The Logbook of the Ottoman Navy: Ships, Legends, Sailors exhibition intertwines three distinct, yet integrated mythologies of the sea. The imprint of the ships in Ottoman seafaring history, the battles they were engaged in and the heroes who became legendary in these battles assume their places on the stage of civilization in their historic magnitude. At the center of the construct lies the extraordinary adventure of the transition from traditional to modern seafaring methods. The quest for power, the demolished thrones and man’s identification of his fate with the sea is perhaps the oldest story behind this adventure. The cornerstones of a long history that extends from the legacy of a 16th-century Ottoman gallery to the battlecruiser Yavuz, is once again brought to the light of day through the memories of seamen.
