IT was built at the Fairfield yard in Govan just over a century ago and saw service during the Gallipoli campaign, one of the key battlegrounds of the Great War.

The story of Waterwitch could have ended there and then, as it did with hundreds of other ships involved in the war effort.

Remarkably, however, the vessel is still in business today - in Turkey.

Long since renamed M/Y Halas (the initials stand for Motor Yacht), it is a luxury coastal cruiser that plies the southern and western coasts of Turkey. In winter, it doubles as a boutique hotel.

In her time she played host to Prince Charles and other members of the royal family.

Halas, it adds, is frequently used by the President of Turkey to host visiting heads of state.

It's a remarkable story, and now the vessel is to be the subject of a special display being launched in Govan next Wednesday.

The launch event, 'From Govan to Gallipoli', takes place at Fairfield Heritage, on Govan Road. One of the guest speakers will be John Dixon, grandson of Lt John Edward Loveluck, who was in charge of Waterwitch almost a century ago. Mr Dixon will be joined by Dr Burcin Cakir, a Turkish historian at Glasgow Caledonian University.

"We were approached by the Gallipoli-100 Project, which was looking to do a touring exhibition on the history of Halas and was keen for it to start in Govan, because this is where the ship was built, at Fairfield," said Abigail Morris, the Fairfield Co-ordinator. "It's a small display but it is also something that we thought it important to do.

"The ship was built as a passenger ferry for the Ottoman government, and was to be known as Reshid Pasha, but while it was being constructed it was taken over by the British Admiralty, as war had broken out between Britain and Turkey.

"Originally the Admiralty, which re-named the vessel M/Y Waterwitch, didn't feel that it was suitable for war use - but it ended up being an invaluable part of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as a tender that carried troops and supplies onto shore at Gallipoli, as bigger liners couldn't get in that close."

Later, under the command of Lt. Loveluck, Waterwitch supported the British forces that were occupying Istanbul.

After Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, expelled foreign forces from Turkey, Waterwitch was finally handed over to its owners, the Bosphorus Steam Navigation Company. In 1923, it re-named the vessel Halas, which means 'deliverance'.

According to a short film put together by Gallipoli-100, Halas became a passenger ferry and an important part of a network of steam ships that together ferried millions of passengers across the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia.

Steamships gradually became obsolete but instead of meeting its end in a wrecker's yard it was rescued by Haldun Simavi, a Turkish publisher, and his wife, Cigdem, who went on to turn it into a luxury motor yacht.

In the last decade of the 20th century, the couple ran Halas as a private yacht that cruised mainly off Turkey's Mediterranean coast, and it was during this time that its more notable guests included Prince Charles and Princess Margaret.

In time, Halas passed into the hands of new owners, Caroline and Mustafa Koc, who have spent large sums on an extensive refurbishment. Yesterday, however, it was reported that Mr Koç, the chairman of Turkey's largest conglomerate, had died of a heart attack.

According to Gallipoli-100, the old Fairfield-built vessel now has twin 500-horsepower diesel engines, which give it a top speed of 15 knots. It can accommodate 24 passengers in 12 luxury suites and cabins and its large indoor dining room can seat up to 60 people,

John Lawton of Gallipoli 100 said: "The Gallipoli-100 Project is a joint endeavour by British and Turkish media professionals, who themselves have witnessed wars, to question the enormous waste of lives at Gallipoli.

"In wider terms the project also seeks to ask, in terms of sending young men off on ill-conceived military adventures such as Iraq and Afghanistan - what really has changed since World War One?

"Halas has the distinction of being the only ship to have served at Gallipoli that is still sailing today, which is why we are using her as a vehicle to tell the story of the conflict on film and through events like the one at Fairfield next Wednesday."

According to John Dixon, his grandfather, Lt Loveluck, was a Welshman who had initially been apprenticed to his father, the owner of four sailing ships. Loveluck enjoyed a long career, sailing all over the world before eventually ending up on the Waterwitch.

He "happened to be in the right place at the right time" and was promoted to lieutenant and put in charge of the Glasgow-built ferry in January 1918, Mr Dixon said.

He said that by this time the Waterwitch was operating in and around Thessalonika as fighting was also raging in Bulgaria and Greece, and it did much the same ferrying of soldiers and wounded as it had at Gallipoli.

After the war, the ship went to Constantinople, he added, "where it served as part of the headquarters of the occupying forces at Istanbul."

Today, under the name of Halas, the vessel is still in Turkish waters - but for an altogether more peaceable purpose.

* The launch of From Govan to Gallipoli at 6pm next Wednesday is an invitation-only event but members of the public are welcome to attend afterwards, at Fairfield Heritage, 1048 Govan Road, Glasgow G51 4XS. It will be on show until the end of March. Fairfield Heritage is open Monday to Friday, 1pm-4pm. Useful websites: http://www.fairfieldgovan.co.uk; http://gallipoli100education.org.uk; http://www.myhalas.com/