Suleyman Nutki (Nutku Bey)

1854-1924

author of 7 books, captain in the days of sailing navies

Books

Ertugrul Firkateyni Faciasi

Muharebat-i Bahriye-i Osmaniye

Denizde Men-i-Musademe

Istilat-i-Bahriye

KURNA, Feddam Cavus

Muhendisin Refiki

Bahriye Kur'a Neferi

Wife: Firuze Firuze's mother's story is here

Children: Emrullah, Seyfi, Ata, Hayri and Sadullah

Towards the end of his life Nutku Bey, as he was commonly known, started writing and later dictated notes about his life. Ata preserved these notes and Yavuz gave them to the Naval Museum. (Suleyman Nutki was the founder of this museum.) Our thanks go to Nurcan Dal who deciphered these notes and translated them into the Turkish of today. You can download this doc file. It is over 110 pages when printed.

The programme our family can be found in the concluding paragraph of Suleyman Nutki's letter to his wife and children from Port Said dated 4/8/1909 (English translation follows)

Efendi Ogullarim,

Goruyor ve anliyorsunuz ki babaniz size istediklerinizi alabilmek icin denizlerde calisiyor, cabaliyor. Rahatini aramiyor, etrafimizda dalgalar kabariyor, gurluyor, vahsice hucum ediyorlar gemimize. Babaniz hep sizi dusunuyor. Bir gun gelecek babaniz cok daha yaslanmis olarak eve donecek ve size guzel seyler, maymun, papagan, kuslar, yemisler getirecek. Siz de onun yanina oturup okudugunuz kitaplardan ogrendiklerinizi babaniza anlatacaksiniz. Calismamis ve ogrenmemis olanlar o zaman utanir ve babasinin yuzune bakamaz. Simdi cok calisiniz.

Nutku

My sons Esquire,

You see and understand that your father is working hard on the seas without respite in order to provide for you what you need. He is not looking for his comfort, the waves build up to crest all around us and violently attack our ship. Your father is always thinking about you. One day he will return home as a much older man and will bring you nice presents, monkey, parrot, birds and good things to eat. Then you will sit next to him and tell him what you have learned from the books you have read. Those who have not worked and learned will then be ashamed to face their father. Now work hard.

Nutku

this is also the concluding paragraph of a talk I presented at "Ikinci Donanma Savaslari Tarihi" at Golcuk on April 29, 2004. (In Turkish html file, or doc file)