.gif)
Battle of Lissa (1866)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Lissa (sometimes called Battle of Vis) took place on 20 July 1866 in the Adriatic Sea
near the Dalmatia
n island of Lissa
("Vis" in Croatian) and was a decisive victory for an outnumbered Austrian Empire
force over a 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 do any serious damage to an Austrian ship while losing two battleships. One of the main reasons of this bad performance was due to internal rivalry between the Italian fleet commanders: for example, Italian Vice Admiral
Albini, with his group of ships, never participated in the battle. The engagement was made of several small battles: the main was between seven Austrian and four Italian ironclads and showed the ability of Tegetthoff to divide the bigger opponent and destroy the surrounded ironclads left alone.
The battle occurred as part of the Third Italian Independence War, in which Italy allied with Prussia in the course of the conflict
against Austria
. The major Italian objective was to capture Venice
from Austria.
The fleets were composed of a mix of unarmoured sailing ship
s with steam engine
s, 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
(60 years old) commanded the Italian fleet, while the Austrian fleet was commanded by Konteradmiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff
(39 years old).
The Fort of Lissa was put under the authority of the Transsylvanian Oberst, David Urs de Margina.
The attacking Austrian fleet was also split into 3 divisions. The 1st Division consisted of the armoured ships, while the 2nd 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 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 relative lack of firepower, was to close quickly into a melée, and to use close range fire and the ram on a small portion of the Italian fleet and sink them, breaking the Italian will to fight.
The Italians, despite their superiority, were not prepared for battle. They were busy preparing for landings 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 between 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, 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 signalled 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.
. 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, von Moll, 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's left wing had engaged the Italian 1st Division, while the right wing of Don Juan, 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.
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.
Palestros captain, Cappellini, told his men that they could abandon ship but he would stay, and pulled his ship out of the line. His crew refused to leave their Captain and Palestro finally blew up and sank at 2.30pm, with only 19 survivors out of the ship's 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 ship having reversed her screws (in a poorly thought-out attempt to avoid crossing the Austrian's bows) at the crucial moment. This put an 18 foot hole below the Italians' waterline, and the Italian ship struck her colours and sank two minutes later. According to legend her Captain shot himself after giving the order to strike the colours.
As the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max limped away, damaged after conducting three ramming attacks, the 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 Venetian
and a few Croats
- with the traditional Venetian cry of victory: "Viva San Marco!" ("Hurrah with Saint Mark!"). In fact, Tegetthoff had his naval training in Venice and was a fluent speaker of Venetian, the most used language in the fleet. During the battle he gave his orders in that language. The official name of the imperial navy had been Oesterreich-Venezianische Marine (Austrian-Venetian Navy) until 1849. Of the 7,871 sailors on the Austrian ships, around 5,000 were Istria
ns or Dalmatia
ns (today Croatia
).
Members of the crew coming from Italian families of Venetia, Istria and Dalmatia gave no signs of irredentism
, and national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi
became very angry when he understood that some Venetian people had shown no desire to become part of the Italian state. but later he admitted those crew members were bound to their military orders and duty.
In Italy, the outrage over the loss of two ironclads was huge and Persano after the battle was forced to resign with dishonor, together with Albini (whose ships only participated in landings and never fired a shot against the Austrian ships).
' 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. Incidentally, this was the first and last time Affondatore saw action until her scrapping in 1907.
Persano returned and 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 had the power to prosecute its members (such as Persano), and was dismissed from the navy for incapacity and alleged cowardice.
Tegetthoff returned home a hero, was promoted Vizeadmiral, and is considered one of the greatest naval commanders in Austrian history.
The engagement had no impact on the outcome of the war, as the Italian defeat was overshadowed by the crushing Prussian victory over the Austrian Army at Königgrätz
. Austria, humbled by Prussia and bullied by Napoleon III of France
, agreed to cede Venetia to Italy despite the overall failure of the Italian war effort. The French Emperor's ironic comment about Italian leaders became historic: "Another defeat, and they will ask me for Paris!" However, Tegetthoff's efforts were instrumental in preventing the Italians from taking control of the Dalmatia
n islands, which were once ruled by Venice.
The importance of ramming in the battle led to naval designers, over the next 50 years, equipping future warships (especially battleships and cruisers) with ram bows. This aggravated a number of incidents of ships being sunk by their squadron-mates in accidental collisions. Ramming never featured as a viable battle tactic again. The fixation on ramming may also have inhibited the development of gunnery.
Modern commentators now take the view that Lissa occurred during a period of weapons development when armour was considerably stronger than the guns available to defeat it. This was compounded, on the Italian side, by poor gunnery and, on the Austrian side, by the fact that a number of their ships (including Ferdinand Max) had been forced to go into battle without their full armament owing to the Prussian embargo.
Kaiser, remarkably, reported herself fit for action the morning after the battle. She was converted into an ironclad in 1869-1873 and remained in commission until she was renamed Bellona and hulked in 1902. Her feat in willingly engaging four ironclads at short range while an unarmored, wooden ship appears to be unprecedented and was never emulated.
Alfred Cappellini of Palestro was the namesake of an Italian armored gunboat launched in 1868 and a monitor launched in 1915.
Faà di Bruno of Re d'Italia was the namesake of an Italian armored gunboat launched in 1868 and a monitor launched in 1916. During WWII an Italian submarine with his name was sunk in 1940 near Scotland.
Augusto Riboty of Varese was the namesake of an Italian destroyer leader launched in 1916 (and which survived both world wars, finally being scrapped in 1951).
Vizeadmiral von Tegetthoff was the namesake of an Austro-Hungarian center battery ironclad launched in 1878
, a class of dreadnought battleships
and the lead vessel of that class
, launched in 1912. Ironically, at the end of World War I
, the latter ship was given to the Italian Royal Navy
, which in 1924-25 scrapped the ship that bore the name of the man who had defeated it in its first battle.
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...
near the 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....
n island of Lissa
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...
("Vis" in Croatian) and was a decisive victory for an outnumbered Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
force over a superior Italian
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
force. It was the first major sea battle between ironclads and one of the last to involve deliberate ramming
Ramming
In warfare, ramming is a technique that was used in air, sea and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum...
.
The Italian navy fired roughly 1450 shots during the engagement, but failed to do any serious damage to an Austrian ship while losing two battleships. One of the main reasons of this bad performance was due to internal rivalry between the Italian fleet commanders: for example, Italian Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Albini, with his group of ships, never participated in the battle. The engagement was made of several small battles: the main was between seven Austrian and four Italian ironclads and showed the ability of Tegetthoff to divide the bigger opponent and destroy the surrounded ironclads left alone.
The battle occurred as part of the Third Italian Independence War, in which Italy allied with Prussia in the course of the conflict
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
against Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The major Italian objective was to capture Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
from Austria.
The fleets were composed of a mix of unarmoured sailing ship
Sailing ship
The term sailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large...
s with steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s, 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
Turret ship
Turret ships were a 19th century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement....
took part in the action — the Italian Affondatore
Italian battleship Affondatore
Affondatore was a ironclad warship of the Regia Marina , built in the 1860s. Her name translates as "Sinker".She was an armoured turret-ship built by Harrison, Millwall, London for the Italian navy...
.
Piedmontese Count Carlo di Persano
Carlo di Persano
Count Carlo Pellion di Persano was an Italian admiral and politician, who was commander of the Regia Marina fleet at the Battle of Lissa....
(60 years old) commanded the Italian fleet, while the Austrian fleet was commanded by Konteradmiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff was an Austrian admiral. Considered one of the prominent naval commanders of the 19th century, Tegetthoff was known for his innovative tactics as well as his inspirational leadership....
(39 years old).
The Fort of Lissa was put under the authority of the Transsylvanian Oberst, David Urs de Margina.
Plans for the battle
The Italian fleet under Persano was divided into 3 divisions: Persano the main combat force with 9 ironclads; his deputy, Albini, a "support" division (engaged mainly in landings); and Admiral Vacca 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 the powerful but obsolete unarmoured wooden ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
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 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 relative lack of firepower, was to close quickly into a melée, and to use close range fire and the ram on a small portion of the Italian fleet and sink them, breaking the Italian will to fight.
The Italians, despite their superiority, were not prepared for battle. They were busy preparing for landings 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 between 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, 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 signalled 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
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 crossedCrossing the T
Crossing the T or Capping the T is a classic naval warfare tactic attempted from the late 19th to mid 20th century, in which a line of warships crossed in front of a line of enemy ships, allowing the crossing line to bring all their guns to bear while receiving fire from only the forward guns of...
. 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, von Moll, was decapitated by a heavy shell, but his subordinate, Karl Weyprecht
Karl Weyprecht
Karl Weyprecht, also spelt Carl Weyprecht, was an Austro-Hungarian explorer. He was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. He is most famous as an Arctic explorer, and an advocate of international cooperation for scientific polar exploration...
, 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's left wing had engaged the Italian 1st Division, while the right wing of Don Juan, 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
Screw frigate
Steam frigates and the smaller steam corvettes were steam-powered warships.The first vessel that can be considered a steam frigate was the Demologos which was launched in 1815 for the United States Navy....
Novara
SMS Novara (1850)
SMS Novara was a sail frigate of the Austro-Hungarian Navy most noted for sailing the globe for the Novara Expedition of 1857–1859 and, later for carrying Archduke Maximilian and wife Carlota to Vera Cruz in May 1864 to become Emperor and Empress of Mexico.-Service :The SMS Novara was a frigate...
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 found the courage to throw himself into battle, deciding 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 decided to hurl his ship at Kaiser, maintaining a heavy fire with her rifled guns as he did so. At the last moment, von Petz turned the tables on her and turned into the ram, in effect 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.Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck
Maximilian Daublebsky Freiherr von Sterneck zu Ehrenstein was an Austrian admiral who served as the chief administrator of the Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1883 until his death.-Biography:...
) 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.
Palestros captain, Cappellini, told his men that they could abandon ship but he would stay, and pulled his ship out of the line. His crew refused to leave their Captain and Palestro finally blew up and sank at 2.30pm, with only 19 survivors out of the ship's complement of 230.
Meanwhile Erzherzog Ferdinand Max was circling Faà di Bruno's Re d'Italia
Italian ironclad Re d'Italia
The Italian ironclad Re d'Italia was the lead ship of the armored frigates built for the Regia Marina in the early 1860s....
, pouring on fire before surging forward and achieving a good impact with her ram, aided by the Italian ship having reversed her screws (in a poorly thought-out attempt to avoid crossing the Austrian's bows) at the crucial moment. This put an 18 foot hole below the Italians' waterline, and the Italian ship struck her colours and sank two minutes later. According to legend her Captain shot himself after giving the order to strike the colours.
As the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max limped away, damaged after conducting three ramming attacks, the 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
Kaiser
Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar,...
survived when Persano ordered Affondatore to turn away.
Tegetthoff's victory was saluted by his mariners - mainly Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and a few Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
- with the traditional Venetian cry of victory: "Viva San Marco!" ("Hurrah with Saint Mark!"). In fact, Tegetthoff had his naval training in Venice and was a fluent speaker of Venetian, the most used language in the fleet. During the battle he gave his orders in that language. The official name of the imperial navy had been Oesterreich-Venezianische Marine (Austrian-Venetian Navy) until 1849. Of the 7,871 sailors on the Austrian ships, around 5,000 were 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...
ns or Dalmatia
Dalmatian Italians
Dalmatian Italians are a mostly historical Italian national minority in the region of Dalmatia, part of the Republics of Croatia and Montenegro.-Characteristics:...
ns (today Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
).
Members of the crew coming from Italian families of Venetia, Istria and Dalmatia gave no signs of irredentism
Italia irredenta
Italian irredentism was an Italian Irredentist movement that aimed at the unification of all ethnically Italian peoples....
, and national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
became very angry when he understood that some Venetian people had shown no desire to become part of the Italian state. but later he admitted those crew members were bound to their military orders and duty.
In Italy, the outrage over the loss of two ironclads was huge and Persano after the battle was forced to resign with dishonor, together with Albini (whose ships only participated in landings and never fired a shot against the Austrian ships).
Aftermath
KaiserPersano returned and 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
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
, which had the power to prosecute its members (such as Persano), and was dismissed from the navy for incapacity and alleged cowardice.
Tegetthoff returned home a hero, was promoted Vizeadmiral, and is considered one of the greatest naval commanders in Austrian history.
The engagement had no impact on the outcome of the war, as the Italian defeat was overshadowed by the crushing Prussian victory over the Austrian Army at Königgrätz
Battle of Königgrätz
The Battle of Königgrätz , also known as the Battle of Sadowa, Sadová, or Hradec Králové, was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire...
. Austria, humbled by Prussia and bullied by Napoleon III of France
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
, agreed to cede Venetia to Italy despite the overall failure of the Italian war effort. The French Emperor's ironic comment about Italian leaders became historic: "Another defeat, and they will ask me for Paris!" However, Tegetthoff's efforts were instrumental in preventing the Italians from taking control of the 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....
n islands, which were once ruled by Venice.
The importance of ramming in the battle led to naval designers, over the next 50 years, equipping future warships (especially battleships and cruisers) with ram bows. This aggravated a number of incidents of ships being sunk by their squadron-mates in accidental collisions. Ramming never featured as a viable battle tactic again. The fixation on ramming may also have inhibited the development of gunnery.
Modern commentators now take the view that Lissa occurred during a period of weapons development when armour was considerably stronger than the guns available to defeat it. This was compounded, on the Italian side, by poor gunnery and, on the Austrian side, by the fact that a number of their ships (including Ferdinand Max) had been forced to go into battle without their full armament owing to the Prussian embargo.
Kaiser, remarkably, reported herself fit for action the morning after the battle. She was converted into an ironclad in 1869-1873 and remained in commission until she was renamed Bellona and hulked in 1902. Her feat in willingly engaging four ironclads at short range while an unarmored, wooden ship appears to be unprecedented and was never emulated.
Order of battle
Note: Awaiting confirmation of some details and the names of all the Italian gunboats. Vessels are ranked by fighting power (most powerful first).1st Division — Armoured ships
- Erzherzog Ferdinand Max (fleet flag, 2nd class armoured frigate, launched 1865, 5130t, 16-48pdr SB, 4-8pdr SB, 2-3pdr SB. 123 mm iron belt over the battery, 12.5kts)
- Habsburg (launched 1865, as Erzherzog Ferdinand Max)
- Kaiser Max (3rd class armoured frigate, launched 1862, 3588t, 16-48pdr SB, 1-12pdr SB, 1-6pdr SB, 15-24pdr ML rifles. 110 mm iron belt, 11.4kts)
- Don Juan d'Austria (launched 1862, as Kaiser Max)
- Prinz Eugen (launched 1862, as Kaiser Max)
- Drache (armoured corvette, launched 1861, 2750t, 10-48pdr SB, 18-24pdr MLR, 1-8pdr SB, 1-4pdr SB landing gun, 115 mm iron belt, 11kts)
- Salamander (launched 1861, as Drache)
2nd Division — Wooden steam warships
- Kaiser (squadron flag, 2-decker screw ship of the line, launched 1858, 5811t, 2-24pdr ML rifles, 16-40pdr SB, 74-30pdr SB, wooden and unarmoured, 11.5kts)
- NovaraSMS Novara (1850)SMS Novara was a sail frigate of the Austro-Hungarian Navy most noted for sailing the globe for the Novara Expedition of 1857–1859 and, later for carrying Archduke Maximilian and wife Carlota to Vera Cruz in May 1864 to become Emperor and Empress of Mexico.-Service :The SMS Novara was a frigate...
(screw frigate, launched 1850, 2615t, 4-60pdr shell, 28-30pdr SB, 2-24pdr BL rifles, 1-12pdr landing gun, 1-6pdr landing gun, 12kts) - Schwarzenburg (screw frigate, launched 1853, 2614t, 6-60pdr Paixhans shell guns, 26-30pdr Type 2 ML, 14-30pdr Type 4 ML, 4-24pdr BL rifles, 11kts)
- Radetzky (screw frigate, launched 1854, 2234t, 6-60pdr Paixhans shell guns, 40-24pdr SB, 4-24pdr BL rifles, 9kts)
- Donau (launched 1856, 2165t, otherwise as Radetzky)
- Adria (launched 1856, 2165t, otherwise as Radetzky)
- Erzherzog Friedrich (screw corvette, launched 1857, 1697t, 4-60pdr Paixhans shell guns, 16-30pdr SB, 2-24pdr BL rifles, 9kts)
3rd Division — Minor craft
- Narenta (screw gunboat, 2-48pdr SB, 2-24pdr BL rifles)
- Kerka (as Narenta)
- Hum (2nd class gunboat, 2-48pdr SB, 2-24pdr BL rifles, 11?kts)
- Vellebich (as Hum)
- Dalmat (as Hum)
- Seehund (2nd class gunboat, 2-48pdr SB, 2-24pdr BL rifles, 11kts)
- Wal (as Seehund)
- Streiter (as Seehund)
- Reka (as Seehund)
- Andreas Hofer (screw tender, 3-30pdr SB)
- Kaiserin Elizabeth (sidewheeler steamer (radaviso), launched 1854, 4-12pdr SB)
- Greif (sidewheel steamer, 2-12pdr SB)
- Stadion (unarmed merchant steamer. Employed as a scout and was in the Van)
Armoured ships
- Affondatore (fleet flag, ironclad turret ram, launched 1865, 4006t, 2-9in 100pdr Armstrong SB (2x1), 5in iron on belt and turrets, 12kts)
- Re d'Italia (squadron flag, 2nd class armoured frigate {broadside ironclad}, launched 1863, 5610t, 6-72pdr SB shell, 32–164 mm breechloading rifles, 4.5in iron belt, 10.5kts)
- Re di Portogallo (launched 1863, as Re d'Italia except 2-10in shell, 26–164 mm rifles)
- Regina Maria Pia (2nd class armoured frigate {broadside ironclad}, launched 1863, 4201t, 4-72pdr SB shell, 22–164 mm breechloading rifles, 4.3in iron belt, 12kts)
- San Martino (launched 1863, as Regina Maria Pia)
- Castelfidardo (launched 1863, as Regina Maria Pia)
- Ancona (launched 1864, as Regina Maria Pia)
- Principe di Carignano (3rd class armoured frigate {broadside ironclad}, launched launched 1865, 3446t, 10-72pdr 8in SB shell, 12–164 mm breechloading rifles, 4.75in iron belt, 10kts)
- Formidabile (broadside ironclad, launched 1861, 2682t, 4-72pdr SB shell, 16–164 mm (5.5 in) breechloading rifles, 4.3in iron belt, 10kts (19 km/h))
- Terribile (launched 1861, as Formidabile)
- Palestro (armoured corvette {coast defence ironclad}, launched 1865, 2165t, 4–200 mm muzzleloading rifles, 1–165 mm muzzleloading rifle, 4.5in iron belt, 8kts)
- Varese (launched 1865, as Palestro)
Wooden steam warships
- Gaeta (ex-Neopolitan screw frigate, launched 1861, 3917t, 8–160 mm ML rifles, 12-108pdr shell, 34-72pdr shell)
- Maria Adelaide (ex-Sardinian screw frigate, launched 1859, 3429t, 10–160 mm ML rifles, 22-108pdr shell, 19 small guns) (Squadron Flag)
- Duca di Genova (ex-Sardinian screw frigate, launched 1860, 3459t, 8–160 mm ML rifles, 10-108pdr shell, 32-72pdr shell)
- Garibaldi (ex-Neopolitan screw frigate Borbone, launched 1860, 3390t, 8–160 mm ML rifles, 12-108pdr shell, 34-72pdr shell)
- Principe Umberto (ex-Sardinian screw frigate, launched 1861, 3446t, 8–160 mm ML rifles, 10-108pdr shell, 32-72pdr shell, 4 small guns)
- Carlo Alberto (ex-Sardinian screw frigate, launched 1853, 3231t, 8–160 mm ML rifles, 10-108pdr shell, 32-72pdr shell guns, 7 small guns)
- Vittorio Emanuele (ex-Sardinian screw frigate, launched 1856, 3201t, 8–160 mm ML rifles, 10-108 and 32-72pdr shell guns, 7 small guns)
- San Giovanni (ex-Sardinian screw corvette, launched 1861, 1752t, 8–160 mm ML rifles, 14-72 pounder shell, 12 small guns)
- Governolo (ex-Sardinian sidewheel paddle corvette, launched 1849, 2243t, 10-108pdr shell, 2 small guns)
- Guiscardo (ex-Neapolitan sidewheel paddle corvette, launched 1843, 1343t, 2–160 mm ML rifles, 4-72pdr shell)
Minor ships
- Giglio (ex-Tuscan sloop, launched 1846, 246t, 2 SB of unknown type)
- Cristoforo Colombo (gunboat, 4-30pdr SB)
- Gottemolo (as Cristoforo Colombo)
- Unknown (as Cristoforo Colombo)
- Esploratore (sidewheel dispatch vessel, launched 1863, 981t, 2-30pdr SB, 17 knots)
- Messaggere (launched 1863, as Esploratore)
- Indipendenza (unarmed merchantman)
- Piemonte (unarmed merchantman)
- Flavio Gioia (unarmed merchantman)
- Stella d'Italia (unarmed merchantman)
Namesakes
SMS Lissa, an Austro-Hungarian broadside ironclad, was launched in 1869 and named in honor of the battle of Lissa. She was scrapped between 1893 and 1895.Alfred Cappellini of Palestro was the namesake of an Italian armored gunboat launched in 1868 and a monitor launched in 1915.
Faà di Bruno of Re d'Italia was the namesake of an Italian armored gunboat launched in 1868 and a monitor launched in 1916. During WWII an Italian submarine with his name was sunk in 1940 near Scotland.
Augusto Riboty of Varese was the namesake of an Italian destroyer leader launched in 1916 (and which survived both world wars, finally being scrapped in 1951).
Vizeadmiral von Tegetthoff was the namesake of an Austro-Hungarian center battery ironclad launched in 1878
SMS Tegetthoff (1878)
SMS Tegetthoff was a Central-battery ironclad of the Austro-Hungarian navy. The ship was laid down in 1876, launched in 1878, and commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian fleet in 1881. Tegetthoffs career was rather limited; after 1897 she was used as a guard ship in Pola. In 1912 she was renamed...
, a class of dreadnought battleships
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...
and the lead vessel of that class
SMS Tegetthoff
SMS Tegetthoff was an Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the Tegetthoff class named after Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, a 19th-century Austrian admiral most notable for defeating the Italian Navy in the Battle of Lissa....
, launched in 1912. Ironically, at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the latter ship was given to the Italian Royal Navy
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
, which in 1924-25 scrapped the ship that bore the name of the man who had defeated it in its first battle.