20 July 1866 - The Battle of Lissa
(sometimes called
Battle of Vis) took place on 20 July 1866 in the
Adriatic Sea near the
Dalmatian island of
Lissa ("Vis" in Croatian) and was a decisive victory for an outnumbered
Austrian Empireforce over a numerically superior
Italian force. It was the first major sea battle between
ironclads and one of the last to involve deliberate
ramming.
The Italian navy fired roughly 1450 shots during the engagement, but failed to sink any Austrian ship while losing two ironclads. One of the main reasons for this poor performance was internal rivalry between the Italian fleet commanders: for example, Italian
Vice Admiral Albini, with his ships, did not engage the enemy during the battle. The engagement was made up of several small battles: the main battle was between seven Austrian and four Italian ironclads and showed the ability of Austrian commander Tegetthoff to divide his more numerous opponents and then destroy the isolated ironclads.
Lissa naval battle, July 20th,1866; the Austrian navy against the Italian fleet. The
RN Re d'Italia is sinking after being rammed by Tegetthoff's flagship, the
SMS Ferdinand Max.
Historical situation
The battle occurred as part of the
Third War of Italian Independence, in which Italy allied with
Prussia in the course of its
conflict against
Austria. The major Italian objective was to capture
Venice and at least part of
its surrounds from Austria.
The fleets were composed of a mix of unarmoured
sailing ships with
steam engines, and armoured
ironclads also combining sails and steam engines. The Italian fleet of 12 ironclads and 17 unarmoured ships outnumbered the Austrian fleet of 7 and 11 respectively. The Austrians were also severely outmatched in rifled guns (276 to 121) and total weight of metal (53,236 tons to 23,538 tons). A single
turret ship took part in the action — the Italian
Affondatore.
Piedmontese Count
Carlo di Persano commanded the Italian fleet, while the Austrian fleet was commanded by
Konteradmiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff.
Plans for the battle
The Italian fleet under Persano was divided into 3 divisions: Persano commanded the main battle force with 9 ironclads; his deputy, Albini, commanded a "support" division (engaged mainly in landings); and Admiral Vacca commanded a third "reserve" division with minor wooden ships.
The attacking Austrian fleet was also split into 3 divisions. The 1st Division consisted of the armoured ships, while the 2nd consisted of the powerful but obsolete unarmoured wooden
ship of the line Kaiser and 5 frigates. The 3rd Division consisted of the smaller screw gunboats and armed merchantmen. The
armed merchant cruiser Stadion was ahead of the fleet acting as a scout. The three Austrian divisions were formed up into three consecutive arrowhead or "V" formations; the armoured 1st division under Tegetthoff was in the van, the weaker gunboats and paddle steamers of the 3rd division to the rear, while the powerful but unarmoured vessels of
Kommodor Petz's 2nd division were in the centre. The Austrian plan, due to their weaker firepower, was to close quickly into a melée, and to use close range fire and ramming to sink a small portion of the Italian fleet, thereby breaking the Italian will to fight.
The Italians, despite their numerical superiority, were not prepared for battle. They were busy preparing for landings on the island of
Vis (Lissa) when the news that the Austrian fleet was at sea and seeking battle reached them. Persano cancelled the landings, ordered the fleet into
line abreast but having second thoughts, cancelled that order (creating confusion among the Italian commanders) and ordered the fleet into 3 divisions in a line ahead formation, the same formation as at battles in the age of sail. The 1st division in the vanguard consisted of
Principe di Carignano,
Castelfidardo and
Ancona under Admiral Vacca, Captain 1st Class
Faà di Bruno's 2nd division in the centre consisted of
Re d'Italia,
Palestro and
San Martino, and the 3rd division to the rear had the
Re di Portogallo,
Regina Maria Pia and, at the extreme rear,
Varese under Captain Augusto Riboty. In total, the Italians had 11
ironclads in the battle line. The other (wooden) ships were dispersed into the battleline. The exception was
Affondatore, which was on the far side of the 2nd squadron and out of the battleline. Persano may have intended this to be an uncommitted reserve.
Before the battle Persano caused more confusion by deciding to transfer his flag to the
Affondatore and the 2nd and 3rd Divisions slowed to allow
Re d'Italia to lower her boats. However the signal to slow down never reached the 1st Division and they continued to steam on, allowing a gap to open in the Italian battle line. To compound the error Persano never signaled the change of flag, and throughout the action the Italians continued to look to the old flagship
Re d'Italia for orders rather than
Affondatore.
Engagement
Initial situation of the battle.
In the Austrian fleet there was enthusiasm but also fear, because the Italian fleet was bigger: 12 ironclads and 19 wooden ships with 641 guns, while the Austrians had only 7 ironclads and 20 wooden ships with 532 guns....When the engagement began, the Italian division Vacca was on a long circuit of the north of Lissa, and so was at first away from the battle. And it is curious that the Albini ships with their 398 guns, though ordered by Persano to do so, did not fire a single shot all through the battle.
[4]
Having ignored warnings from his pickets of suspicious ships in sight, Persano had effectively allowed the Austrians to ambush his force while it was still forming. Tegetthoff, seeing a gap opening between the 1st and 2nd Divisions, forced his fleet into it and concentrated on
raking the Italians and ramming. This meant that he allowed his
T to be crossed. While the Austrians were approaching, Vacca's 1st Italian Division threw a heavy weight of fire at them. The Austrians could only reply with their
chase guns. Because Persano was in the process of transferring his flag, no general order was given. The 2nd and 3rd Divisions did not join in and the Austrians crossed the killing area, suffering some serious damage but no ships were lost.
Drache on the extreme right (starboard) wing of the Austrian 1st Division was hit 17 times by heavy shells, losing her mainmast and temporarily losing propulsion. Her captain, Heinrich von Moll,
[5] was decapitated by a heavy shell, but his subordinate,
Karl Weyprecht, brought the ship back into the fight.
By 10:43 am the Austrians had brought the Italian van to close action.
Habsburg,
Salamander and
Kaiser Max on the Austrian left wing had engaged the Italian 1st Division, while the right wing of
Don Juan d'Austria,
Drache and
Prinz Eugen engaged the Italian 2nd Division. Persano, now on the most powerful warship in either fleet,
Affondatore, stayed clear of the engagement.
With the confusion in the Italian van,
Kommodor von Petz took the opportunity to take his 2nd Division to the Italian rear and fall on their 3rd Division. The unarmoured wooden ships of the Austrian 2nd Division were facing modern ironclads armed with heavy guns, yet despite suffering heavy fire they held together. The
screw frigate Novara was hit 47 times, and her captain,
Erik af Klint, was killed.
Erzherzog Friedrich was hit by a heavy shell below the waterline but still remained afloat, while
Schwarzenburg was disabled by heavy Italian fire and set adrift
Ramming attacks
Seeing things going badly, Persano decided to ram the unarmoured screw battleship Kaiser rather than one of the armoured ships engaged with the Italian 2nd Division much nearer him. However, Kaiser managed to dodge Affondatore. Taking heart from his admiral, the captain of Re di Portogallo laid heavy fire on Kaiser with his rifled guns. At the last moment, von Petz turned into the ram, conducting a counter ram. The impact tore off Kaiser's stem and bowsprit, leaving her figurehead embedded in Re di Portogallo. The Italian used the opportunity to rake Kaiser with fire, putting her mainmast and funnel into the sea. The smoke was so great that as they backed off for another ram they lost sight of each other and ended the duel.
Tegetthoff (centre) at the Battle of Lissa, painting by Anton Romako.
At roughly the same time, Tegetthoff threw his flagship Erzherzog Ferdinand Max (commanded by Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck) at first at the former Italian flagship, Re d'Italia, and then at Palestro. In both cases he scored only glancing blows, but these caused serious damage, especially to Palestro, which was dismasted and set afire. Palestro's captain, Cappellini, pulled his ship out of the line. His crew refused to abandon their captain and Palestro finally blew up and sank at 2.30pm, with only 19 survivors out of a complement of 230.
Meanwhile, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max was circling Faà di Bruno's Re d'Italia, pouring on fire before surging forward and achieving a good impact with her ram, aided by the Italian having reversed in a poorly thought-out attempt to avoid crossing the Austrian's bows at the crucial moment. This put an 18 ft (5.5 m) hole below Re d'Italia's waterline, and she struck her colours and sank two minutes later. According to legend, her captain shot himself after giving the order to strike the colours.
An illustration of
Re d'Italia rolling over after having been rammed by
Erzherzog Ferdinand Max
As Erzherzog Ferdinand Max limped away, damaged after conducting three ramming attacks, Ancona closed on her attempting to ram. The Italian gunners got a full broadside off at point blank range, but while they had remembered the gunpowder, in the excitement they had forgotten to load the shot. After his encounter with Re di Portogallo earlier in the battle and having fought his way clear of Maria Pia, Kommodor von Petz's Kaiser found itself at close range with Affondatore. Despite being a perfect target for a ram, Kaiser survived when Persano ordered Affondatore to turn away.
Tegetthoff's victory was saluted by his mariners – mainly Croats and Venetians, from Venetia, Istria and Dalmatia – with the traditional Venetian cry of victory: "Viva San Marco!" ("Hurrah with Saint Mark!").
By 15:00, Tegetthoff had led his fleet into the harbour of Lissa, where the damaged Kaiser had already arrived, undisturbed by the Italian ships; despite Persano's orders to engage the Austrian vessels, both Albini and Vacca ignored the orders, as the latter candidly testified at Persano's trial. With his ships low on fuel and ammunition, and his crews spent, Persano led his fleet back towards his home port of Ancona.
In Italy, the outrage over the loss of two ironclads was huge and Persano after the battle was judged by the Senate, condemned for incompetence and stripped of his rank, while Admiral Albini was merely relieved of command, and Admiral Vacca had to retire soon after for age limits. Naval historian Giorgio Giorgerini stated Albini and Vacca deserved a more severe sentence than Persano
Aftermath
Kaiser's encounter with
Affondatore was the last major action of the battle. With two armoured ships sunk, the Italians withdrew, although there would be some exchange of long range fire for several hours.
SMS
Kaiser at Lissa in the aftermath of the battle, undergoing repairs
Persano announced a victory, causing much initial celebration until the real outcome of the battle was publicized. He was forced to appear in front of the
Italian Senate, which alone had the power to prosecute its members (such as Persano), and was dismissed, on charges of incompetence and cowardice.
Tegetthoff returned home a hero, was promoted
Vizeadmiral, and is considered one of the greatest naval commanders in Austrian history.
Italian fleet in Ancona after the Battle of Lissa)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lissa_(1866)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Erzherzog_Ferdinand_Max_(1865)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_ironclad_Re_d'Italia
of the returning French fleet reached Vice Admiral 
