Page 154 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

140 JÙRGEN ROHWER

taking on again coal in Messina the information about the declaration of war with
Great Britain arrived, but there was also a signa! from admiral Haus about the
impossibility of a support operation by the Austrian fleet. Souchon departed Mes-
sina, and disregarding a signal on 6 August from Berlin, that entering Constanti-
nople was at che moment impossible for politica! reasons, he decided to mislead
che British about his intentions and co break through to che Aegean and the Darda-
nelles. Shaking off the British contact holding light cruisers Drtblin and Gloucester
the two German ships reached on lO August the entrance of che Dardanelles and
w ere allowed to enter.
The Turkish government had started a slow mobilization, but wanted first
to remain neutra!. To soothe the British it was announced that che German ships
were purchased to fili the gap of che two battleships, just finished in Great Britain
for the Turkish Navy, but seized by the British. On 16 August the Goeben and Bre-
slau hoisted the Turkish flag as Sultan Yavuz Selim and Midilli. The German crews
remained aboard taking on a Turkis.h fez. Admiral Souchon became the Comman-
der of the Turkish fleet. Without clear orders from Berlin it was the intention of
Souchon to bring his ships into action against che Russians along with the opera-
donai vessels of the Turkish fleet. Before any such operation was possible the pro-
German members of the Turkish government hat to overcome or to outmanouevre
the reluctant or resistant collegues, and the defences of the Bosphorus and the Dar-
danelles had to be strengthened.
The Turkish government was caurious because its members were looking into
different directions. Only when at the end of August the German armies were stor-
ming for Paris and che Russian 2nd Army was annihilated at Tannenberg, the pro-
German faction under the minister of war Enver Pasha and the minister of finan-
ces Talaat Pasha got more and more the upper band. Disregarding the cautious
counsel of the German ambassador, w ho feared to embarass rh e pro-Allied tenden-
cies in the government, Souchon asked Berlin to send out officers and personnel
to led and train the ships of the Turkish fleet as well as to organize the defences
of the Turkish Narrows and to get guns, minitions and especially mines.
Already on 29 Augusta "Sonderkommando" with 14 officers and 263 men
under admiral von Usedom arrived and was distributed to the Turkish batteries
and stations at the Bosphorus and che Dardanelles. Usedom earned a Turkish ge-
neralship and the tide "Inspector Generai of the Coastal Defences and the Mine
Department". The German experts worked hard to improve the defences and the
abilities of the Turkish soldiers and seamen to use their weapons and ships effec-
tiovely. The ships of the fleet had to gain some scagoing experience. The few relati-
vely modern cruisers and destroyers got in addition to their Turkish crews some
German officiers and non-commissioned officers.
T o overcome the restistance of the Turkish politicians, Souchon organized so-
me patrols of aircraft and torpedoboats south of the Dardanelles and training crui-
ses into the Black Sea, hoping co induce incidents which may led to an uproar. When