A Situational Analysis of Shipbuilding and its Organization in Antalya in the 19th Century

Abstract

The sources providing detailed information about the types of ships built in the provincial shipyards of the Ottoman period, including their structural characteristics, capacities, armaments, and personnel, are limited. The lack of materials, such as drawings, plans, paintings, or maps prior to the mid-19th century poses a significant challenge to the comprehensive understanding of these subjects. However, information about the structural features of the ships and the shipbuilding typologies can be found in the accounts of local and foreign travellers, and on rare occasions, in their drawings. The orders sent from the centre and the cost books kept by the officials responsible for shipbuilding during the construction provide substantial evidence for understanding the nature of the provincial shipyards and the ships built there. Furthermore, the correspondence between the centre and the provinces, reflecting the difficulties encountered in procuring materials or labour before and during the construction, contains detailed information about the nature, size, and materials of the ships.

In this context, based on the records of shipbuilding in Antalya, this study attempts to examine in detail the ship types built in the shipyards of Antalya, the organisational structures of the workers, the wages paid, the stages of shipbuilding, the responsibilities of the officials involved, and the control mechanisms developed by the centre over this organisation. Thus, it aims to contribute to the structural and functional characteristics of provincial shipyards through shipbuilding activities in Antalya, particularly, and the procedures and processes followed by the Tersâne-i Âmire regarding shipbuilding in general.