The gunboat Archimede (commander, 1st lieutenant Domenico Cavagnari) stationary in Constantinople, to escape capture leaves the port, enters the Black Sea and goes to Odessa where it will remain until the armistice of Russia with the Central Empires (3 March 1918)
The Austrian Fleet, coming out in force (three battleships, eight battleships, two explorers, nine destroyers and six torpedo boats) from Pula and Kotor on the night of 23, starts bombarding long stretches and localities from the early morning hours of the Adriatic national coast:
the explorer Novara and two destroyers act against Porto Corsini,
the battleship Sankt Georg and two torpedo boats operate against Rimini where they hit the railway line and damage a train;
the battleship Zrinyi and two torpedo boats go into action against Senigallia. During the return navigation from the action, the Zrinyi is signaled to the launch of bombs from the airship Città di Ferrara that produce no effects;
the three battleships Viribus Unitis, Prinz Eugen and Tegetthoff, the destroyer Valebit and the torpedo boat 65 T operate against Ancona where they cause the sinking of the steamships Barbara, Concettina, Città di Tripoli and the tugboat Filippo, and damage to the shipyards, to the city and the railway yard. Losses between civilians and military: 68 dead and about 150 wounded;
the battleship Radetzky and two torpedo boats act against Potenza Picena, inflicting damage to the station and the railway line;
the explorer Admiral Spaun works against Termoli and Campomarino by demolishing a railway bridge over the Sinarca river and damaging railway buildings;
the destroyer Streiter acts against the Torre Mileto signal station, damaging it;
two destroyers act against the traffic lights of the Tremiti islands, damaging it;
the destroyer Lika on reconnaissance between the island of Pelagosa and the Gargano bombards the Vieste traffic light;
two destroyers operate against Manfredonia damaging the railway station;
the explorer Helgoland and the destroyers Tatra, Lika, Orjen and Csepel bomb Barletta
Air bombardment actions are carried out on Venice with two seaplanes that drop 11 bombs with minor damage and on Jesi where the airfield is targeted
Italian naval predispositions and first actions:
The destroyers of the 3rd Squadron of Venice - Bersagliere (squadron leader and commander, frigate captain Roberto Lubelli), Corazziere and Zeffiro reach Grado and Porto Buso at dawn, with the task of sinking any enemy ships, shelling military installations and cut the telegraph cable between Grado and Cittanova d'Istria. The first two units cannonade a barracks in Grado but are unable to trace the telegraph cable and therefore return to Venice; the Zeffiro (commander, corvette captain Arturo Ciano) goes up the access channel to Porto Buso, shells a barracks and an observation tower, destroying some boats and taking 48 prisoners. Returns unscathed to Venice in the evening
The submarine Jantina (commander, lieutenant Colombo Tarò) of the 1st Squadron of Venice reaches the ambush area south of Rovinj (Istria) where it remains in ambush for the whole day, then returning without having sighted an enemy ship;
The explorer Quarto (commander, frigate captain Ugo Nicastro) and the destroyers of the 1st Squadriglia - Animoso (commander and squadron leader, frigate captain Augusto Genoese Zerbi), Ardito (commander, corvette captain Gustavo Caccia) and Audace (commander, captain of corvetta Giuseppe Cantù) - after leaving Brindisi, after having made a foray into the Gulf of Drin, they carry out a surveillance cruise off the coast of Cattaro;
The destroyers Borea (commander, corvette captain Paolo Pontremoli) and Espero (commander, corvette captain Spiridione Bellavita) of the 5th Squadron, after having towed the Nereide submarines (commander, corvette captain Carlo del Greco) and Velella (commander, lieutenant Vincenzo de Feo) of the 3rd Squadron, return to Brindisi. Here, at the end of the mission on the morning of the 26th, the two boats will also return which, despite having sighted several enemy units, were not able to move to launch position due to their reduced speed;
In the Lower Adriatic, off the coast of the Gargano, the destroyer Turbine (commander, corvette captain Luigi Bianchi) on a surveillance cruise engages in combat against the destroyers Tatra and Csepel, who with Lika and Orjen were escorting the explorer Helgoland, all destined to bomb Barletta. In the battle, the Turbine has the worst and sinks (at the end of the battle the commander, seriously injured, and part of the crew are taken prisoner; The fallen are 15. To commander Bianchi and his second, lieutenant Mario Ferrari, with decree of 10 August 1919 will be awarded the silver medal for military valor, first medals for valor decreed) fighting for about two hours, until the ammunition runs out
The cruiser Libya (commander, frigate captain Roberto Andrioli Stagno) and the auxiliary cruiser Città di Siracusa (commander, frigate captain Roberto Petrelluzzi) of the Explorers Division make an incursion from Brindisi to the island of Pelagosa (Palagruza), with the goal of capturing any garrison present. At 05 a unit of 42 men is disembarked, including some sappers-miners, who patrol the island without finding any enemy soldiers. Before re-embarking the personnel, the two units leave the island in the late morning to bring relief to the crew of the destroyer Turbine. The Italian intervention leads to the removal of the enemy units and, while the City of Syracuse collects the castaways, Libya returns to Pelagosa to recover the landing department
The auxiliary cruisers Città di Palermo (commander, frigate captain Enrico Cuturi) and Città di Messina (commander, frigate captain Salvatore Manzillo) of the Explorers Division, leave Brindisi in the early hours of the morning to carry out a surveillance cruise in the waters of Cattaro;
The armored cruisers of the 5th Naval Division (commander, rear admiral Eugenio Trifari) Giuseppe Garibaldi (commander, vessel captain Franco Nunes), flagship, Varese (commander, vessel captain Pasquale Salinardi), Francesco Ferruccio (commander, vessel captain Diego Simonetti ) and Vettor Pisani (commander, vessel captain Ruggero Ruggiero) leave Brindisi for an offensive cruise in the Lower Adriatic but shortly after the mission is canceled
First Italian offensive air action. At 23.30 pm on the 23rd the Città di Jesi airship (commanded, lieutenant Bruno Brivonesi.) And from the Jesi airport the Città di Ferrara (commander, lieutenant Castruccio Castracane) had risen from the Ferrara airport for an action respectively against Kotor and Pula. The first airship due to mechanical failures is forced to interrupt the mission and return to the base. The City of Ferrara after midnight is sighted and made the object of reaction by enemy ships on surveillance cruises (cruisers Saida and Szigetvar) with other smaller units along the connecting Isola Grossa - Pedaso and signaled a large anti-aircraft fire that forces it to change course and altitude, leading to the cancellation of the mission. The airship then heads towards the Italian coast, where it then has the opportunity to intercept some enemy units upon returning from the bombing of Rimini and Senigallia and drops some bombs on the largest of them, the battleship Zrinyi, which avoids them with the maneuver.
Source: Military Navy
