Battle of Preveza (1911)

In 1911, the Ottoman Navy maintained a small anti-smuggling force of six torpedo boats dispersed along the Albanian coast, patrolling between Preveza, Gomenítza, and Durazzo.^[1] At that time, the Preveza detachment consisted of the torpedo boats Tokad, Antalya, Hamidiye, and Alpagot, the armed yacht Trablus, and the small gunboats No. 9 and No. 10. The unit was commanded by Binbasi (Captain) Tevfik.^[2] At Preveza, the Ottomans relied upon a series of obsolete fortifications for local defense, including some that had been erected in the 1400s. The defensive works were armed with a total of five 150 mm (5.9 in) Krupp guns and twenty field guns. The primary fortress was the Castle of Saint Andrew, built in the early 1800s, but reequipped with some modern artillery. It was supported by St George's castle and Fort Pantokrator [el], of a similar age, and a modern coastal artillery battery of two 210 mm (8.3 in) guns.^[3]

Over the course of the year, tensions between the Ottoman Empire and Italy rose as the latter sought a pretext under which it could participate in the colonization of North Africa, following French moves into Algeria and Morocco. On 27 September, Italy issued an ultimatum to cede control of Tripolitania, which the Ottoman government rejected the following day.^[4] The imminent state of war prompted the Ottoman naval command to order the torpedo boats in Albania to seek refuge in neutral Austro-Hungarian ports further north in the Adriatic Sea, but the orders did not reach the torpedo boat crews in time. The Italian Prince Luigi Amedeo planned to carry out a raid with a small force of destroyers to sink the torpedo boats in the first hours of the conflict.^[5] Amedeo was at that time the commander of the Division of the Torpedo Boat Inspector, holding the rank of rear admiral.^[6]

Italy formally declared war at 15:00 on the afternoon of 29 September,^[7] and Amedeo immediately sent the five destroyers to sweep the Albanian coast; the force consisted of Artigliere, Corazziere, Fuciliere, Zeffiro, and Alpino, and was commanded by Commander Guido Biscaretti di Ruffia. About an hour after the declaration, the Italians spotted a pair of Ottoman torpedo boats—Tokad and Antalya.^[6][7] The Ottoman vessels had been steaming northwest between Preveza and the island of Corfu, and were en route to Singin.^[4]

The Italians opened fire and the badly outnumbered Ottomans split up, Tokad heading north and Antalya fleeing south back to Preveza. Three of the Italian destroyers chased Tokad, forcing her ashore near Nicopolis with heavy damage from their 75 mm (3 in) guns, having scored fifteen hits. Nine men were killed aboard Tokad, including her captain. Antalya, meanwhile, successfully evaded her pursuers and reached the safety of Preveza. The Ottoman 210 mm guns opened fire to cover Antalya's withdrawal, firing some 76 shells, though without scoring a hit on the Italian vessels. In the course of the action, the Italians had fired some one hundred 75 mm shells, but inflicted only light damage on Antalya.^[3][4][7]

Amedeo thereafter issued an ultimatum to the Ottoman commander of the city defenses on 3 October, demanding he surrender Antalya and other Ottoman vessels in the harbor within twenty-four hours or he would return and bombard the city.^[7] Amedeo was at that time sailing aboard the armored cruiser Vettor Pisani and was accompanied by pre-dreadnought battleship Ammiraglio di Saint Bon. By that time, however, foreign protests against Italy's actions in the Balkans had forced the Italian government to forbid further operations, and Amedeo was recalled.^[8]

Unwilling to attempt to break into the defended harbor to sink Antalya, the Italians departed for Gomenítza, where they knew other Ottoman vessels to be. That evening, an Italian officer from Corazziere went ashore to conduct a reconnaissance on the port. He observed the location of Alpagot and Hamidiye, returned to his ship, and reported the information to Biscaretti di Ruffia. Early on 30 September, Artigliere, Corazziere, and Alpino entered Gomenítza; the first two vessels opened fire on the anchored Ottoman torpedo boats. The Ottomans were unable to return fire before they were sunk.^[9] Ottoman troops in the coastal fortification protecting the port were completely surprised by the attack and offered no help, though the Italians fired seventy-six rounds into the structure and heavily damaged its sea wall.^[7]

In the meantime, Alpino had come alongside Trablus, which had been undergoing repairs to her boilers, and whose crew had attempted to scuttle her. The Italians boarded her, closed the seacocks, and cut her from her moorings. While they were working aboard the ship, Ottoman civilians in the town opened fire on the boarding party, prompting Corazziere to shell the town, which drove off the shooters. The Italians then attached a tow line to one of the destroyers to seize Trablus as a prize.^[7][10] According to the contemporary author William Beehler, Corazziere towed Trablus,^[7] while the historian Charles Stephenson indicates Alpino carried out the task.^[9][a] The engagement lasted about forty-five minutes.^[7]