Page 162 - Mastermind: The Truth of the British Deep State Revealed

Churchill was perfectly aware that requisitioning the battleship would

cause an immense diplomatic scandal; nevertheless on August 3, 1914, Britain
officially declared that it requisitioned the 'Sultan Osman' and 'Reşadiye'. In

other words, the British hijacked the battleships of the Ottomans, before even
the Turkish flag could be raised. Not only did they confiscate them, they al-

so –completely illegally and unlawfully– refused to return the gold paid for
them, which amounted to £12 million. The money had been paid in advance.

To put it more accurately, they unabashedly stole the money.

Rauf Bey (Orbay), who was nicknamed the 'Hero of Hamidiye' and who

would later become the 3rd Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic, recalled
the incident with the following words:

The final installment, seven hundred thousand liras had been paid. We

wanted to get things done quickly, so decided to skip some tests and agreed
with the factory that the ships would be delivered to us on August 2, 1914.

However, half an hour before the flag raising ceremony, which was the day
after we paid the money, the British requisitioned the Sultan Osman. Al-
though we vehemently protested in line with the procedure, no one stirred... 78

The 'Sultan Osman' battleship was immediately made a part of the British
navy and was renamed 'Agincourt'. 'Reşadiye' was renamed as 'Erin' but on

the day of her test on August 22, it was seen that her firing equipment was
not functioning well. Since it couldn't be fully repaired and no one would buy

it after that development, it was taken apart in 1922.

Rauf Orbay explains:

At the onset of the World War, there was the issue of getting back our gold

worth of £12 million, which we paid for our dreadnoughts Sultan Osman,
Sultan Reşad and Fatih. They were built before we entered the war, but the
British requisitioned although we had fully paid for them. That was clear-

ly the debt of the British... 79

th
That was indeed the debt of the British, but according to the 58 article
of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Turkish side surprisingly waived this right,

Mastermind: The Truth of the British Deep State Revealed