Ertuğrul Frigate: A Turkish Naval Ship in Japan

This project was kicked off in December 2006 in collaboration with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology-INA and contributions of Turkish Underwater Archeology Foundation. The purpose of the project is to find and bring to surface the remains of the Ertuğrul Frigate, which sank to waters in Japan in 1890, and to revive the memory of the sailors who martyrized and those who were saved and the Japanese fishermen who helped them both in Turkey and Japan.

Accordingly, a team of important names of the underwater archeology from Turkey and the world carried out the research and dived at the site. In addition to the underwater works, activities intending to strength the public’s memory on the Ertuğrul Frigate were carried out. The two of such initiations are the “Meeting of the Crew’s Relatives” held on 3 January 2008, which was attended by the relatives of the crew of the Ertuğrul Frigate who were located, and the children’s book published in collaboration with Yapı Kredi Cultural Activities, Arts and Publishing for introducing the new generations with Ertuğrul Frigate. The Ertuğrul Frigate Project has been supported and closely followed up by official authorities. President Abdullah Gül went to the city of Kushimoto during his visit to Japan in June 2008 and honored the ceremony held at the Ertuğrul Monument and visited the Ertuğrul Museum.

The project won the first place at the in the “Sponsorship Category” in 2008 Golden World Awards organized by the International Public Relations Association-IPRA.