Mesudiye was a British-built central-battery ironclad whose survival into the Balkan Wars contrasted with the Royal Navy's disposal of her sister HMS Superb in 1906. A 1903 reconstruction added Niclausse boilers and a substantial secondary battery, but the intended pair of Vickers 9-inch guns never arrived. Wooden dummies occupied their positions instead. The ship therefore looked more complete on paper than she was in combat. She remained in service until the Royal Navy submarine B11 sank her in 1914.
Notable Point · 1:19:19-1:22:37
Mesudiye's wooden guns expose an incomplete refit
The reconstructed Ottoman ironclad received new boilers and secondary weapons, but wooden dummies stood where her intended Vickers 9-inch guns should have been.