TCG Ulucalireis Submarine Museum opens door to visitors

Türkiye’s first submarine museum, ‘TCG Ulucalireis,’ is set to welcome visitors starting March 18

The “TCG Ulucalireis” submarine, which served in the Turkish Navy for 29 years and was brought to the Canakkale Naval Museum for exhibition, will open its doors to visitors on March 18 after renovation.

Built in the Portsmouth Shipyard of the U.S. on July 7, 1944, with a length of 94 meters, a width of 8.5 meters, a weight of 2000 tons, and a draft of 4.5 meters, “TCG Ulucalireis” was named after a thin, long, agile and durable fish species.

It was launched under the name “USS Thornback.”

Born into war and struggle, the submarine left Pearl Harbor in June 1945 to conduct its first voyage to become a combat outpost and participated in World War II upon an order off the coast of Japan.

The submarine, renovated as “Guppy IIA” and became more robust in 1946, joined the Turkish Naval Forces by hoisting the Turkish flag at the handover ceremony held in Charleston, U.S., on July 2, 1971.

It was named after Kilic Ali Pasha, also known as its Captain, Derya Uluc Ali Reis.

The submarine took part in naval raids alongside the great Turkish sailor Turgut Reis since 1548. Sultan Selim II renamed Kilic Ali because it emerged from the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 without losing a single ship and inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.

It began to be mentioned with the name of Uluc Ali Reis, who participated in the activity of saving Muslims from Crusader oppression, saved this country from Spanish influence by conquering Tunisia in 1574 and preserved the Turkish Navy as the most significant naval power of the world during his 16-year captaincy.

First dive with the Turkish flag 53 years ago

“TCG Ulucalireis” made its first dive under the Turkish flag in the Atlantic Ocean on July 3, 1971.

The submarine, commanded by the martyred Admiral Kemal Kayacan, joined the Navy on May 3, 1972.

It took action from the north of Crete in the last phase of the 1974 Exercise Denizkurdu-2 and participated in the Cyprus Peace Operation.

“TCG Ulucalireis” ranked first in torpedo shooting in 1972, 1973, and 1996. It was appreciated as the submarine that developed the most underwater attacks without being caught in the 1990 Exercise Denizkurdu-1.

“TCG Ulucalireis” made its 1645th and last dive in the Northern Aegean on May 30, 2000, and was decommissioned on Aug. 8, 2000.

Completing 1645 dives in 29 years

During its 29-year service in the Turkish Naval Forces, “TCG Ulucalireis” participated in 37 national exercises and 9 NATO exercises, performed 12 frontline and seven rotation missions, fired 160 torpedoes, conducted many mine-laying training sessions, SAT-submarine joint training and rescue ship-submarine joint training and made 1645 dives.

The Naval Forces Command transformed “TCG Ulucalireis,” which was docked and taken into comprehensive maintenance at Golcuk Shipyard in 2001, into the country’s first submarine museum in Türkiye.

As a result of the comprehensive restoration activities that took about a year as of March 2, 2022, Türkiye’s first submarine museum, “TCG Ulucalireis,” started its duty at the Canakkale Naval Museum in the waters of Canakkale, the eternal resting place of the martyred submariners Dumlupınar and Atılay.

“We are waiting for all Turkish people, especially our young people, to visit.”

Canakkale Naval Museum Commander Colonel Serhan Aras said in his statement that the “TCG Ulucalireis,” built in the U.S. in 1944, is a magnificent sea vessel.

Stating that they are gearing up to present “TCG Ulucalireis” to the country on March 18, Colonel Aras said: “Our submarine was put under restoration last year. Our submarine joined the Navy in 1971 and was taken out of service in 2000. We are discussing a submarine that served the Turkish Navy for 29 years. Therefore, in the last year, we took our submarine back into restoration to turn it into a museum.”

“We are talking about the first submarine museum of Türkiye. After a year-long restoration, we will open it to visitors in Canakkale waters on March 18. We are waiting for all Turkish people, especially our young people, to visit here as a monument in memory of the Atilay and Dumlupınar submarines,” he concluded.

Source: AA

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