Worthing Belle "Tuzla" Picture

[Tamer Ozkan]

Dear Mr Jordan,
Greetings from Istanbul.First of all I would like to congratulate the people who created this web-site.

I found the only picture of the Tuzla and I am not sure the day and place that it was taken.I hope this helps.

There was another question from Mr Allison .I could not able to find the original post from the old yahoo group but I will be happy to research if I can have the question again
Best Regards
Tamer OZKAN

[PJ]

Dear Tamer:

THANK YOU very much for finding this photo.  This is the first time we have ever seen "Worthing Belle" after she was sold to Turkish service and I am thrilled to add this image to my collection.  I am going to examine the photo in detail to see if there were any changes made to her but, at first glance, she looks very much the same as she did before she left the South Coast of England.  I will email a copy to William Reid's grandson, Philip Hayden, in Worthing, UK.  

We understand she also became a gunboat.  Was she in service with the Turkish Navy and are there any records of her?  If so, do they carry any information of her deck armament or how she may have looked?

Thank you again for taking the time to help and on behalf of everyone here, welcome to the new Paddleducks.

PJ
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

[PJ]

Dear Tamer:

I have just received a copy of the rare book "Sirket-i Hayriye'nin Bogazici Vapurlari" ("The Bosphorus Steamers of the Sirket-i Hayriye") from Istanbul and it is a truly remarkable record of the Bosphorus ships of the "Sirket-i Hayriye".  It is over 200 pages and profusely illustrated with excellent photos and drawings.  Unfortunately there is no mention of "Touzla" (ex "Worthing Belle") so I am wondering if you can recommend any other books published in Turkey which might have further information on her.  "Touzla" did become a gunboat on the Bosphorus for a certain period so she might be featured in books about the Turkish Navy.

Look forward to hearing more from you if you have any further information on this ship.

Thank you and very best regards

Paul (Jordan)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

[AlistairD]

There seems to be no mention of her in "The Ottoman  Steam Navy" by Langensiepen and Guleryuz and surprisingly no mention of her sin  king on 30 August 1915.
 I have two other books on Turkish ships by Eser Tutel, "Seyr-i  Sefain Öncesi ve sonrasi", and Gemiler... Süvariler... Iskeleler. Neither has  any mention of Touzla or Tuzla in the index, although the first has a paragraph  on Tuzla and the second has a few pages with photos of paddle  steamers.
 Note that during the Ottoman days, the script was  transliterated in French, and after Ataturk, it was as present. Hence Touzla is  the same as Tuzla
 Â 
 Alistair
 

 
I have just received a    copy of the rare book "Sirket-i Hayriye'nin Bogazici Vapurlari" ("The    Bosphorus Steamers of the Sirket-i Hayriye") from Istanbul and it is a truly    remarkable record of the Bosphorus ships of the "Sirket-i Hayriye". It is over    200 pages and profusely illustrated with excellent photos and drawings.    Unfortunately there is no mention of "Touzla" (ex "Worthing Belle") so I am    wondering if you can recommend any other books published in Turkey which might    have further information on her. "Touzla" did become a gunboat on the    Bosphorus for a certain period so she might be featured in books about the    Turkish Navy.

Look forward to hearing more from you if you have any    further information on this ship.

Thank you and very best    regards

[PJ]

Thanks, Alistair.  that saves me having to ask my contact in Istanbul to look through all the indexes.

I wonder why there is no record of "Worthing Belle" after her sale to the Turks? I'd love to see how she might have been fitted out as a gunboat!
Nevertheless, I'll just keep plugging away until something shows up..as it invariably will one day.  

BTW a strange thing I noticed about almost all the Bosphorus paddlers.  Split wheelhouses (actually doghouses) on each end of the bridge and a couple that even have three with one in the middle.  Interesting looking ships though these Turkish paddlers, all with a distinct Bosphorus style.

I don't know about your books, though.  My Turkish book has printing bleeding through all the first ten pages and the binding is already coming apart!!  But the images are good!

Thanks again for the info, Alistair.

PJ

[AlistairD]

Thanks, Alistair. that saves me having to ask my  contact in Istanbul to look through all the indexes.

I wonder why there  is no record of "Worthing Belle" after her sale to the Turks? I'd love to see  how she might have been fitted out as a gunboat!
Nevertheless, I'll just keep  plugging away until something shows up..as it invariably will one day.  

BTW a strange thing I noticed about almost all the Bosphorus paddlers.  Split wheelhouses (actually doghouses) on each end of the bridge and a couple  that even have three with one in the middle. Interesting looking ships though  these Turkish paddlers, all with a distinct Bosphorus style.

I don't  know about your books, though. My Turkish book has printing bleeding through all  the first ten pages and the binding is already coming apart!! But the images are  good!
 Â 
 I have that one as well. The ones I  mentioned by Eser Tutel are paperbacks.
 Â 
 Alistair
 
 

[Waverley]

Hi Paul and others

I found this page when I was looking for something else and you have probably seen it already but,  just on the off chance it is new, here is a linK:

www.findonvillage.com/0656_worthing_belle.htm

Apart from some rather fine photos of gale damage to Worthing Pier  (1913) and a reference to Paddleducks (Canadian version) it also contains a number of pictures of WORTHING BELLE on the South Coast, mentions her sale (as TOUZLA) and states that she was used as a gunboat in WW!.  It may be worth contacting the site owner for the source of her statement.

Regards

David Milne

[Waverley]

Hi again (10 mins after previous post)

It looks like the text in the link in the previous post was "liberated" without attribution from this page:

http://freespace.virgin.net/tom.lee/worthing.htm

No further comment required  

Regards

David

[PJ]

Hello David:

Thank you very much for your posting on "Worthing Belle" (Ex "Diana Vernon")

I am very familiar with both those websites and I contributed a little to Valerie Martin's superb web site at Findon Village. She has really done a great job in researching local marine history and presenting images of some of the ships around the Worthing area.  If you look in the "Art" section for Worthing marine painterJ. F. Aldridge, you'll see a painting called "Towing a disabled Vessel into Harbour".

http://www.findonvillage.com/0326_frederick_james_aldridge_portfolio.htm

I purchased this painting about a year ago and I'm still trying to identify the tug as Aldridge often depicted actual vessels.  It could be one of the two Shoreham tugs "Stella" or "Mistletoe".  I don't think it's "Jumna" out of Littlehampton nor the Newhaven tug.

I also am familiar with Tom Lee's excellent web site and I well remember spending a very pleasant evening 4 years ago with him at his home in Tunbridge Wells.  He's been most helpful in my research of "Worthing Belle".

So, once again, thank you for keeping a "weather eye" open for my paddler, and do sing out if you run across anything else about her.  I have a pretty good reference file on her with about 30 images taken from just about every quarter.  However, any photos or information of her history on the Bosphorus would be much appreciated

Very best regards

PJ
Victoria, BC Canada

[AlistairD]

I have just had an email from a German friend who has reasearched Turkish steamers extensively
It appears that TUZLA was never a gunboat, hence her lack of mention in "The Ottoman Steam navy".
On 30 August 1915 she was sunk by British battleships (his word, he probably means warships) whilst lying empty at Akbas-liman.
She was opnly sold to Turney in March 1914, so would have had only 4 months in service before the war, hence the lack of photographs

[PJ]

Hi Alistair:

Thank you for that interesting information which might well explain why there is so little reference to "Touzla" once she was sold to Turkish interests.

I understood she was raised after the sinking and continued in some kind of passenger carrying capacity until the early 1920's.  Would your friend be able to comment on that or if when she was sunk she stayed on the bottom!

Regards from Canada

PJ

[AlistairD]

Paul

This is the photo reputed to be of TUZLA

[PJ]

Hi Alistair:

Thanks for posting this.  Tamer (OZKAN) from Istanbul also posted this picture at the beginning of this thread and it seems strange we cannot find any further information on Touzla.  I'd love to find more pictures of her under her Turkish flag(s) and to confirm if she survived the sinking of 30 August 1915 but I have received no replies from the naval and maritime historians I emailed in Turkey.

Best regards,

PJ
Victoria, BC Canada