If we do not count the Savanora Yacht, which was bought and brought to the country much later, Ertuğrul Yacht is the most elegant and beautiful of the yachts in our navy.

In 1903, Sultan II. This yacht, commissioned by Abdulhamid for British stalls, was named after Ertuğrul Bey, the father of Osman Gazi, the founder of the Ottoman Dynasty. He was as white as a swan. The mouth of both chimneys was in the shape of the so-called samovar type. It was a really well-formed boat, with three masts that could sail if needed. Like the other yachts of those years, Ertuğrul had a cane with a nose, which is called mercurial.

Ertuğrul was a 900-ton ship, meticulously built at Armstrong, Michell & Co looms in Nescastle-Upon-Tyne, Scotland. It was 79.2 meters long and 8.3 meters wide and had two 3-cylinder steam engines with a total of 2,500 horsepower. It was double propeller. It could run at speeds close to 18-20 miles per hour. He had easily hit 21 miles in his first trial run.

Ertuğrul, who came to the country in 1904, impressed not only the members of the palace, but also all the sailors, whether soldiers or civilians. The fact that the previous yachts were always side gears increased their value even more. It was truly incomparable with its exquisite furniture, dinnerware made of the finest porcelain, upholstery and all kinds of accessories.

However, it cannot be said that Sultan Hamid used this beautiful yacht often. The most important event of the ship's first years in the logbook was the naval exercise held in the field between Büyükada and Kartal in 1909, in accordance with the reform program organized by the British Admiral Gamble.

Although Ertuğrul was dismissed and tied aside in the 15th year of his arrival in the country at the end of the First World War, it was reconsidered as a Presidential Yacht in 1924, in the 2nd year of the Republic. As a matter of fact, on July 1, 1927, Atatürk came to Istanbul for the first time after the War of Independence on this beautiful yacht. Atatürk came to Izmit by train from Ankara and got on Ertuğrul there.

Thus, some more time passed. It had to be thoroughly overhauled. As a matter of fact, it was decommissioned for the second time in 1937. İlhami Söker, who dismantled almost all the boats of that period, took the ship and tied it to the Golden Horn for dismantling. But the ship was kept tied in the Golden Horn for 22 years without being dismantled. Meanwhile, one of its main engines was used in the Asphalt II tanker, which was being built at Maritime Bank's Camialtı Shipyard at that time.

In 1960-61, like every other ship, Ertuğrul was dismantled, broken down, separated and dispersed. It was a 57 year old boat.

Source:  Istanbul's Unforgettable Ships, Eser Tutel

Photographs of Atatürk taken on the Ertuğrul Yacht