Public subscriptions financed Ottoman battleships

How could the Ottoman Empire pay for battleships while its finances were so weak?

The ships were funded through national subscription, with the public contributing toward their purchase.

An indebted Ottoman state could afford expensive foreign-built capital ships through national subscription, with members of the public contributing toward the purchase. That funding method made the ship a visible popular investment as well as a government weapon. It also explains why seizure or cancellation could produce unusually intense political anger. The source of the money shaped the later politics around the vessel.