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Colours of flag buoys entering Mersina (Mersin) from sea

Date1918

Object number00044351

NameNaval Signal

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 163 x 203 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Leila Dilley

Terms

DescriptionMersin (Mersina) is a major port on the southern coast of Turkey. On 30 October 1918 the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros ending hostilities with the Allies at the end of WWI. In December 1918 HMT CANBERRA was at Mersin to embark released British prisoners of war in accordance with the armistice. Many of the prisoners had been captured at the seige of Kut Al Amara, Iraq, where a large Allied force surrendered to the Turks on 29 April 1916. A crew member on HMT CANBERRA has drawn the bouys that marked the safe entrance into the harbour on an unused Naval Signal form.HistoryThe Howard Smith Limited passenger liner TSS CANBERRA was requisitioned for the Allied war effort on 18 of October 1917 in Sydney, leaving with troops for Egypt in November 1917 as HMT / HMAT CANBERRA. Thereafter it was used to transport troops and stores between Mediterranean ports and the Persian Gulf, and to transport troops from Egypt to France to fight on the Western Front during the major German Spring offensive that started in March 1918 and ended in July at year. The Signal Log 00044336 in the ANMM's collection indicates that between June and November 1918 HMT CANBERRA was part of convoys between Alexandria, Taranto, Port Said, Aden and Salonika (Thessaloniki, Greece). The Armistice of Mudros, signed on 30 October 1918, brought and an end to hosilities between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire. In December 1918 HMT CANBERRA was involved in Allied post war operations at Beirut, Lebanon, and Mersina (Mersin), Turkey. At Mersin HMT CANBERRA embarked released British prisoners of war taken by the Turks at the seige of Kut al-Amara in April 1916. Thereafter it was involved in returning British troops from India and Australian troops from Europe until 27 April 1920 when the CANBERRA was returned to Howard Smith Line.SignificanceJose, Arthur W, The Royal Australian Navy 1914 - 1918, p424-426, 484.