, together with TCG Çanakkale, the Turkish flag was raised in the U.S., and for the first time in history, Turkish submariners crossed the Atlantic Ocean alone.
Our submarine fleet experienced its first accident on July 14, 1942, when TCG Atılay hit a mine, resulting in the loss of 38 sailors. The loss of Dumlupınar on April 4, 1953, deeply wounded submariners after an 11-year gap. The ship sank after colliding with the Swedish-flagged Naboland due to a miscalculation by the ship's commander while returning from a NATO exercise called Blue Sea.
The incident unfolded as follows. On the night of April 3-4, as the Dumlupınar was rising northward from the Aegean towards the Marmara, Captain Sabri Çelebioğlu went up to the conning tower. The ship was approaching Nara Burnu. The command of the ship was in the hands of Lieutenant Hasan Yumuk, who was temporarily assigned to Dumlupınar. Hasan Yumuk saw the approaching Naboland cargo ship from the port bow (near the left side). The distance between them was about 4-5 miles. The Naboland, with a 5-mile current from the Dardanelles, was advancing like a raging giant towards a collision course with Dumlupınar. Both ships were approaching each other at a speed of 20 knots, or 10 meters per second. The starboard side of Dumlupınar was land, and the port side was the sea. However, giving a course to port was very risky since the ship's speed was low, and the current was strong. If the ship could have turned to port well before entering the collision course and exited the Naboland's path, this maneuver could have been safe. However, executing this maneuver was now very risky. The young Lieutenant, with a high level of knowledge, skill, and judgment, changed the course to starboard. Although there was land on the starboard side, he had caught an opportunity to maneuver the ship out of the Naboland's path. However, the ship's commander, who had just reached the conning tower and had not yet fully adapted to the situation, made a sudden decision and said, "The command is mine," ordering "hard to port" (sharp turn to the left) at full speed. His intention was to jump ahead of the Naboland. However, this was a very wrong decision. The ship soon went under the Naboland. It sank immediately. Only five people in the conning tower survived. Eight people fell into the sea. Two drowned due to the Naboland's propeller, and one drowned, becoming a martyr. Eighty-one people waited for hours at a depth of 90 meters for their oxygen to run out and lost their lives. Petty Officer Selami Özben was the owner of the last voice heard from the submarine. His last words were, "May the homeland be safe."
The tragic end of Dumlupınar and the words "May the homeland be safe" reported by Petty Officer Selami Özben through the underwater telephone further united submariners. In the summer of 1953, the number of those wishing to become submariners was incomparably greater than in the past. Submarining is difficult. It is entirely dependent on traditions and its founder, Atatürk. It requires a deep love for the homeland and the vast sea. For those who operate in a tiny steel tube, hundreds of meters beneath the sea, and whose lives depend on each other's attention, team and fleet spirit are essential.
The ship's commander is known as the "person after God" in universal maritime culture. For a warship is another world. It is state territory, and the ship's commander is a direct representative of state sovereignty. All material and spiritual existence of the ship is entrusted to him. He is responsible to the state for everything he does and does not do on the ship. In war and peace, the ship's commander either leads his ship's honor, existence, and lives it carries to safety or to death. The commander of Dumlupınar, with a hasty decision made in a few seconds, led 81 people to death during peacetime. He lost the ship entrusted to him. The faces of the 81 people he lost did not leave his mind until his last breath. The magnitude of the pain created in his conscience by the fact that this great loss occurred as a result of an accident in peacetime and, most importantly, a wrong decision is indescribable.
SHIP COMMAND AND STATESMANSHIP
Like everyone on the ship, all citizens of the state are affected by the wrong decisions made by the administration. The consequences are borne not only by the living generations but also by future generations. Written history is filled with disasters that states have been dragged into by sudden decisions. For example, Abdulhamid II destroyed the naval power of the vast Empire due to fear of a coup. As a result of this wrong decision, the Turks had to enter the 20th century, the most intense period of the industrial revolution, without a navy. Conversely, he could have made a different decision. The consequences could have prevented the ongoing issues in the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean, and Cyprus, which have persisted for over a hundred years. If the commander of Dumlupınar had accepted the different opinion of the young lieutenant in the conning tower, perhaps this tragedy would not have occurred. The presence of the officer corps is meant to help the ship's commander make the right decision. Being a sole decision-maker is a great responsibility. As long as he does not make mistakes, he may not be questioned as long as he brings security, prosperity, and happiness to society. However, if the results lead to disaster, is it enough for only him to pay the price? Can the lost ones be recovered? Statesmanship carries as much responsibility as ship command.
Sometimes, the trap of power can be as dangerous as ignorance, inexperience, and incompetence. The greatest weakness of a person is to fall into the trap of overconfidence. As a result, one falls into the trap of power. The weakest moment at sea is actually the moment when you trust yourself the most. Similar power traps have occurred in the lives of states as well. Examples such as Napoleon's disastrous Moscow Campaign; Enver Pasha's Sarıkamış Operation in World War I; the global hegemony adventures of Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese Emperor in World War II; Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal; and Argentine Dictator General Galtieri's decision to invade the islands during the Falklands Crisis are examples that led the state ship to collapse, weaken, and face disaster.
One minute before the accident that occurred at 0215 hours on April 4, if the ship's commander had not changed the decision of Lieutenant Hasan Yumuk on the starboard turn, I would not be writing this article today. Sole decision-making can lead a ship or state to victory or disaster, depending on the circumstances. Therefore, to prevent wrong decisions, there are assistant officers who come to the relevant position with merit, a wide hierarchy of controlling regulations from the constitution to regulations, but most importantly, customs and traditions on the ship. The same structure exists in the state. There are mechanisms of control and balance that the bureaucracy, legislative, executive, and judiciary, which should operate within the principle of separation of powers, must have. When these are eliminated, the risk of decisions leading the state to disaster far outweighs the possibility of success and victory. In this process, indecisive and inconsistent behaviors also increase the risk of failure. For example, in the Dumlupınar disaster, entering a narrow waterway (the Dardanelles) while failing to prepare the ship for navigation conditions in narrow waters (like closing watertight compartments to increase the ship's buoyancy) played a role as significant as the ship commander's last-minute wrong maneuver decision. Today, Turkey, which navigates under very difficult conditions in narrow waters, faces similar circumstances, albeit metaphorically. In a context where a significant provocation is being orchestrated in the Black Sea through Ukraine; where Greece, Romania, and Poland have turned into attack bases for the U.S.; where Germany is directly pressuring Russia through Ukraine to prevent the Nord Stream II project; and where Turkey is being forced to retreat in the TRNC and Blue Homeland, at least the highest level of internal solidarity, unity, and togetherness should be ensured, while the opposite is happening. The Turkish word, Atatürk, and the republic are under attack from every direction and at every level; after the closure of military hospitals and military schools, new divisive rules based on religious values, which should remain in the moral domain, are emerging against the traditions of the Army and Navy. Images of sectarian robes worn over the pristine white Admiral uniform of the Republic Navy resemble the Republic of Turkey ship navigating in narrow waters to the Dumlupınar on a collision course with the Naboland. The zigzags in foreign policy further complicate this process and seriously damage Turkey's reliability. For example, while there are S-400 purchases, nuclear reactor projects, Turkish Stream, and Astana processes with Russia on one hand, on the other hand, confronting it with our air and naval elements under the NATO umbrella with excessive enthusiasm in the Black Sea... While ensuring the Turkish Council transforms into the Turkish Council, on the other hand, removing the Turkish word from everywhere... Making moves that prioritize religious identity over Turkish identity in Iraq... On one hand, there are discourses about escaping the debt economy, accustomed to neoliberal consumption since January 24, 1980, and transitioning to a production economy, while on the other hand, insisting on the multi-billion dollar Kanal Istanbul project that will question the environment, geopolitical balances, and most importantly, the Montreux regime... These examples can be multiplied.
The clear and evident truth is this: The Turkey ship is approaching Nara Burnu. The command bridge is in high bureaucracy. At 0210 hours, the 83 million people are asleep, trusting that the bridge is functioning correctly. Our greatest wish is for the ship to awaken to a beautiful morning.
Today, 68 years after we lost our Dumlupınar martyrs due to a wrong decision, they continue their patrol duty in the Dardanelles. That duty will continue forever. May God protect the Republic of Turkey, the Republic Navy, and our Submarine Fleet from all kinds of calamities. May no evil, treachery, or obstacle tarnish the pure and clean spirit of Dumlupınar.
I pray for mercy for our 81 martyrs and bow in respect and loyalty before their sacred memories.
(TRT 1's series "Bir Zamanlar Kıbrıs," which premiered on April 1, 2021, serves an important purpose. Its timing is extremely good. However, in the promotional trailer for the second episode, the development of the scenario through a Turkish woman captured by the Greek coup leader and EOKA commander, and the portrayal of the EOKA commander's enmity towards the Turks as a result of that person deceiving him is extremely incorrect. This is neither compatible with history nor with customs and traditions. It is our right to expect the director and producer to do the right thing before this episode airs. Additionally, the absence of any Turkish Army personnel in the efforts to bring aid from the motherland to the island and the lack of mention of the wife and three children of Major Doctor Nihat İlhan, who became a symbol of the bloody Christmas raid on December 21, 1963, in the film's most important initial section has not gone unnoticed. Has a scenario control been conducted in this context? Why is there no military and political advisor for the series? Have the opinions of the TRNC institutions that seem to support the film been taken into account on these issues?)
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Source: www.denizhaber.com