Slanders On Muslims In History

Henry Felix Woods or Woods Pasha

British Henry Felix Woods, also known as Woods Pasha, served more than 40 years in the Ottoman navy, most of it under Abdul Hamid II's reign. Woods was the main reason why the Ottoman navy completely rotted away during Abdul Hamid II's reign in the Golden Horn, despite the fact that it had been recently rebuilt under Sultan Abdülaziz's orders. According to the British Naval Forces policy, a British officer could not occupy a position for more than two years in a foreign country, but Woods spent 42 years in the Ottoman navy.

Engineers, captains and other technicians that Woods Pasha transferred for large sums, deliberately refrained from teaching their skills to the Turkish personnel and ensured that the true control was always with the British. As Woods described it in his memoir, Turkish mechanics, despite having worked for years, couldn't become head mechanics because British mechanics blocked their way to ascension. Particularly, the British mechanics enjoyed special privileges with respect to their duties.¹⁷³

Woods Pasha was also a negotiator between key figures at the capital and Sultan Abdul Hamid II. He took special care to introduce British journalists to the Sultan and secretly provided intelligence to the British regarding the Sultan and the administration.¹⁷⁴