The Battle of Kaliakra, usually known as the Attack of the Drazki in Bulgaria, was a maritime action between four Bulgarian

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 torpedo boats and the Ottoman

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...

 cruiser Hamidiye

Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye

HamidiyeThe name is also sometimes rendered as Hamidieh in English; see Gardiner and Gray, p. 389 and Halpern, p. 228. was an Ottoman cruiser that saw extensive action during the Balkan Wars and World War I...

 in 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...

. It took place on 21 November 1912 at 32 miles off Bulgaria's primary port of Varna

Varna

Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...

.

During the course of the First Balkan War

First Balkan War

The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...

, the Ottoman Empire's supplies were dangerously limited after the battles in Kirk Kilisse

Battle of Kirk Kilisse

The Battle of Kirk Kilisse or Battle of Kirkkilise or Battle of Lozengrad was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. It took place on 24 October 1912, when the Bulgarian army defeated an Ottoman army in Eastern Thrace.The initial clashes were around...

 and Lule Burgas and the sea route from the Romanian port Constanţa

Constanta

Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....

 to Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

 became vital for the Ottomans. The Ottoman navy also imposed a blockade on the Bulgarian coast and on the 15th October, the commander of the cruiser Hamidiye threatened to destroy Varna and Balchik

Balchik

Balchik is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is located in Dobrich Oblast and is 42 km northeast of Varna...

, unless the two towns surrendered.

On 21 November an Ottoman convoy was attacked by the four Bulgarian torpedo boats Drazki (Bold), Latyashti (Flying), Smeli (Brave) and Strogi (Strict). As a result of the battle, the cruiser Hamidiye was torpedoed by Drazki and suffered heavy damage; only the calm sea prevented the ship from sinking. Half-sunk with her front parts underwater, she was towed to Istanbul. After this encounter, the Turks ceased any maritime operations close to the Bulgarian coastline.