Founded in 1897, the Naval Museum has pursued its activities in
its Besiktas, Istanbul building since 1961. It covers an area
of 9,000 square meters, and is visited on average by 50,000 people
per year.
Exhibits & Programs:
Main Exhibition Building:
ATATURK ROOM: It displays Atatürk's personal belongings,
his photos, his memories about trips he made on board of ships,
portraits of seamen who visited Turkey in his time, objects from
yachts he used, and a yacht's cabin.
SAVARONA ROOM: Objects and paintings of Savarona Yacht in
which Atatürk stayed, take place in this room.
MARTYRS ROOM: It displays the name plates, portraits, personal
belongings of Turkish Seamen killed in battles or died while performing
their missions. In addition, paintings and models of various
war memories are exhibited in this section of the museum.
SOUTHWEST WIND ROOM: This room contains the standards, flags
and colors used by the Ottoman Navy and foreign states between 16th.
and 20th. centuries; paintings describing naval operations in Balkan
War and World War 1, models of ships which took part in these wars,
portraits their commending of fleets and heroes, objects which had
been caught, and Netherlands and Venice coins.
MAPS AND CHARTS ROOM: It exhibits hand made and printed maps
showing the Ottoman Empire and Mediterranean World from 1461 and
19th. century as well as a naval map personally written by Piri
Reis in 1582.
RAUF ORBAY ROOM: In this room there are personal items, bust,
photos and portrait of Rauf Orbay. In addition, the
model and compass of Hamidiye III cruiser he commanded are exhibited
in this room.
SHIP NAMES COLLECTION: This collection covers the name plates
of Ottoman Navy Ships in the 19th. century and the head marks of
ships which carried imperial monograms in the 18th. and 19th. centuries.
NORTHEAST WIND HALL: Amphora dating from the 1st. century
to the 7th. century; navigation aids from 13th. to 20th. century;
an arm collection covering the period between 13th. and 20th. centuries;
paintings describing ships and ship yards of the same period, prizes
won by the Ottoman Navy in an international exhibition, and astrolabes
from 1222, 1534 and 1737 can be seen in this hall.
ADMIRALS ROOM: This is the room which exhibits figures, paintings
and materials reflecting the transition from the Admiral of the
Fleet period to the Ministry of Marine period.
NAVAL SCHOOL ROOM: Training and teaching materials used in
the school, models of student ships, and student uniforms are displayed
in this room.
UNIFORM ROOM: In this room the Turkish Naval uniforms are
displayed since the 14th. century until today are presented by means
of the mannequins.
PRESIDENT KORUTURK ROOM: This room is assigned to personal
belongings, portraits and photos of the ex-president Koruturk.
SOUTHEAST WIND HALL: Turkish ship models from the 14th. century
to date, paintings reflecting ships and naval battles of this period;
objects taken out from the submerged ships; seals, decorations and
models of the famous Turkish seamen are exhibited in this hall.
BARBAROSSA HAYREDDIN PASHA ROOM: Portraits, busts of
Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, the great Turkish seaman of the 16th.
century and his companion Dragut Reis, a portrait describing Preveze
Naval War are displayed in this room.
ISTANBUL ROOM: Paintings and engravings with Istanbul landscaper
since the conquest of Istanbul (1453) until the 19th. century can
be seen in this room.
YAVUZ ROOM: Materials, standards, photos of the heroic cruiser
Yavuz are gathered into this room.
PORTRAITS ROOM: Portraits of the famous of the Turkish Naval
History and ship lanterns from the galleons time to date take place
in this room.
PLATES ROOM: The plates in this room cover words about seas
and seamen and also verses from Koran.
OLD SHIPS ROOM: Name plates, bells, honor books and regiment
flags of the naval ships since 1923 to date are exhibited in this
room.
LITHOGRAPH MODELS ROOM: It contains lithographic works printed
at the Naval Press in the 19th. and 20th. centuries.
Caiques Gallery:
Apart from the galleon of the Sultan Mehmet IV (1648-1687), the
caiques gallery houses the original rowboat used by the Turkish
court personnel until the 20th. century. Furthermore, an original
half-ship model collection, ship models, ship parts, portion of
the chain that the Byzantine stretched along the Golden Horn during
the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, Istanbul landscapes (16th.-19th.
centuries), various ship equipment and ship figure heads are also
displayed in this gallery.
Open Exhibition Areas:
Ship anchors (18th.-20th. centuries), naval and land cannons (15th.-20th.
centuries), torpedoes, inscriptions of naval buildings, tombstones
of Turkish seamen (13th.-19th.) and the German Submarine UB 46 sunk
in the Black Sea in 1916 are the main exhibits of the open areas.
Archives and Library Building:
The Istanbul Naval Museum possesses a naval/maritime specialization
library covering a total of 23,000 works about the naval history,
naval culture and literature, science and art. The museum
also possesses an archives collection consisting of 25,000,000 documents
concerning the Ottoman marine history from the 17th. to the 20th.
century, 10,000 photos showing the Turkish and the world navies
from the 19th. century until today (together with albums and negative
film archives); and a map and atlas collection reaching 900 maps
and atlas.
In addition, the museum is trying to contribute to the maritime
culture by editing compiled and translated works, printing maps,
posters, reproductions, and organizing traditional "sea"
painting contests.
