Neptune
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On 4 April 1953, in the wee hours of the morning two Turkish submarines TCG Dumlupınar and her sister boatTCG 1. İnönü,entered from the Aegean into the Dardanelles Strait, as the returning from the NATO naval exercise Blue Sea.
The Commodore of First Submarine Squadron was in command of the two submarines and he was on board of TCG Dumlupınar. When the submarine reached the Cape Nara, the narrowest point of the Strait the Swedish flagged cargo ship M/V Naboland collided with the submarine. The accident happened at 02:15 in the morning.
M/V Naboland rammed TCG Dumlupınar from starboard forecastle just aft of the forward diving planes. The submarine rolled to port with force of the impact and sunk immediately. 5 sailors who were in the sail at the time of the collision survived. Rest of the crew, 81 men, were trapped inside her hull. She sunk at the narrowest point of Dardanelles at 85 meters.
22 sailors trapped in the aft torpedo compartment were able to release the submarine’s sunk buoy. The rescuers above the water tried to give hope and moral but time was an enemy. Submarine rescue and salvage ships were rushed from the main naval base in Gölcük after the incident. But all efforts to reach the submarine and rescue the survivors failed cause of very strong water currents and insufficient equipment.
The last words from the submarine, before the currents tore the cable of buoy were: For our country.
Since that fateful day, on every 4th of April we remember those that have a watery grave were no rose will grow.
Here's the story of how they'd had died.
Blower was decommissioned at the Naval Submarine Base New London, 16 November 1950 and transferred to Turkey under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, where she was recommissioned as the second TCG Dumlupınar. She was lost on 4 April 1953, when, returning from the NATO maneuver Blue-Sea, TCG Dumlupınarcollided in the Dardanelles off the Nara Point with the Swedish freighter Naboland and sank. Eighty-one submariners died in this accident.
The story of Dumlupinar unfolded on 4 April 1953, while returning from the Nato training mission "Blue Sea", she collided with the Swedish cargo shipNaboland in Nara region, Canakkale (Dardanelles) and sank. Presently she is lying in 90 meters depth.
TCG Inonu I and TCG Dumlupinar submarines started their voyage home to Golcuk after completing their missions in the Nato training in Mediterranean. In the night connecting 3rd of April to 4th ,they passed Canakkale straits returning home without knowing what will happen. The trip for Dumlupinar has ended with a tragic accident at April 4th 1953 02:10 o'clock Am. with a tragic accident...
Lituenant Huseyin Inkaya was on the deck watch continuing his duty although he was not on shift. While they were near Nara, somethign strange caught his eyes on their course. Right at that moment, there was a loud noise that none understand where came from and the soldiers fall to the sea. Only the five of the eight watch crew that where on the deck while collision were lucky to open their eyes in water. The two of them died terribly with the propellers of Dumlupinar and one of sailors was drowned.Swedish steamer SS Naboland was collieded to Dumlupinar from her bow torpedo room starboard side. The sound of the collision has been heard from the ships anchored in the Eceabat harbor. Dumlupinar that has faced to this huge impact, started sinking from front compartments. And she couldn't resist the huge collision and sunk to the Dardanelles straits' dark waters in seconds. But some of the crew was survived and locked themselves to stern torpedo room. There was a huge explosion in the central compartment of Dumlupinar that makes her sink faster. There was no electricity. The sailors that saw the submarine was taking water from bow, tried to reach to the stern. They lost a lot of their friends while trying to reach the stern torpedo compartment. While Dumlupinar was sinking, 22 sailors reached the stern torpedo compartment.
Same night, the Custom's ship that was anchored in the Eceabat Harbour, was warned by a small motor ship. The person on the ship told them about the collision near Nara and asked them to get to the scene. When the ship reached to the collision area, the sea was like a circus area. All of Naboland's rescue boats were on sea, they have threw their phosphorus life jackets to sea and fired a lot of flares. Custom's ship has taken on board the rescued sailors from Dumlupinar who was on the sea or rescued by the rescue boats. The sailors have been taken to the hospitals around very quickly. But still there was 81 person under the water , no one knows if they were still alive or not. There was nothing else to do but to hope that they were alive and they call the "Kurtaran" (Rescuer) ship, the submarine rescue ship.
The sun has been started to rise in Nara bay. Because of the lightened weather the fisher boats around the area saw the emergency communication buoy that throwen by Dumlupinar while she was sinking. The custom's ship went directly to the comm. buoy and the second handsman of the customs ship Selim Yoluduz reached for the phone located inside of the comm. buoy and read the inscription on it that says "Dumlupinar submarine comissioned to the Turkish Navy sunk here, Open the hatch and contact with submarine". He opened the hatch and took the phone and started to talk with hope...
The customs officer waiting an answer has been relax when he heard the answer: "Yes, I am Lieutenant Selami". Getting the answer what he was waiting, Selim Yoluduz asked to the Lt. Selami about their condition. The answer that he got was explaining the horrible condition in Dumllupinar. Lt. Selami told him that the submarine was staying still 15 degrees to starboard, that their electricity was off and they were 22 persons in the stern torpedo room. Selim Yoluduz told him that they were in the Nara bay of Canakkale and their submarine was in approximately 90 meters depth. He said "don't worry we will get you out of there. Kurtaran (The Rescuer) is on its way." The words that Lt. Selami told him has been written to his ears and heart : "We salute our families. We know that you will save us. For our country..."
This was the first conversation of Lt Selami with the people on the surface. The people hope was fading out while the rescue tries of the Kurtaran ship that came aproximately 11:00 o'clock was giving out no results. After the first conversation the people talked to Lt Selami were in order Canakkale Sea Forces Admiral Zeki Adar, Selim Yoluduz and second captain of the Inonu I Submarine, Suat Tezcan. While the time of alive crew at stern was passing slowly and their oxygen too, they were ordered to no talking, singing or smoking for using their oxygen economically, the hopes were fading out on the surface. Although surface and rescue crew says: there was no hesitate or sadness in the voice of Lt. Selami. After a while for another conversation: they reached for the phone. The sounds coming was like they were waiting for their will. They were praying. Surface crew explained the situation to alive crew with same words "You can talk, sing even you can smoke"Approximately at 15:00 o'clock the cable that was holding the communication buoy broke. There would be no other news from Dumlupinar...
The words "For our country" was the last words heard from the Dumlupinar lying in 84 meters depth. After the accident, when Admiral Sadik Altincan, Governor Safaeddin Karnakci and other autorities arrived to the region, the rescue operations started. In the mean time Inonu 1 submarine who didn't notice the accident returned to the accident region to help the rescue operations. There were other ships on the water to help the rescue operations. The rescue operations continued in the drafty waters of Canakkale but this efforts couldn't save the crew of Dumlupinar. A lot of divers tried to reach to the submarine but none of them could tie the saving cable of the rescue bell to the submarine. Although everything done to save them, they couldn't save the crew and the submarine.
In the tuesday morning all of the hope was lost because a submarine lets her crew to live only three days. After 72 hours the CO2 level in the submarine wouldn't let them to live. And at 02:15 o'clock the three days period was over. All the hope for the 22 people in the submarine were lost. The following day at 15:00 o'clock they made a ceremony on the ship "Basaran" for them and a lot of flowers left on the water for them.
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