Egyptian-Ottoman Wars At the outbreak of the
First Egyptian–Ottoman War in 1831, prompted by the Egyptian invasion of
Palestine,
Mahmudiye was already in poor condition, despite being only a few years old. Much of her
hull was dry-rotted, though it still served as the Ottoman
flagship during the war. During the war, the Ottoman fleet, along with a
squadron from the British
Royal Navy blockaded the main Egyptian naval base at
İskenderun. This included a long-range bombardment on 18 August 1831. The war ended in 1833 following the intervention of Russia on behalf of the Ottoman government and pressure from Britain, France, and Austria on Egypt to withdraw, but unresolved tensions between the
Eyalet of Egypt and the central government resulted in the
Second Egyptian–Ottoman War of 1839–1841. After the death of Sultan
Mahmud II on 1 July 1839, an internal power struggle resulted in the installation of the pro-Russian
Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha under Sultan
Abdulmejid I. On 4 July 1839, the commander of the Ottoman fleet, displeased over the Russian influence in the new government, decided to take the bulk of the Ottoman fleet, including
Mahmudiye, over to the Egyptian side. He set sail for
Beşik Bay, where an international fleet composed of British, French, and Russian warships was present. With assistance from the pro-Egyptian French, he then moved the fleet to
Kos, where he entered into negotiations with Egypt to accept the fleet at İskenderun on 14 July. A year later, in July 1840, the British issued an ultimatum for Egypt to return the ships and surrender the
Levant to the Ottoman government; the Egyptians refused, and so the Royal Navy bombarded all of the major ports in the region, culminating in the
Bombardment of Acre on 1 November. This forced the Egyptians to capitulate, and on 27 November
Mahmudiye and the rest of the Ottoman ships were released to return to Constantinople.
Later career Mahmudiye participated in the
Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55) during the
Crimean War (1854–56) under the command of
Admiral of the Fleet Kayserili Ahmet Pasha. It was honored with the title
Gazi following her successful mission in Sevastopol. With the introduction of
steam power at the end of the 1840s, the conversion of the pure sail-driven ship into a steamer was considered. On inspecting the hull in Britain in the late 1850s, however, it was discovered to be badly rotted, and not worth reconstructing. The machinery that had been allocated to
Mahmudiye was instead installed on the
frigate . During the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878,
Mahmudiye was placed into service as a
troop transport, as the government lacked sufficient transport ships. The ship's great size made her an effective transport, owing to her ability to carry a large number of troops. On 27 December, four Russian
torpedo boats attacked
Mahmudiye and the ironclad while they were moored in
Batumi, but all of their attacks missed. ==Notes==