Mesûdiye Galleon in the Ottoman Navy (1799-1861)

In the warships of the Ottoman navy, galleons began to take the place of galleys from the 17th century. A process of change and transformation has begun in the navy, and although it is understood that rowing galleys are not enough, the requirements of sailing warships have emerged. One of the main factors in this change is to contribute to the parallel development of the navy against the developing warships. Warships are the main elements that contribute to the security of a state's outpost and seas, coasts and maritime trade. Many different types of ships, especially galleons, perform this task in the Ottoman navy. The galleons come to the fore as the decisive factor in the wars with the enemy states, with the reconnaissance and surveillance activities carried out in the Mediterranean, the Islands and the Black Sea. The main purpose in the preparation of this thesis is to examine all aspects of the activities in the navy, during the construction and dissolution process of the Mesudiye galleon, one of the most effective and deterrent warships of the Ottoman navy, and the second largest and longest serving galleon built in its period. The construction process, the basic features of the galleon, the salaries of the personnel, the activities of the ship and the captains of the ship, the repair processes and the termination process are discussed in detail. As a result of the examination of these processes, as a result of the examination of the degree of importance given to the shipbuilding technology and production capacity, personnel qualifications, and the point of view of the navy in the Ottoman navy, it is seen that there was an effort to keep up with the modernization steps in the III. Selim period. Again in parallel with this change, foreign shipbuilding engineers were used in the navy to contribute to the modern shipbuilding activities and the development of the navy, and significant progress was made in the training of the navy personnel. Shipbuilding activities using classical methods have been replaced by the use of modern techniques.