Wreck of the H.M.S Majestic, a Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, which sank off the coasts of Gallipoli in northwestern Turkey's Çanakkale province during the World War I, will be opened to diving tourism under a new project.
The project which aims to transform Gallipoli into an open-air museum initiated by the Presidency of the Gallipoli Historic Area with the support of Çanakkale Governorship.
Saying that they have been closely following the ongoing works in the protected combat areas across the world, Chairman of the Gallipoli Historic Area İsmail Kaşdemir underscored that Çanakkale historic site is the best preserved combat zone.
Kaşdemir said that a historical step has been taken in order to look at the Ottoman Empire's Çanakkale naval victory from a new perspective with the project.
After the scientific researches were completed in the wrecks of the battleship, the area will be open to sportive diving as well.
The H.M.S Majestic battleship was sunk with its 49 men during when the Allied forces, Britain and France attempted a naval breakthrough in March 1915 through the Dardanelles strait with the aim of capturing the Ottoman capital of Istanbul and to secure a vital sea route for Russia, the third member of the Allied.
After a naval campaign failed to stave off the outnumbered Ottoman troops, the Allies launched an amphibious landing which decimated the majority of the Ottoman troops stationed there. However, the Ottomans managed to cling to this relatively small patch of land for months before the Allies finally evacuated the area in December 1915.
The Gallipoli campaign failed with heavy casualties sustained on both sides. The Allies' total casualties amounted to 46,000 soldiers and the casualties among Ottoman forces were 65,000, according to Turkish sources, although the exact number of casualties is still unknown.
