Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon recognized the imminent outbreak of war, and so immediately sailed to Pola for repair work for "Goeben". The ships were then ordered to steam to Constantinople. While en route, they were pursued by British forces, but "Goeben" and "Breslau" managed to evade them and reach Istanbul by 10 August 1914. "Goeben" was transferred to the Ottoman Empire and renamed after Sultan Selim I. Popularly known as "Yavûz", she was designated as the flagship of the Ottoman Navy, but she retained her German crew. "Goeben", flying the Ottoman flag, bombarded the Russian port of Sevastopol, captured and sank a Russian minesweeper, and damaged a destroyer on 29 October 1914. The Russian government responded by declaring war on the Ottoman Empire on 1 November; Britain and France followed suit on 5 November. By acting as a fleet in being, "Goeben" effectively blocked a Russian advance into the Bosporus, and defended against a similar incursion of British and French pre-dreadnoughts. More powerful British and French warships—which could have dealt with "Goeben"—could not be risked in the heavily mined and U-boat patrolled Turkish waters.