Battle of Lemnos (1913)

Battle of Lemnos
Part of the First Balkan War
Diagram by the French L'Illustration, depicting the Greek and Ottoman fleets and the warships that participated in the Battle of Lemnos
Date 18 January [O.S. 5 January] 1913 Location off Lemnos, Greece Result Greek victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Greece	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis	Captain Ramiz Bey
Strength
3 battleships, 1 armored cruiser, 7 destroyers	3 battleships, 1 cruiser, 5 destroyers
Casualties and losses
1 wounded	Three ships heavily damaged 41 killed 104 wounded

The Battle of Lemnos (Greek: Ναυμαχία της Λήμνου, Turkish: Mondros Deniz Muharebesi), fought on 18 January [O.S. 5 January] 1913, was a naval battle during the First Balkan War, which defeated the second and last attempt of the Ottoman Empire to break the Greek naval blockade of the Dardanelles and reclaim supremacy over the Aegean Sea from Greece.

Following the loss of a number of Aegean Islands to Greece during the first phase of the war in 1912, and its first defeat at the Battle of Elli, the Ottoman Navy sought to check Greek progress by destroying the Greek fleet docked at the port of Moudros, Lemnos. However, it faced the problem of countering the Greek flagship, the Georgios Averof, which had already defeated them at Elli. The Ottomans developed the plan to slip a fast cruiser through the Greek patrols for a raiding mission in the Aegean, hoping to draw off some Greek ships, possibly even the Georgios Averof itself, in pursuit, leaving the remainder weakened for the Ottoman fleet to attack. Indeed, the cruiser Hamidiye evaded the Greek lookout ships on the night of 13/14 January 1913, and sunk a Greek transport ship at Syros the next day, also bombarding the island's harbour. This action caused concern in Athens, and an order was sent to the Fleet, commanding it to "sail immediately in pursuit". Admiral Kountouriotis refused to obey, suspecting an Ottoman trap, and instead prepared for the inevitable exit of the Ottoman Fleet from the Dardanelles Straits.

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