Intibah was a ship used by the Ottoman Navy as a tugboat and minelayer in World War I.
Built in Glasgow in 1886 as a civilian tugboat, she was purchased by the Ottomans in 1912. In 1914, she was converted into a minelayer at Tersâne-i Âmire. During the Italo-Turkish War, the Balkan Wars and World War I, she was involved in mine laying, mine transport, salvage and transport missions, especially with mines in the Dardanelles. After the Armistice of Mudros in October 1918, she was interned in Istanbul with the rest of the fleet. In November 1922, she was smuggled out of Istanbul, brought to Izmit and placed under the command of the Ankara Government. In October 1923, she entered the service of the Turkish Navy and was renamed to Uyanık. In 1933–34, she was rearmed in Gölcük and her old name was restored. She was commissioned as a minelayer in Izmir until 1936 and then again in Çanakkale. In 1956, she was decommissioned from naval service and towed to Gölcük and sold for civilian use in 1958. Between 1959 and 1964, she was converted into a cargo ship and renamed Ararat M. Okan. At the end of 1997, she was caught while carrying illegal immigrants to Italy, confiscated by the Italian government and sold at auction in November 1998. She was dismantled in Crotone in June 1999.
Design
The Intibah, built in 1886 by R. Duncan / Co. under the name Warren Hastings in Glasgow, Scotland, at Yard No. 223, was 61.2 metres long, 9.1 metres wide and had a draft of 4.7 metres. Her hull was made of iron. The ship's displacement (nautical) was 616 tons. The ship was powered by two Rankie & Blackmore-built 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines fed by steam from two boilers. The engines had 1,670 indicated horsepower and in 1912 could propel the ship to a speed of 12 knots.
Unarmed until 1912, by 1915 she had a crew of 12 officers and 46 sailors, and was armed with a 76 mm QF Krupp gun, two QF 47 mm Armstrong guns and 50 naval mines.
Operational history
Ottoman period
Built in Glasgow in 1886 as a large rescue tug, she was purchased by the Ottomans on 4 March 1912 after 26 years of civilian use. In April 1912, she joined the Ottoman Navy as a rescue tug. Intibah was assigned to lay mines in the Dardanelles against Italian ships on 18 April 1912 during the Italo-Turkish War. In the Balkan Wars, During the Battle of Kaliakra, she took part in support missions in the Ottoman fleet. She met the cruiser , which was damaged in the battle on 21–22 November 1912, at the entrance to the Bosphorus on 22 November and towed it to the Golden Horn where it was repaired. On 10 January 1913, she patrolled the mouth of the Dardanelles during the operation against Greek forces in the Aegean Sea. She was converted to a minelayer in December 1914 in the Tersâne-i Âmire, she remained in this role during World War I.
Intibah took part in minelaying missions during the Dardanelles Campaign. On 9 August 1914, she sailed to the Dardanelles with mines and parts loaded from Istanbul on 14 August 1914. On 15 August 1914, she laid 40 mines arranged in three separate lines between Soğanlıdere and Kepez Feneri as a defense to intercept British ships, and also laid buoys in some places to create the impression that there were different lines in addition to the three lines. On 6 September, and Intibah were assigned to protect , which was planned to be used as a floating battery. Mesudiye would later be sunk by the British submarine on 13 December 1914. She laid a fourth row of 29 mines on 24 September, a fifth row of 29 mines between the Anatolian and Rumeli bastions on 1 October and a sixth row of 16 mines on the Anatolian side north of the third line on 9 November. On 26 February 1915 she laid the 10th row of 53 mines between Çimenlik and Degirmenburnu. Intibah then brought the last 25 mines of the reserve depot in Istanbul to Çanakkale on 2 March 1915. At this time the Ottomans were still awaiting the delivery of new mines from Germany. Nusret, which sailed from Nara Burnu at 05:00 on 8 March, laid the last 26 mines in Erenköy Bay as the 11th row. The 11 minefields laid by Intibah, Nusret and , during the Allied offensive on 18 March, sank the British battleship and the French battleship , the battlecruiser sustained heavy damage from being mined.