Although the War of Independence took place mainly in Anatolian territory, the Black Sea nevertheless played a great role in this struggle. When Mustafa Kemal set sail from Istanbul to the Black Sea in the hopes of rescuing the country from enemy, he arrived in Samsun.

Hundreds of old and weak boats like the Bandırma bringing the great leader to Anatolia, later contributed logistic support. During the course of the War of Independence, there were only 28 vessels in the Black Sea featuring more than five tons. Although the total capacity of these vessels was approximately 7800t, they managed to transport 300 000t war material within 36 months from the Russian ports of Batumi, Tuapse and Novorossiysk to İnebolu, Trabzon and Samsun ports in Anatolia. Atatürk pinned his hopes on veteran vessels like Gazal, Rusumat-4 and finally Alemdar, in these words: “My eyes are set on Sakarya and Dumlupınar; and my ears on İnebolu.”