May 19, 1919 | Mustafa Kemal in Samsun

Mavi Boncuk |

When Mustafa Kemal was in Erzurum, on the night of 8 July 1919, he received a telegram from Yıldız Palace stating that he had been terminated from his official duty, and sent a telegram to the Palace, informing him that he had resigned both from his duty and from his military service. Mustafa Kemal, who was relieved when Kazım Karabekir came to him and said "We are all at your service", and after the Chief of Staff Colonel Kazım Bey (Dirik) said "To whom should I deliver the document", Kemal Pasha showed Hüseyin Bey as an address. The file containing the correspondence of Mustafa Kemal from his appointment to the 9th Army Inspectorate until 23 June was thus transferred to Kazım Karabekir, the highest ranking officer in the headquarters.

Murat Bardakçı tells in his book that Turkey did not know the details of the Samsun journey until 1927. So much so that even the name of the Bandırma Ferry is unknown. Bardakçı shares an article published in 1927 in the Cumhuriyet newspaper. The article states, "... A new page in Turkey's history has been opened since the moment Gazi, on 19 May, stepped off the Inebolu Ferry of the Seyrisefain Administration and stepped onto the Samsun pier." It is not known how the Bandırma Ferry turned into İnebolu, but the state continues this mistake for a while in its official correspondence. Until 1933 that is. That year, it is on the agenda to preserve this historical ferry as a museum. It is understood then that the journey was not made with İnebolu, but with Bandırma. Then the Bandırma Ferry is searched and it is learned that the ferry was dismantled and broken into pieces only in 1933, eight years ago.

Once purchased by maritime businesses Bardakçi stating that uses four separate ferry Bandirma name, tells of two ferries mixed together. Mustafa Kemal and his friends bearing, the Trocadero, the first name that was built in 1878 and 1910, the steamer Banda area after the name of the Administration of the Ottoman Seyrisefa. May 19, former duties after time mail service returning to Bandirma Ferry, by challenge failure engines next year, and repairing it would be too costly Understood By 1925, the Maritime Administration has disposed of the price of scrap. Ferry, Lighthouse estuary in which the ship was purchased by Mr. İlhami bozmacılıg and disintegrated within a few months. Today is a historic trip to the home of a finalized no photo of Bandirma Vapuru. Overall the ships used the photo as the Bandirma Ferry was built in 1886 to perpetuate the actual Banda Vapuru name Banda in 1926, 1933 If Ulgen name of the first name of the Medway and ferry removed in the 1960s. The first ferry was caused by the debate that is larger than any time this ferry. 

SOURCE: TURKISH ARTICLE

On May 1, 1919, İsmail Hakkı (1871-1940) (Durusu) was appointed as the captain of the Bandırma Ferry, which was to carry Mustafa Kemal Pasha and other assigned soldiers and officers to Samsun.

Mustafa Kemal's sister Makbule Hanım (Atadan) conveyed what Mustafa Kemal Pasha said while saying goodbye to his mother, Zübeyde Hanım, as follows; "Mother, I'm going to Anatolia tomorrow. The condition of these places is not clear. Just like Thessaloniki has been lost, so can these places. I will try to save it. I will do whatever I can. But there is a lot of danger in this business. There is death and not coming back. Say goodbye... Listen to them well, Makbule. If things get bad, don't leave here. You'll spend all your money, if you run out of money, you'll sell your carpets and valuables. I'll say it once again. You won't go out no matter what. If I fail, they'll kill you anyway, at such time, of course, I'll be dead too."

THE WAR OF Liberation STARTED WITH THE AMASYA CIRCULAR (pictured above)

Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who was ordered to return to Istanbul due to the rallies held, ignored the calls and continued to sow the seeds of the independence struggle in Anatolia.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha prepared the Amasya Circular, in which he spoke of national sovereignty, on 21 - 22 June and signed it as the 9th Army Inspector. In the circular, which is a declaration of revolution, it was stated that the Istanbul Government was under the control of the occupation forces, and it was underlined that the nation itself would save the nation. Thus, the War of Independence, in which its purpose was stated and its method was determined, began.

The only known photograph of this boat was taken by F. Toula in the 1910s and printed in Geologenfahrten. Only the bow deck is visible.

Mavi Boncuk Article: " SS Bandırma was a Turkish passenger cargo vessel, which became famous for her historical role in taking Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from İstanbul to Samsun in May 1919 that marked the establishment of the Turkish national movement.

The steamer Bandırma, built 1878 in Paisley, Scotland, was a 47.70 m cargo ship with 192 gross tons capacity. She was christened "Torocarderto", and under this name she sailed five years long as a freighter for Dussey and Robinson. In 1883, she was purchased by a Greek ship-owner H. Psicha Preaus, and renamed SS Kymi. 7 years later, she was sold to another Greek ship-owner Cap. Andreadis sailing under the same name. In 1891, she went down following an accident, but could be floated again.

The Ottoman Maritime Co. purchased the ship in 1894, renaming her SS Panderma. She served in the Sea of Marmara as a passenger cargo vessel. On October 28, 1910, the company's status was changed, and it was renamed Ottoman Transportation Authority. The ship’s name was also changed to SS Bandırma, Turkish for Panderma, and she served then as a mail ship in the Turkish seas.

During World War I, SS Bandırma collided with the British submarine HMS E11, and survived a torpedo attack of the same. Bandırma was taken out of duty in 1924. She was sold 1925, and demolished in a shipyard in Golden Horn within four months."

THE BOAT HAD A COMPASS AND THE STEERING WAS NOT BAD