In January 1921, the Ottoman Navy ship ‘Alemdar’ was hijacked by a pro-Independence crew from Istanbul and taken first to Ereğli on the western Black Sea coast and then, nine months later, to Trabzon where the ‘Alemdar’ would serve a variety of critical roles in the Turkish War of Independence. Two of the ship’s logs (June 1921May 1922 and January 1923-November 1923), written in Ottoman Turkish, resided for nearly 90 years with the family of an ‘Alemdar’ captain. The activity recorded in the logs reflects both the daily, routine business of the ship and also the historic events that the ship and its crew participated in. Daily chores included weather readings and sea conditions, ship’s maintenance and crew status. Among the various duties taken on by the ‘Alemdar’ were: transporting weapons and ammunition from Trabzon to Samsun and Amasra for use at the battle front by Mustafa Kemal’s army; transporting weapons and ammunition from Bolshevik Russia back to Trabzon for onward delivery; salvaging disabled ships along the Black Sea coast; engaging in two sea battles with Greek Pontus rebels; transporting Moslem refugees from Batumi to Trabzon. The first log reflects the ‘Alemdar’’s escape from Ereğli to Trabzon in October 1921, under constant pressure by the French Navy, in particular. The second log ends in November 1923 with the return of the ‘Alemdar’ to the shipyard in the Golden Horn, Istanbul, under the control of the new Turkish Republic.