Turkish newspaper article about the accident, on the daily
Akşam, dated April 5, 1953. The various headlines read, clock-wise from the top, (1) "There is no more hope for the lives of the 88 sailors stranded in the sunken submarine, Dumlupınar", (2) "Oscar F. Lorentzon, captain of the Swedish Freighter Naboland, has been indicted", (3) "The dark news as it was shared on London radio", (4) "The Commander of the Dumlupınar speaks", (5) "The Nation is in mourning", and (6) "American Admiral meets with local governor for condolence visit."
Late evening on April 3,
@jhungary take a look
@Armstrong yes...it still is a firefight inside every sailor's, mother's heart as the song says.
1953,
Turkishsubmarines TCG İnönü I and
TCG Dumlupınar started their voyage home to the
TAF Naval Yards in
Gölcük after completing their respective missions in a regular
NATOtraining exercise in the
Mediterranean. On April 4, 1953 at 02:10am, they entered the
Dardanelles (aka,
Çanakkale Strait) en route to Gölcük with 96 crew members - 88 men inside the vessel, and 8 men on
deck.
There was heavy
mist in the
strait that night, which severely limited visibility.
LieutenantHüseyin İnkaya was on deck duty when the
Dumplupınar was suddenly and violently struck by something unseen off
Nara point - the narrowmost (1.2km, 0.75mi) and deepest (113m, 370ft) point of the
Dardanelles, as well as the point where the
currents are the strongest at up to 5
nautical miles versus 1-2 elsewhere on the
strait. The eight crew members who were on
deck at the moment of collision were thrown off into the water due to the force of the impact, with two of them dying terribly in the sub's
propellers, and one drowning in the ensuing commotion.
Dumlupınar had been rammed by
Swedishcargo ship M/V Naboland in her
bow torpedoroom on the
starboard side, and started to take water from her front compartments. Due to the gravity of the damage caused, and the subsequent explosion in her central compartment,
Dumlupınar sank within minutes. Most
communications were severed along with any
electrical power. The 88 surviving men inside the submarine, seeing that the vessel was taking water from the
bow, tried to reach the
stern to seek shelter in the torpedo room, with many of them perishing in the rapidly rising waters. Of the original 88, only 22 were able to reach and lock themselves in the
stern torpedo compartment, and released an emergency communications
buoy with the hope of contacting surface rescue workers.
Shortly after the collision, a
customs ship that was anchored in nearby
Eceabat Harbor was alerted to the incident by a small motorboat that had heard the impact, and had implored them to get to the scene. When the customs ship reached the site of the incident, they saw that
M/V Naboland had lowered their rescue boats and life jackets to aid any surviving members of
Dumlupınar, and were firing
flaresto alert potential rescue workers in the area. The customs ship accepted on board the five rescued sailors from
Dumlupınar that had not gone down with the submarine, and took them to local
hospitals. Three of the hospitalized officers succumbed to their injuries the next day.
Nobody on the surface was aware of the level of casualties at the time, and authorities called the
rescue vessel Kurtaran to the scene to help the remaining sailors. While waiting for
Kurtaran, the sun began to rise, the heavy mist started to clear, and the customs ship spotted the emergency communications buoy that had been released by the trapped sailors. Second handsman of the customs ship Selim Yoludüz reached for the
phone located inside of the communications buoy and read the inscription on it, which said, "
The submarine TCG Dumlupınar, commissioned to the Turkish Navy, has sunk here. Open the hatch to establish contact with the submarine".
Following these directions, Yoludüz established contact with the sunken submarine, and was responded to by Lieutenant Selami Özben, who informed Yoludüz that the submarine was leaning 15 degrees to the starboard side after impact with a cargo ship, and that the surviving 22 members of crew were locked away in the stern torpedo compartment with no power or supplies. Yoludüz, in turn, informed Lieutenant Özben that they were in the Nara Bay area of Çanakkale, at approximately 90 meters depth, that the rescue ship
Kurtaranwas on its way, and that they would do everything they can to rescue the trapped sailors.
Kurtaran arrived at the scene at approximately 11:00am on April 4, about 9 hours after the initial impact, alongside
Admiral Sadık Altıncan and
Governor Safaeddin Karnakçı. Throughout the ensuing rescue operation, Lt.Özben kept in regular contact with Yoludüz, as well as the Admiral of the Çanakkale Sea Forces Zeki Adar, and the second captain of the sister submarine
İnönü I, Suat Tezcan. The rescuers implored the trapped sailors to keep their spirits up, and advised them to refrain from
talking,
singing, or
smoking in order to preserve precious
oxygen.
Despite numerous attempts by engineers, divers, and
US and
Turkish navy vessels, the rescue efforts provided no results due to the severe currents and the sunken depth of the
Dumlupınar, and the morale of the trapped crew began to decline. By afternoon time, the voices of the 22 sailors were quieting, and were being replaced by prayers. Finally, the apologetic rescue workers delivered the tragic news to the sailors with the words "Gentlemen, now you can talk, you can sing, you can even smoke". Lt.Özben responded with a final "For our country", and at approximately 15:00 (3pm) on April 4, the cable that was holding the communications buoy broke, and no more news were heard from
Dumlupınar.
Despite the lack of communication, operations continued in order to rescue the trapped men, with the
whole countryfollowing along via
radio and
newspapers. On April 7, 1953, three days after the accident, it was declared that the rising
carbon dioxidelevels inside the submarine would have killed any surviving crew, and the rescue operation was abandoned.
The following day, at 15:00 (3pm), a memorial ceremony was held on the ship
Başaran.
The tragedy, which captured the attention of the
whole country, has since inspired numerous songs and tributes in honor of the fallen sailors, and is commemorated every year on April 4.
