Sultan Mehmed V Reshad of Turkey (1844 - 1918) with his sons in an imperial barge returning to the Old Palace, with the more modern barge standing off in distance (see below). Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 until his death in 1918, Mehmed - original name Mehmed Resad - spent much of his life in seclusion until the forced abdication of his brother Sultan Abdul Hamid II at the hands of the Young Turks in 1909. A kindly gentle man with an interest in Persian literature, Mehmed was effectively little more than a puppet Sultan whose actions were directed by leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress. Mehmed was little able to govern of his own accord and thus accepted direction from Young Turk leaders including Enver Pasha. In the rear one can see the Turkish State Barge, the 'Seughudlu, built by Sir W G Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. Ltd. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Launched at the Elswick shipyard by the Turkish Ambassadress in 1903.