Mediterranean naval engagements during World War I
Encyclopedia
There was sporadic naval warfare in the Mediterranean during World War I between the Central Powers
' navies of Austria-Hungary
, Germany
and the Ottoman Empire
and the Allied navies of Italy
, France
, Greece
, Japan
, America
and the British Empire
.
in present day Italy to Cattaro
in modern Montenegro) and no colonies, Austria-Hungary was much more of a land power than a sea power.
Indeed, the Austro-Hungarian Navy
included four powerful Tegetthoff class
battleships and a number of submarines. In addition, the Germans managed to send some U-boat
s to the Mediterranean which operated from Austrian naval bases, initially under the Austrian navy flag, later under the German navy flag.
battleships (Dante Alighieri
as a prototype, Giulio Cesare
, Conte di Cavour
and Leonardo da Vinci
of the Conte di Cavour class
, Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio
of the Andrea Doria Class
).
During the war, the Italian Royal Navy spent her major efforts in the Adriatic Sea
, fighting the Austro-Hungarian Navy
.
The resulting so called Adriatic Campaign of World War I
consisted mainly of Austro-Hungarian coastal bombardments of Italy's Adriatic coast, wider-ranging German/Hungarian submarine warfare into the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, and Italian use of new weapons (mainly MAS
and human torpedo
) that were successful in the sinking of two Austrian battleships.
For most of the war the Italian and Austro-Hungarian navies each kept a relatively passive watch over their counterparts. The Italian fleet lost the pre-dreadnought battleship Benedetto Brin
at Brindisi
(27 September 1915) and the dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci
at Taranto
(2 August 1916) due to magazine explosion (although some historians argue of Austrian sabotage). In the last part of the war, the Regia Marina developed new naval weapons: the MAS boats, that sank the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István
in the Adriatic Sea
on 10 June 1918; and an early type of human torpedo
(Mignatta) entered the harbour of Pula
and sank the Austro-Hungarian flagship
Viribus Unitis
on 1 November 1918.
, the war began with most of the large, but elderly French
fleet deployed on escort duty to protect convoys across the Mediterranean from the smaller, but newer Austrian
fleet and cover against possible Italian
entry into the war on Austria's side. Several British ships were also sent to Malta
to reinforce the British Mediterranean Fleet. Germany also had a small Mediterranean fleet (based at the Austrian naval base of Pola in current day Croatia) and at the commencement of hostilities, the powerful battlecruiser Goeben
and the light cruiser Breslau
, were patrolling the western Mediterranean. The German Mediterranean fleet did not find the French convoys, so proceeded to bombard the French cities of Bizerte
and Bone
in modern-day Tunisia
. Pursued by superior French and British forces, the Goeben and Breslau reached Turkey
, where they were nominally transferred to the Ottoman Navy when the Ottoman Empire
entered the war on the Central Powers side, and fought many battles against the Russian Black Sea Fleet until Russia's surrender in 1917.
After the Kingdom of Italy
entered the war on the Allied side in 1915, the strategy of the Allies was to blockade the Adriatic and monitor the movements of the Austrian fleet. In general, this strategy was successful but the Germans and the Austrians were able to send submarines out into the Mediterranean where they did some damage. Total Allied warship losses to Austrian and German submarines were: two 2nd-line battleships, two armored cruisers, five destroyers, and two submarines (in addition to many damaged navy ships and sunk freighters).
The primary sea bases for the Austrian and German fleet in the Adriatic were Pola
(in Istria
) and Cattaro (in southern Dalmatia
).
On the Allied side, their navies were able to sail relatively freely throughout the Mediterrean by keeping the Central Powers' surface units bottled up in either the Adriatic or at Constantinople. This freedom of movement was tremendously important for the Allies, as they were not only able to keep open their supply routes (to Egypt for example), but to also evacuate the Serbian Army from capture and even launch (and supply) amphibious invasions at Gallipoli
in 1915 and Salonika in 1916.
In 1915, the major fleet action was the Allied attempt to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war by an attack on Constantinople. The Allies needed to pass the Dardanelles
strait in order to supply Russia. The Battle of Gallipoli
lasted for most of the year but was unsuccessful. An initial naval assault was deterred by mines and coastal fortresses, and the subsequent land assault was also defeated, but with heavy casualties on both sides.
After Gallipoli, the only significant naval battle occurred on May 15, 1917 when three Austrian cruisers under Captain Miklós Horthy
staged a series of pin-prick raids on Italian and British transports near Valona
, Albania
who were evacuating the Serbian Army from being overrun. The raid was a partial success but the raiders were nearly destroyed by a shell hit which knocked out an engine on the Austrian cruiser SMS Novara. With heavier Allied forces closing in, the Austrians were routed back to Pola. The Austrians then decided to raid patrol boats guarding the Otranto Straits between Italy, Corfu
and Albania. For further details see the battle of the Otranto Barrage
.
On August 2, 1916, the Italian dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci
exploded at Taranto
, killing 249 of its crew. Reminiscent of the USS Maine
, the event was widely reported in the Italian press, which immediately blamed Austrian or German saboteurs, something the Central Powers did nothing to disavow. The cause of the explosion has never been verified. It had considerable effect as a propaganda tool for both sides.
In December 1917 Luigi Rizzo
with his MAS sank the Austro-Hungarian pre-dreadnought battleship SMS Wien
, that was at anchor inside the defences of Trieste
harbour.
In 1918, two of the Austrian dreadnoughts were sunk.
One sank during a war-battle near the island of Premuda
in Dalmatia. This was the SMS Szent István
, which was sunk during another sortie (June 10) against the Allied blockade by fast moving Italian motor torpedo boats of Luigi Rizzo
.
The second, the SMS Viribus Unitis
, was sunk by a new weapon created and used by engineer and naval officer Raffaele Rossetti
: the human torpedo
called "Mignatta". At the end of the war there was a mutiny in the Austrian Navy and Horthy was ordered to surrender the entire Austrian fleet to the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
. Rossetti did not know of this decision and did his well planned attack the same day. So, another Austro-Hungarian Dreadnought sank. The explosion went off under the ship on November 1 (just after the Austro-Hungarian government collapsed) and the Slav National Council made no efforts to restore the hulk, since Italy occupied the region only a few days later.
and Macedonia
. Although Germany was able to gain control of the Black Sea
and part of the Russian fleet after the collapse of the Russian Empire, they were never able to break out into the Aegean
. The German–Turkish fleet tried in 1918, but hit a minefield; the Breslau was sunk and the Goeben almost followed that fate, but the captain was able to run the ship aground and beach it before capsizing. The Goeben was not repaired until after the war.
Allied fleets occupied Constantinople briefly after the Armistice of Mudros
, until the new Turkish Republic under Mustafa Kemal
took back control of the city in 1923.
Allied ships did continue to intervene in Russia after the war ended, bringing expeditionary forces and supplies via the Mediterranean to the White
armies in southern Russia.
Japan, an ally of Great Britain, sent a total of 14 destroyers to the Mediterranean starting in April 1917. The Japanese ships were very effective in patrol and anti-submarine activity. The Austro-Hungarian navy lost nine submarines during the war: five sunk by the Italian navy (U13, U10, U16, U20, U23), one by Italian and French units (U30), one by British units (U3), none by the Japanese navy, which converserly suffered 68 dead and heavy damage on the destroyer Sakaki, torpedoed by Austrian submarine U.27.
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
' navies of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and the Allied navies of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Navy
Austria-Hungary was a medium-sized naval power in 1914. With a fairly short coastline (from TriesteTrieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
in present day Italy to Cattaro
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
in modern Montenegro) and no colonies, Austria-Hungary was much more of a land power than a sea power.
Indeed, the Austro-Hungarian Navy
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....
included four powerful Tegetthoff class
Tegetthoff class battleship
The Tegetthoff-class was the sole class of dreadnought battleship built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Four ships were built, SMS Viribus Unitis, SMS Tegetthoff, SMS Prinz Eugen and SMS Szent Istvan...
battleships and a number of submarines. In addition, the Germans managed to send some U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s to the Mediterranean which operated from Austrian naval bases, initially under the Austrian navy flag, later under the German navy flag.
Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy)
The Kingdom of Italy during World War I had six DreadnoughtBattleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
battleships (Dante Alighieri
Italian battleship Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri was the first dreadnought battleship built for the Regia Marina . Named after the medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri, she was the first ship built with triple gun turrets for the main armament...
as a prototype, Giulio Cesare
Italian battleship Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare , motto Caesar Adest was a Conte di Cavour-class battleship that served in the Regia Marina in both World Wars before joining the Soviet Navy as the Novorossiysk. Her keel was laid down on 24 June 1910 at Cantieri Ansaldo, Genoa...
, Conte di Cavour
Italian battleship Conte di Cavour
Conte di Cavour was an Conte di Cavour class battleship, that served in the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II. It was named after the Italian statesman Count Camillo Benso di Cavour.-Construction and first years:...
and Leonardo da Vinci
Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was a Conte di Cavour class battleship of the Regia Marina . She was 170 metres long, small for a battleship. Her twenty boilers and four shafts generated 24MW and gave a top speed of 11 m/s . She was crewed by about 1,000 men.Leonardo da Vinci was built between 18 July 1910...
of the Conte di Cavour class
Conte di Cavour class battleship
The Conte di Cavour class was a battleship class of the Regia Marina in World War I and World War II.-Design:This class was the second group of dreadnoughts in the Regia Marina. The ships were designed by Admiral Edoardo Masdea....
, Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio
Italian battleship Caio Duilio
Caio Duilio was an Italian that served in the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II. She was named after the Roman fleet commander Gaius Duilius. Caio Duilio was laid down on 24 February 1912 and after a year and two months of construction, she was launched on 24 April 1913...
of the Andrea Doria Class
Andrea Doria class battleship
The Andrea Doria class was a class of dreadnought battleships of the Regia Marina . Only two were built, in the La Spezia and Castellammare shipyards, in Italy, between 1912 and 1915....
).
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
, fighting the Austro-Hungarian Navy
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....
.
The resulting so called Adriatic Campaign of World War I
Adriatic Campaign of World War I
The Adriatic Campaign of World War I was a naval campaign fought during World War I between the Central Powers, and the Mediterranean squadrons of Great Britain, France, the Kingdom of Italy, Australia and the United States.-Characteristics:...
consisted mainly of Austro-Hungarian coastal bombardments of Italy's Adriatic coast, wider-ranging German/Hungarian submarine warfare into the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, and Italian use of new weapons (mainly MAS
MAS (boat)
Motoscafo Armato Silurante , commonly abbreviated as MAS was a class of fast torpedo armed vessel used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II...
and human torpedo
Human torpedo
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today; they are a type of diver propulsion vehicle....
) that were successful in the sinking of two Austrian battleships.
For most of the war the Italian and Austro-Hungarian navies each kept a relatively passive watch over their counterparts. The Italian fleet lost the pre-dreadnought battleship Benedetto Brin
Italian battleship Benedetto Brin
Benedetto Brin was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Italian Regia Marina between 1899 and 1905. She was destroyed by an explosion during World War I.-Service:...
at Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...
(27 September 1915) and the dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci
Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was a Conte di Cavour class battleship of the Regia Marina . She was 170 metres long, small for a battleship. Her twenty boilers and four shafts generated 24MW and gave a top speed of 11 m/s . She was crewed by about 1,000 men.Leonardo da Vinci was built between 18 July 1910...
at Taranto
Taranto
Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....
(2 August 1916) due to magazine explosion (although some historians argue of Austrian sabotage). In the last part of the war, the Regia Marina developed new naval weapons: the MAS boats, that sank the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István
SMS Szent István
SMS Szent István was a dreadnought , the only one built in the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary. The Ganz & Company's Danubius yard in Hungarian-owned Fiume was awarded the contract to build the battleship in return for the Hungarian government agreeing to the 1910 and 1911 naval budgets...
in the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
on 10 June 1918; and an early type of human torpedo
Human torpedo
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today; they are a type of diver propulsion vehicle....
(Mignatta) entered the harbour of Pula
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
and sank the Austro-Hungarian flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
Viribus Unitis
SMS Viribus Unitis
SMS Viribus Unitis was the first Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the . Its name, meaning "With United Forces", was the personal motto of Emperor Franz Joseph I.Viribus Unitis was ordered by the Austro-Hungarian navy in 1908...
on 1 November 1918.
Campaigns
In the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, the war began with most of the large, but elderly French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
fleet deployed on escort duty to protect convoys across the Mediterranean from the smaller, but newer Austrian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
fleet and cover against possible Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
entry into the war on Austria's side. Several British ships were also sent to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
to reinforce the British Mediterranean Fleet. Germany also had a small Mediterranean fleet (based at the Austrian naval base of Pola in current day Croatia) and at the commencement of hostilities, the powerful battlecruiser Goeben
SMS Goeben
SMS Goeben was the second of two Moltke-class battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy, launched in 1911 and named after the German Franco-Prussian War veteran General August Karl von Goeben...
and the light cruiser Breslau
SMS Breslau
SMS Breslau was a Magdeburg-class light cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine , built in the early 1910s. Following her commissioning, Breslau and the battlecruiser were assigned to the Mittelmeerdivision in response to the Balkan Wars...
, were patrolling the western Mediterranean. The German Mediterranean fleet did not find the French convoys, so proceeded to bombard the French cities of Bizerte
Bizerte
Bizerte or Benzert , is the capital city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia and the northernmost city in Africa. It has a population of 230,879 .-History:...
and Bone
Bone
Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...
in modern-day Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
. Pursued by superior French and British forces, the Goeben and Breslau reached Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where they were nominally transferred to the Ottoman Navy when the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
entered the war on the Central Powers side, and fought many battles against the Russian Black Sea Fleet until Russia's surrender in 1917.
After the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
entered the war on the Allied side in 1915, the strategy of the Allies was to blockade the Adriatic and monitor the movements of the Austrian fleet. In general, this strategy was successful but the Germans and the Austrians were able to send submarines out into the Mediterranean where they did some damage. Total Allied warship losses to Austrian and German submarines were: two 2nd-line battleships, two armored cruisers, five destroyers, and two submarines (in addition to many damaged navy ships and sunk freighters).
The primary sea bases for the Austrian and German fleet in the Adriatic were Pola
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
(in Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
) and Cattaro (in southern Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
).
On the Allied side, their navies were able to sail relatively freely throughout the Mediterrean by keeping the Central Powers' surface units bottled up in either the Adriatic or at Constantinople. This freedom of movement was tremendously important for the Allies, as they were not only able to keep open their supply routes (to Egypt for example), but to also evacuate the Serbian Army from capture and even launch (and supply) amphibious invasions at Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
in 1915 and Salonika in 1916.
In 1915, the major fleet action was the Allied attempt to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war by an attack on Constantinople. The Allies needed to pass the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
strait in order to supply Russia. The Battle of Gallipoli
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
lasted for most of the year but was unsuccessful. An initial naval assault was deterred by mines and coastal fortresses, and the subsequent land assault was also defeated, but with heavy casualties on both sides.
After Gallipoli, the only significant naval battle occurred on May 15, 1917 when three Austrian cruisers under Captain Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
staged a series of pin-prick raids on Italian and British transports near Valona
Vlorë
Vlorë is one of the biggest towns and the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 . It is the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912...
, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
who were evacuating the Serbian Army from being overrun. The raid was a partial success but the raiders were nearly destroyed by a shell hit which knocked out an engine on the Austrian cruiser SMS Novara. With heavier Allied forces closing in, the Austrians were routed back to Pola. The Austrians then decided to raid patrol boats guarding the Otranto Straits between Italy, Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
and Albania. For further details see the battle of the Otranto Barrage
Otranto Barrage
The Otranto Barrage was an Allied naval blockade of the Otranto Straits between Brindisi in Italy and Corfu on the Albanian side of the Adriatic Sea in World War I. The blockade was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from escaping into the Mediterranean and threatening Allied operations...
.
On August 2, 1916, the Italian dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci
Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was a Conte di Cavour class battleship of the Regia Marina . She was 170 metres long, small for a battleship. Her twenty boilers and four shafts generated 24MW and gave a top speed of 11 m/s . She was crewed by about 1,000 men.Leonardo da Vinci was built between 18 July 1910...
exploded at Taranto
Taranto
Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....
, killing 249 of its crew. Reminiscent of the USS Maine
USS Maine (ACR-1)
USS Maine was the United States Navy's second commissioned pre-dreadnought battleship, although she was originally classified as an armored cruiser. She is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana harbor. Maine had been sent to Havana, Cuba to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban revolt...
, the event was widely reported in the Italian press, which immediately blamed Austrian or German saboteurs, something the Central Powers did nothing to disavow. The cause of the explosion has never been verified. It had considerable effect as a propaganda tool for both sides.
In December 1917 Luigi Rizzo
Luigi Rizzo
Luigi Rizzo, Conte di Grado e di Premuda was an Italian naval officer. He is famous for sinking the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István in June 1918.-Biography:...
with his MAS sank the Austro-Hungarian pre-dreadnought battleship SMS Wien
SMS Wien
SMS Wien was a pre-dreadnought battleship and coastal defense ship of the Monarch class that was constructed by the Austro-Hungarian Navy at the end of the 19th century. The Wien was laid down in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyards in Trieste on the same day as her sister ship Budapest,...
, that was at anchor inside the defences of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
harbour.
Italian sinkings of two Austrian battleships
One sank during a war-battle near the island of Premuda
Premuda
Premuda is a little island in Croatia, off the northern Adriatic coast. It belongs to the north Dalmatian islands which are situated north-west from the county center Zadar. Premuda is approximately 10 km long, up to 1 km wide, and has an area of 9.2 square kilometers...
in Dalmatia. This was the SMS Szent István
SMS Szent István
SMS Szent István was a dreadnought , the only one built in the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary. The Ganz & Company's Danubius yard in Hungarian-owned Fiume was awarded the contract to build the battleship in return for the Hungarian government agreeing to the 1910 and 1911 naval budgets...
, which was sunk during another sortie (June 10) against the Allied blockade by fast moving Italian motor torpedo boats of Luigi Rizzo
Luigi Rizzo
Luigi Rizzo, Conte di Grado e di Premuda was an Italian naval officer. He is famous for sinking the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István in June 1918.-Biography:...
.
The second, the SMS Viribus Unitis
SMS Viribus Unitis
SMS Viribus Unitis was the first Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the . Its name, meaning "With United Forces", was the personal motto of Emperor Franz Joseph I.Viribus Unitis was ordered by the Austro-Hungarian navy in 1908...
, was sunk by a new weapon created and used by engineer and naval officer Raffaele Rossetti
Raffaele Rossetti
Raffaele Rossetti was an Italian engineer and military naval officer who sank the main battleship of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I. He was also a politician of the Italian Republican Party.-Biography:...
: the human torpedo
Human torpedo
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today; they are a type of diver propulsion vehicle....
called "Mignatta". At the end of the war there was a mutiny in the Austrian Navy and Horthy was ordered to surrender the entire Austrian fleet to the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...
. Rossetti did not know of this decision and did his well planned attack the same day. So, another Austro-Hungarian Dreadnought sank. The explosion went off under the ship on November 1 (just after the Austro-Hungarian government collapsed) and the Slav National Council made no efforts to restore the hulk, since Italy occupied the region only a few days later.
Secondary campaigns and interventions
Allied fleets also played a role in coercing the Greek government to join the Allies and later supply the campaigns in PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
. Although Germany was able to gain control of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and part of the Russian fleet after the collapse of the Russian Empire, they were never able to break out into the Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
. The German–Turkish fleet tried in 1918, but hit a minefield; the Breslau was sunk and the Goeben almost followed that fate, but the captain was able to run the ship aground and beach it before capsizing. The Goeben was not repaired until after the war.
Allied fleets occupied Constantinople briefly after the Armistice of Mudros
Armistice of Mudros
The Armistice of Moudros , concluded on 30 October 1918, ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...
, until the new Turkish Republic under Mustafa Kemal
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
took back control of the city in 1923.
Allied ships did continue to intervene in Russia after the war ended, bringing expeditionary forces and supplies via the Mediterranean to the White
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
armies in southern Russia.
Japan, an ally of Great Britain, sent a total of 14 destroyers to the Mediterranean starting in April 1917. The Japanese ships were very effective in patrol and anti-submarine activity. The Austro-Hungarian navy lost nine submarines during the war: five sunk by the Italian navy (U13, U10, U16, U20, U23), one by Italian and French units (U30), one by British units (U3), none by the Japanese navy, which converserly suffered 68 dead and heavy damage on the destroyer Sakaki, torpedoed by Austrian submarine U.27.
Sources
- Falls, Cyril (1961). The Great War. Capricorn Books.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Routledge. ISBN 1857284984.
- Austrian Navy WWI downloaded from Naval-History.net (May, 2006)
- Mediterranean Campaign downloaded from Naval-History.net (May, 2006)