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Bombardment of the Dardanelles (1912)
Part of Italo-Turkish War
Date 18 April 1912 Location the Dardenelles, Ottoman Empire Result Indecisive
Belligerents
Italy	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Vice admiral Leone Viale	unknown
Strength
3 pre-dreadnaught battleships 8 armoured cruisers 2 auxiliary cruisers 4 destroyers 1 cable ship	15 shore batteries
Casualties and losses
none nominal damage to warships	light

The Bombardment of the Dardanelles was a naval engagement on 18 April 1912 between an Italian naval squadron and Ottoman shore batteries on guarding the Dardanelles during the Italo-Turkish War. Italian Admiral Leone Viale had hoped to entice the Ottoman fleet into an engagement by positioning his forces outside the Dardenelles. When the Ottoman fleet failed to leave port, Viale instead engaged the Turkish forts guarding the entrance to the Dardanelles before withdrawing. While the engagement was indecisive, the Italian bombardment and the Turkish reaction of mining the Dardanelles cause significant international controversy at the time.

Background

Vice Admiral Leone Viale took command of the Italian fleet on 9 April 1912 after

Battle

During the night of 17 April to 18 April, the cable ship Citta di Milano cut the cable between the Dardanelles and the nearby island of Imbros. At sunrise on 18 April, Rear Admiral Ernesto Presbitero's armoured cruisers of the Italian Navy's Second Division moved closer to the coast, positioning themselves close to the mouth of the Dardanelles in an attempt at baiting the Ottoman fleet into an engagement. This failed as the Ottoman fleet did not sortie from the safety of the straits to meet Presbitero's squadron. The remainder of the Italian fleet then concentrated and moved towards the strait in a line of battle at 9:00 A.M. Shortly after coming into view of the Dardenelles, the Italian fleet spotted an Ottoman destroyer that had ventured out of the straits. Rear Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel's 4th Division of armoured cruisers was dispatched by Viale to chase down the Ottoman vessel which quickly darted back into the Dardanelles. Now in range of the Ottoman shore batteries, Turkish gunners in Fort Ertogrul on Cape Helles and Fort Orhaniye on the Asian side of the Dardenelles both opened fire on the armoured cruisers approaching the strait. The Italian fleet then closed to engage the forts, opening fire on them at a range of . The Italian First Division engaged the forts on the European side of the strait while the 2nd and 4th Divisions engaged those on the Asiatic side.

Aftermath

The damage caused by the Italian bombardment was disputed drastically between the Italians and Turks. The Italians claimed that they had inflicted severe damage on the forts, with hits scored on several barracks within the forts causing severe casualties and hundreds of Turkish dead. The Turks however claimed that no direct hit was scored on any of the forts with only 1 Turkish soldier killed in the engagement. The Italians suffered no casualties from the engagement, and no significant damage to their vessels.

Fearing a further attack on the Dardenelles, the Ottomans immediately set to mining the straits on 19 April and closed them to commercial traffic. This caused a major diplomatic crisis among the great powers of Europe at the time, as the treaty of (insert) had guarenteed passage through the straits of all vessels.

Order of battle

Italian Fleet
Ship	Type	Guns	Navy	Commander	Casualties			Notes
					Killed	Wounded	Total
First Division
Vittorio Emanuele	Regina Elena-class battleship	2 × 2 – 305 mm (12 in)/40 guns, 4 × 1 – 203 mm (8 in)/45 guns, 12 × 1 – 152 mm (6 in)/40 guns, 20 × 1 – 76 mm (3 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 47 mm (1.9 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 37 mm (1.5 in)/40 guns, 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes			0	0	0
Roma	Regina Elena-class battleship	2 × 2 – 305 mm (12 in)/40 guns, 4 × 1 – 203 mm (8 in)/45 guns, 12 × 1 – 152 mm (6 in)/40 guns, 20 × 1 – 76 mm (3 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 47 mm (1.9 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 37 mm (1.5 in)/40 guns, 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes			0	0	0	.
Napoli	Regina Elena-class battleship	2 × 2 – 305 mm (12 in)/40 guns, 4 × 1 – 203 mm (8 in)/45 guns, 12 × 1 – 152 mm (6 in)/40 guns, 20 × 1 – 76 mm (3 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 47 mm (1.9 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 37 mm (1.5 in)/40 guns, 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes			0	0	0
USS Jarvis	Fletcher-class destroyer				0	0	0
Second Division
Regina Margherita	Regina Margherita-class battleship	2 × 2 – 305 mm (12 in)/40 guns,4 × 1 – 203 mm (8 in)/45 guns, 12 × 1 – 152 mm (6 in)/40 guns, 20 × 1 – 76 mm (3 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 47 mm (1.9 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 37 mm (1.5 in)/40 guns, 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes			0	0	0
Benedetto Brin	Regina Margherita-class battleship	2 × 2 – 305 mm (12 in)/40 guns,4 × 1 – 203 mm (8 in)/45 guns, 12 × 1 – 152 mm (6 in)/40 guns, 20 × 1 – 76 mm (3 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 47 mm (1.9 in)/40 guns, 2 × 1 – 37 mm (1.5 in)/40 guns, 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes			0	0	0	.
Napoli	Regina Elena-class battleship				0	0	0
USS Jarvis	Fletcher-class destroyer		File:Naval Ensign of the United States.svg		0	0	0

Japanese force
Ship	Type	Guns	Navy	Commander	Casualties			Notes
					Killed	Wounded	Total
CH 73	battleship				unknown	unknown		sunk
CH 198	Submarine Chaser				unknown	unknown		Damaged
CH 206	Submarine Chaser				unknown	unknown		sunk
CH 209	Submarine Chaser				unknown	unknown		sunk
Sources: Macmillan pp. 29–37, James pp. 273–289

https://books.google.com/books?id=zF04AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA794-IA5&dq=dardanelles+pisa+amalfi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG24qo0qLhAhXvT98KHatPAoEQ6AEIQjAF https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112108093219;view=1up;seq=228