On 24 August 1854,[8][9][10][11] during the Crimean War, the Ottoman Empire took its first foreign loans.[12][13] The empire entered into subsequent loans, partly to finance the construction of railways and telegraph lines, and partly to finance deficits between revenues and the lavish expenditures of the imperial court, such as the construction of new palaces on the Bosphorus strait in Constantinople.[14] Some financial commentators have noted that the terms of these loans were exceptionally favourable to the British and French banks (owned by the Rothschild family) which facilitated them, whereas others have noted that the terms reflected the imperial administration's willingness to constantly refinance its debts.[14][15] A large amount of money was also spent for building new ships for the Ottoman Navy during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz (r. 1861–1876). In 1875, the Ottoman Navy had 21 battleships and 173 warships of other types, which formed the third largest naval fleet in the world after those of the British and French navies.