Battle of Imbros facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of Imbros |
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| Part of the Mediterranean Theatre of World War I | |||||||
 Yavûz Sultân Selîm beached in the Dardanelles |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom Greece |
 Ottoman Empire Germany |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Henry F. Kitchener |
 Hubert Paschwitz |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 2 monitors 2 destroyers 12 aircraft |
1 battlecruiser 2 light cruisers 4 destroyers 10 aircraft |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 139 killed 2 monitors sunk 1 aircraft destroyed 1 aircraft damaged |
330 killed 172 captured 1 light cruiser sunk 1 battlecruiser disabled 1 destroyer damaged 3 aircraft destroyed |
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The Battle of Imbros was a naval battle during World War I. It happened on January 20, 1918, near the island of Imbros in the Aegean Sea. An Ottoman (Turkish) fleet attacked British ships.
The Ottoman fleet included the powerful battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm and the fast light cruiser Midilli. They wanted to surprise the British. The British had smaller ships called monitors and destroyers. The Ottoman goal was to destroy these ships at Imbros. Then, they planned to attack the naval base at Mudros.
The Ottoman ships succeeded in sinking the British monitors. But their luck changed when they hit a minefield while leaving. The Midilli sank, and the Yavûz Sultân Selîm was badly damaged. Even though Yavûz Sultân Selîm managed to reach safety, it was attacked by planes for days. This battle greatly weakened the Ottoman Navy for the rest of the war.
Why the Battle of Imbros Happened
By early 1918, the war was not going well for the Ottoman Army in Palestine. The new German commander of the Ottoman fleet, Rebeur Paschwitz, wanted to help. He decided to send ships out from the Dardanelles strait. This would take pressure off the land forces.
Targeting British Ships at Imbros
The British Aegean Squadron had some ships hiding in Kusu Bay near Imbros. These ships were a perfect target for a surprise attack. After attacking ships at Imbros, the Ottoman fleet planned to hit the British naval base at Mudros.
The Allied forces guarding the Dardanelles included British and French ships. They also had several monitors. These monitors were used for bombarding (attacking) targets on land. British destroyers protected them.
Missing Battleships: A Key Weakness
Two large battleships, HMS Agamemnon and HMS Lord Nelson, were supposed to guard the area. But the Lord Nelson was away, taking an admiral to a meeting. The Ottomans and Germans saw this as a chance. They sent their strongest ships, Yavûz Sultân Selîm and Midilli, to attack.
British Ships at Imbros on January 20
On January 20, the British ships at Imbros were the monitors HMS Raglan and HMS M28. Also there were the destroyers HMS Tigress and HMS Lizard. The battleship Agamemnon was at Mudros. But she was too slow to catch the Ottoman ships if they tried to escape.
Comparing Ship Power: Ottoman vs. British
Without the big battleships, the British were much weaker than the Ottoman ships.
- The destroyers Tigress and Lizard had small guns and torpedoes. They were fast, reaching about 27 knots.
- The monitors Raglan and M28 had big guns for attacking land. But they were very slow, only 7 to 11 knots. This made them easy targets. Raglan had two 14-inch guns. M28 had one 9.2-inch cannon.
In contrast, the Ottoman ships were both fast and heavily armed:
- The Midilli had eight 150 mm cannons and could reach 25 knots.
- The Yavûz Sultân Selîm was the most powerful. It could go 25.5 knots. It had ten huge 283 mm guns and many smaller ones.
Because the British had no strong ships nearby, there was little to stop the powerful Ottoman attack.
The Battle Unfolds
As the Ottoman ships headed for Imbros, Yavûz Sultân Selîm hit a mine. But the damage was minor, and they kept going. Yavûz Sultân Selîm then started firing at a British signal station. Midilli went ahead to guard the entrance of Kusu Bay.
First Contact and Monitor Attack
At 5:30 am, the British destroyer HMS Lizard spotted the Ottoman ships. Lizard tried to attack, but the Ottoman fire was too heavy. Yavûz Sultân Selîm soon saw the two British monitors in the bay. It left Lizard to attack them.
Midilli continued fighting Lizard, which was then joined by HMS Tigress. The destroyers tried to protect the monitors with a smoke screen. But it didn't work. The monitors were too slow to escape Yavûz Sultân Selîm.
Sinking of HMS Raglan and M28
Yavûz Sultân Selîm hit Raglan many times. It hit the ship's control tower, killing officers. Raglan tried to fire back but was hit again. A shell pierced its armor, setting off ammunition. Soon after, a shell hit Raglan's ammunition storage. This caused the monitor to sink.
After Raglan sank, Yavûz Sultân Selîm attacked HMS M28. It hit M28 in the middle, setting it on fire. M28's ammunition storage then exploded, sinking it at 6:00 am. With both monitors sunk, the Ottomans decided to leave. They headed south to attack the Allied naval base at Mudros.
Ottoman Retreat and Minefield Disaster
As the Ottoman ships left Kusu Bay, they accidentally sailed into a minefield. The two British destroyers, Lizard and Tigress, followed them. British and Greek planes from Mudros also joined the fight. A Greek pilot, Aristeidis Moraitinis, shot down three enemy planes.
Midilli took the lead to use its anti-aircraft guns against the planes. Then, Midilli hit a mine near its back funnel. Soon after, Yavûz Sultân Selîm also hit a mine. Within 30 minutes, Midilli hit four more mines and began to sink. Yavûz Sultân Selîm tried to help Midilli but hit another mine itself. It was forced to retreat.
Escape to the Dardanelles
Yavûz Sultân Selîm fled towards the safety of the Dardanelles. Lizard and Tigress chased it. Four Ottoman destroyers and an old cruiser came out to protect Yavûz Sultân Selîm. After one Ottoman destroyer was hit, the Ottoman ships had to retreat further into the Dardanelles. As the British destroyers got close to Cape Helles, Ottoman shore batteries (guns on land) fired at them, forcing them to pull back.
Air Attacks on Yavûz Sultân Selîm
A dozen British seaplanes from Ark Royal were sent to finish off Yavûz Sultân Selîm. They hit the battlecruiser twice. But by then, the Ottoman ship was close to the coast. Ten Ottoman seaplanes and heavy anti-aircraft fire from shore batteries drove off the British planes. One British plane was shot down, and another was damaged.
The four Ottoman destroyers returned to guard Yavûz Sultân Selîm as it sailed up the Dardanelles. The badly damaged Ottoman battlecruiser then ran aground (got stuck) on a sandbar near Nagara Point. For the next six days, Allied seaplanes kept attacking Yavûz Sultân Selîm. They scored six more hits. But the Ottoman planes and shore batteries defended the ship. The bombs used by the British were too small to cause serious damage.
Allied commanders wanted to send a submarine to attack the stuck battlecruiser. But the only submarine available had mechanical problems. So, the attack was delayed.
Aftermath of the Battle
Yavûz Sultân Selîm remained stuck until January 26. Then, the Ottoman battleship Ottoman battleship Turgut Reis finally arrived. It managed to pull Yavûz Sultân Selîm free and tow it back into the Black Sea.
Last Attempt to Destroy the Battlecruiser
On January 27, the British sent the submarine HMS E14 into the Dardanelles. But Yavûz Sultân Selîm had already left. So, E14 started heading back to Allied waters. It spotted an Ottoman cargo ship and tried to torpedo it. The second torpedo exploded too early. This damaged the submarine, forcing it to try to escape the strait.
The submarine came under heavy fire from Ottoman shore batteries. It eventually got stuck on the shore. Its commander, Geoffrey Saxton White, and another sailor were killed. Seven others were captured. White was later given the Victoria Cross for his bravery in trying to save his crew.
The Ottoman forces did destroy the two monitors as planned. However, their losses in the minefield were very significant. With Midilli sunk and Yavûz Sultân Selîm badly damaged, the Ottoman Navy was much less of a threat for the rest of the war.
Some people criticized the British commanders. They felt the battleships Agamemnon and Lord Nelson should have been closer to the Dardanelles. If they had been nearby, Yavûz Sultân Selîm might have been completely destroyed.
