page_title: Nikolaos Votsis
section_title: Sinking the Feth-i Bülend
hierarchical_section_title: Nikolaos Votsis / Life / Sinking the Feth-i Bülend
caption_attribution_description: English: Torpedoing of the Ottoman battleship Feth-i-Bulend in Thessaloniki during the 1st Balkan War Ελληνικά: Η βύθιση της οθωμανικής θωρακοβάριδος Φετχ-ι-Μπουλέντ από το Νικόλαο Βότση στο λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης, κατά τον Α' Βαλκανικό Πόλεμο.
context_page_description: Nikolaos Votsis was a Greek naval officer who distinguished himself during the Balkan Wars and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral.
context_section_description: Setting sail from his base at Litochoro, on the night of 31 October [O.S. 18 October] 1912, Votsis led his vessel into the harbour of Thessaloniki, at the time still held by the Ottomans. Inside the harbour, which was protected by minefields and coastal batteries, lay a handful of Ottoman vessels: aside from four tugboats, the only warship was the old ironclad Feth-i Bülend. The ship had been disarmed and converted into a barracks ship, with its weaponry having been used to reinforce the coastal batteries.
  According to Votsis' own description, he evaded the searchlights of Karaburnu fortress which stood at the entrance of the harbour, and sighted the Feth-i Bülend at 23:20. Sailing closer and directly towards the unsuspecting vessel, he launched his starboard torpedo at 23:35 from a distance of 150 m, followed by the portside torpedo. As he turned his ship around, he also launched the deck-mounted torpedo, but it exploded on the quay. While the torpedoes struck the Feth-i Bülend, Votsis sailed out of the harbour at full speed, relying on his craft's shallow draught to pass over the minefield and sailed towards Greek-held territory.
  The Feth-i Bülend sank rapidly. Casualties however amounted to only seven men from its crew, as most were ashore manning the guns. The sinking of the Feth-i Bülend may not have had much military significance, but it provided a great morale boost to the Greeks: it was the first of a series of naval successes in the war, and the Hydriot Votsis was propelled to the status of a national hero, readily associated with the legendary fireship captains of the Greek Revolution.
caption: A highly exaggerated depiction of the sinking of the Feth-i Bülend in a popular lithograph. Votsis is shown in the lower left corner.
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