The Battle of Lissa (also known as the Battle of Vis; Croatian: Bitka kod Visa) was fought on 20 July 1866 between the Italian and Austrian navies near the island of Lissa in the Adriatic Sea during the Third Italian War of Independence. An Italian fleet under Admiral Carlo Pellion di Persano engaged an Austrian fleet led by Vice-Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff in an attempt to break Austria's naval dominance in the Adriatic. The battle was the first in which ironclad warships were used on a major scale. Both fleets exhibited several technical deficiencies, while the Italian fleet also suffered from severe rivalries between its officers. The Austrians were victorious, relieving Lissa after sinking two Italian warships, in part by using naval ramming tactics. Persano was disgraced upon his return to Italy, while Tegetthoff received widespread praise and accolades for his victory.
Background
In order to seize the last areas of the Apennine Peninsula that were still in the hands of the Habsburg Empire, the Kingdom of Italy entered into an alliance with Prussia. War broke out between Prussia and Austria in mid-June 1866. Italy also declared war on Austria and had its troops march into Veneto. Although the Italian army outnumbered the Austrians, it was defeated at Custoza on 24 June and forced to retreat.
Shortly before the Italians were ready to resume the offensive, the French emperor Napoleon III telegraphed the Italians on the night of 4 July that Austria had offered to cede Veneto to him on the basis of an armistice in order to return it to Italy. However, Napoleon III's own plans were thwarted by the news of the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Königgrätz. The emperor's telegram was followed three days later by the threat that he would return Venice to Austria if the armistice was rejected and perhaps enter into an alliance with it. This put the Italians in a terrible dilemma, as risking a break with France was too great a risk.
The Italians replied to the Emperor that they could not conclude an armistice without Prussian consent and made their acceptance conditional on the immediate surrender of the Venetian fortresses and French support for their claims to Trieste. In the meantime, Italy wanted to use the time to occupy Istria and later use it as a bargaining chip in the peace negotiations.
Prelude
Admiral Persano had already been instructed on 10 June 1866 to clear the Adriatic of Austrian warships and merchant ships on the outbreak of war and to make Ancona an operational base on the Adriatic, but not to attack Trieste and Venice for the time being. After Austria officially declared war on Italy on 20 June, the Italians initially planned to occupy Austrian coastal territory on the Adriatic.
After Tegetthoff was informed of the declaration of war, he immediately took measures to take offensive action against the Italian fleet when a favorable opportunity arose. In order to obtain information about the strength and movements of the Italians, he sent the steamer Stadion on the same day to reconnoiter the coast from Ancona to Bari. On 23 June, Stadion returned with the news that no enemy warships had been sighted.
Assuming that the Italians had only assembled part of their fleet in the roadstead at Ancona, Tegetthoff quickly decided to undertake a second reconnaissance from Pula to Ancona. On 24 June he asked Archduke Albrecht whether he would be permitted to take the offensive and carry out reconnaissance missions on the Italian coast. In the meantime, he also held a council of war with his ship commanders and weighed the chances of an operation against Ancona and a possible attack on any Italian ships anchored there. The Archduke's reply arrived on 26 June: "No obstacle in the way of the free action of the squadron, only not beyond Lissa; keep an eye on the mouths of the Po and the coast of Venice." With the approval of the Austrian high command, the Austrian fleet sailed from Pula on the evening of 26 June with Tegetthoff flying his flag on the ironclad frigate Erzherzog Ferdinand Max.
After the Italian coast came into sight at dawn on 27 June, the Austrians set course for Monte Conero. At around 04:00 a lookout on Erzerhog Ferdinand Max sighted smoke in the direction of their course. Around 04:20 a steamer was sighted by the gunboat Kaiserin Elisabeth, which was directed to investigate. When Elisabeth approached the unknown steamer to within about 1.5 nautical miles (1.7 mi), the ship - the dispatch boat Radaviso Esploratore under the command of the Marchese di Orengo - hoisted the Italian flag. This was answered by Elisabeth hoisting the Austrian flag and firing a few shots, whereupon Esploratore immediately turned and headed for Ancona.
Elisabeth tried to cut off the Italian ship, but Esploratore soon got out of range due to her greater speed, and by 05:30 she was about 2.5 nautical miles (2.9 mi) from Ancona. Contrary to Austrian expectations, most of the Italian fleet was now anchored at Ancona. The Italians, alerted by Esploratore, then set sail, and around 06:30, four of their ironclads approached Monte Conero, followed at intervals by other Italian ships.
Due to the presence of Italian coastal artillery and a possible naval mine belt, Tegetthoff decided to withdraw to Pula at 07:30. Admiral Persano then cruised along the latitude of Lissa from 9-11 July, but without taking any action against the Austrians. His passive behavior was increasingly criticized and the Italian Minister of the Navy ordered him to finally take some form of offensive action. It was therefore decided to occupy the island of Lissa, and to create a naval base of operations so that an Italian land force could later land in Dalmatia in relative safely.
Opposing fleets
Italy
The armoured frigates Re d'Italia and the Re di Portogallo were both built in New York City. They had a displacement of 5,700 metric tons (5,600 long tons) each, 177 millimetres (7.0 in) thick armour and were equipped with powerful artillery. However, they were not good seagoing vessels as they lacked buoyancy and maneuverability, and their rudders were unprotected. Italy also had the Affondatore, a turret ship built in Great Britain in 1866, with 127 millimetres (5.0 in) armor and equipped with two 300-pounder Armstrong guns and an 26 feet (7.9 m)-long ramming spur. According to an article in the London Times, it was capable of destroying the Austrian fleet single-handedly if necessary. However, the Affondatore also had serious design flaws.
The ironclads Regina Maria Pia, Castelfidardo, Ancona, San Martino and Principe di Carignano were also armored and had a continuous armored belt on the waterline. Two smaller ironclads, Terribile and Formidabile, each with a displacement of 2,700 metric tons (2,700 long tons), were built in France. They had 101 millimetres (4.0 in) thick armor and were equipped with 152 millimetres (6.0 in) guns. Two armored gunboats, Palestro and the Varese, each carried two Armstrong 150-pounders and several smaller guns.
Behind these twelve ships, which formed the first line of the Italian fleet, were nine wooden frigates and corvettes with steam propulsion, but of an older type that armor had made obsolete. Dissatisfied with the state of his fleet, Admiral Persano repeatedly pointed out a number of deficiencies to the responsible naval minister, General Diego Angioletti. Persano estimated that he would need at least another month to get the fleet into fighting condition. On 20 June, Angioletti was replaced by Agostino Depretis, who ordered Persano to sail immediately and assemble the fleet at Ancona.
Austria
The Austrians had the ironclads Habsburg, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max, Drache, Kaiser Max, Prinz Eugen, Don Juan d'Austria, and Salamander. Each had 101 millimetres (4.0 in) thick armor but were armed with obsolete muzzle-loading guns. In addition, the fleet consisted of the wooden ship-of-the-line Kaiser with ninety-one guns, the frigates Adria, Donau , Novara, Radetzky, and Schwarzenberg, as well as ten gunboats (Narenta, Kerka, Hum, Vellebich, Dalmat, Seehund, Wal, Streiter, Reka, Andreas Hofer, Kaiserin Elisabeth, Greif, and Stadion).
After the naval battle at Heligoland in the German-Danish War, Rear Admiral von Tegetthoff, who was extremely popular with his subordinates, was considered one of the most experienced and creative naval commanders in Europe, especially when it came to compensating for the Austrian fleet's lack of combat power via emergency solutions.
Battle
Lissa
The island of Lissa is located in the middle of the Adriatic Sea about 34 miles from the Croatian coast and 80 miles from the Italian coast. The island has several bays and harbors, which were equipped with batteries for defense. On the north-eastern side is Vis with the port of San Giorgio. To the south are the bays of Carober, Gradac, Portochiave and Travna. On the south-eastern side: the bays of Milna and Ruda and the port of Manego. After Austria came into possession of the island of Lissa in 1815, the existing fortifications were strengthened and new works added. At that time, 1,833 Austrian soldiers under the command of Colonel David Freiherr von Urs de Margina and around 100 cannons were available for the defense of the rugged and densely wooded island. There was also a police station on the 639 yd-high hill of Hum, which was in telegraphic contact with the Dalmatian mainland via the neighboring island of Hvar.
Order of Battle
Rear Admiral von Tegetthoff was not entirely free in his choice of attack formation. The planned attack required the armored division to form the vanguard and to simultaneously adopt a formation that enabled it to steam full speed at the enemy. However, since the Austrian ships did not all achieve the same speed, he decided against the line-ahead formation. In this formation, there was a risk that the faster ships might collide with the slower ones when breaking out of the line. For this reason, and to ensure optimal utilization of his combat strength, he opted for a wedge formation.
Admiral Persano divided his armored ships into three divisions. The first division, under Rear Admiral Giovanni Vacca, consisted of Principe di Carignano, Castelfidardo, and Ancona. The second division, under Admiral Persano himself, included Re d’Italia, Palestro, and San Martino. Finally, the third division, under Captain Riboty, comprised Re di Portogallo, Varese, Maria Pia, Terribile, and Formidabile. Rear Admiral Giovanni Battista Albini’s squadron consisted of four frigates, one corvette, five scouts, three gunboats, a hospital ship, and two troop transports.
Attack
Persano set sail on the afternoon of 16 July 1866. The fleet initially took a north-easterly course in order to conceal the target. During the night of 16–17 July, the Messaggero, sailing under a false British flag with Chief of Staff d'Amico on board, approached the coast to reconnoiter the positions of the Austrian coastal batteries and fortresses. Persano's plan was to bombard San Georgio with most of his fleet, destroy the Komiža forts with a smaller detachment so that a later arriving force could land there, and land the expeditionary force he had with him at Manego.
The Italian gunboats were sent to Hvar to cut the telegraph cable to Lissa and destroy any boats that could transmit information to the mainland. One scout was sent to cross between the islands of Palagruža and Svetac, another to Punta Planca on the mainland. This division exposed the Italians to the risk of being destroyed by locally superior Austrian units. Moreover, so much time had been lost in issuing orders that should have been given before the fleet left that the Italians did not reach their positions until after 10:00 on 18 July. Due to this delay, the Austrians had had enough time to telegraph the arrival of the Italians to Tegetthoff. At 10:30 Persano gave the order to bombard the island.
The first division under Rear Admiral Vacca approached the batteries at Komiža under fire up to 1,600 yards and then opened fire on the Austrian positions. However, at up to 273 yards above sea level, the coastal batteries were too high for the Italian guns. Consequently, after a few hours of useless shelling, Vacca decided to sail to Manego and support Rear Admiral Albini. Albini, who had received orders to destroy the batteries at Nadpostranje and land troops in the bay of Rukavac, reached his position at around 11:15. Shortly afterwards, the Austrian guns opened fire on the approaching Italians.