Sarkis Torossian ( , 1891 – August 17 , 1954 ) was a decorated Ottoman Armenian captain who fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and according to his memoirs , was the first person to sink a British battleship . After the Armenian Genocide however , when most of his family was massacred , he switched sides and joined the fight against the Ottoman Empire . He later moved to the United States where he wrote and published his memoirs , '' From Dardanelles to Palestine : a true story of five battle fronts of Turkey '' . His story has led to censorship in Turkey , where Turkish historians have tried to dispute the authenticity of his memoirs , with some even claiming he never existed . In anticipation of the publication of Torossian 's memoirs in Turkey by Ayhan Aktar , Torosian 's descendants were discovered by local historian Paul Vartan Sookiasian . From there , Taner Akçam interviewed Torossian 's granddaughter who described her grandfather 's life in detail
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Sarkis Torossian