Are you ready to literally "dive" into history? Divers are now exploring piles of British and French ships sunk off the coast of Turkey during World War I at Gallipoli. Tourism has turned the centuries-old wrecks in the Strait of Dardanelles into a "museum under the sea". The ships sank in 1915, when Ottoman and Allied forces clashed on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Gallipoli Underwater Park

The historic Gallipoli Underwater Park opened this month near the Turkish port of Canakkale, next to the ancient Greek ruins of Troy. Visitors can dive to the wrecks of 14 warships, including HMS Majestic, which was torpedoed on May 27, 1915 by a German submarine. "It's like a time machine that takes you back to 1915 and the First World War," says diver and documentary filmmaker Savas Karakas.

Some of the wrecks are in relatively shallow waters (less than 7 meters deep). The others are deeper, about 18 to 30 meters. L ship HMS Triumph lies up to 70 meters below the surface. Yusuf Kartal, an official of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, states that the underwater park is literally "another world". "You see submerged ships as 106 years ago and experience the chaos of second-hand war."

Although there is a threat of unexploded ordnance and ammunition in this area, the Turkish authorities have decided to open the area to divers. The government's decision has provoked criticism from those who consider sunken vessels to be military cemeteries, according to the London Times. The plan to turn the wrecks into an underwater park was born in 2017, after the centenary of the 1915-16 campaign. Officials had hoped to open the park this summer, but were forced to postpone the opening until October due to a renewed Covid-19 pandemic.

Gallipoli in 1915

Although British and French troops landed on Gallipoli on February 17, 1915, the actual fighting did not begin until April 25. The Allies planned to march on the peninsula, conquer Constantinople (now Istanbul) and open the way to the Black Sea, which would give Russia access to the Mediterranean. The conflicting battle of the trench led by Churchill resulted in huge losses on both sides. The Allies left Gallipoli 11 months later, in January 1916, and the disgraced Churchill withdrew from politics for almost 20 years. He returned to office in 1940, leading Great Britain to victory in World War II as Prime Minister.

HMS Majestic sank on May 27, 1915.

The failure of the Allies in Gallipoli was largely caused by the Ottoman commander Kemal, who managed to prevent British and French forces from advancing across their bridgeheads in several key battles. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1922, Kemal helped establish the Republic of Turkey as a secular state and adopted the surname Atatürk or "Father Turk". Today, the people of Turkey consider the Ottoman victory at Gallipoli to be the decisive moment of the end of the empire and the birth of a new nation.

Karakas, whose grandfather was wounded in Gallipoli, remembers seeing battle scars on the hands of his beloved grandfather. "I've always been afraid of them," Karakas said. "But when I come to Gallipoli and dive, the rusted metal and steel of the wrecks remind me of my grandfather's hands, and I keep his hand under water."

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