It would have been necessary in any case to detain the Turkish ships in British ports for the duration of hostilities to observe neutrality agreements, and in this situation compensation by purchase was essentially obligatory.

The ships were designed by a Turkish naval architect, Ahmed Pasha, as small ironclad rams of limited size and endurance for use in the eastern Mediterranean.

They required considerable dockyard work after purchase to bring them up to anything near British standards in armament and equipment, but were never comparable in military value to other contemporary Royal Naval battleships.

They were poorly armed and of low speed, and their meagre coal supply prevented their being used on blockade work or at any distance from a home port.

They were, however, of shallow draught, allowing them to work close inshore, and after being labelled as "armoured rams" and "second-class battleships" they ultimately received the appellation "coast-defence ship".