The Ship that Changed the World - The Escape of the Goeben to the Dardanelles in 1914 by Van der Vat, Dan

Bethesda, 1986, Adler, US first edition, hard bound in dust jacket, VG/VG- ( dust lightly worn at edges & repaired tear), 6x9, 252 pages, end paper maps, illus, bibliog, index.-----------------------------------------------------In August 1914, the Germans formally handed over to the Turks the battle cruiser "Goeben" ("Sultan Yavus Selim") and the light cruiser "Breslau" ("Midilli"), but they were still on the books of the German Imperial Navy under the command of Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon when the war began. Eluding both the British and French navies, Souchon sailed through the Straits of Dardanelles into the Black Sea. Passing his ships off as Turkish he bombarded Sevastopol on 29 October 1914 resulting in pushing Turkey into the war on the German side.As the First World War began, the Germans had just one capital ship, the battle-cruiser "Goeben", stationed in the Mediterranean. Under the command of a ruthless admiral, the "Goeben", escorted by the light cruiser "Breslau", defied all odds and eluded both the French Navy and the British Mediterranean Fleet to cross the sea and reach the Dardanelles. Once there, the Germans pushed Turkey into the war on their side by bursting into the Black Sea under Turkish colors and shelling the Russian coast. The ensuing closure of the Dardanelles cut off Russia's economic lifeline, precipitating the Russian Revolution and forcing Lenin to conclude a humiliating peace with Germany. And Turkey's eventual defeat lead to the downfall of its empire, causing a political upheaval in the Middle East. How was the "Geoben" able to accomplish such an incredible feat on its own? Drawing on German, French, and British sources, Dan van der Vat examines the disastrous failure by the French and the British to bring the "Goeben" to action. His research reveals the entire story of the "Goeben" affair, including high political and diplomatic drama, an exciting chase, the trial of a British Admiral, and daring naval operations from the bombardment of Sevastopol to the tragedy of Gallipoli.~