50 Lira Frigate Ertuğrul

The Ertuğrul was an Ottoman steam frigate that sank in a typhoon off the coast of Kushimoto, Japan, in September 1890, killing over 500 of her crew. Japanese villagers risked their own lives to rescue 69 survivors, feeding and caring for them before the Ottoman government arranged their return. That act of rescue seeded a warmth between Turkey and Japan that has persisted — Japan notably evacuated Turkish citizens from Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War in 1985, a debt the Turkish government explicitly attributed to Kushimoto.

The 2010 issue falls within a broader Darphane commemorative program marking Ottoman naval history.