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Battle of Lemnos
Part of theFirst Balkan War
A Greek lithograph depicting theAverof and Greek fleet during the battle.
Date 18 January [O.S. 5 January] 1913 Location OffLemnos,Aegean Sea Result Greek victory[1]
Belligerents
Greece	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Pavlos Kountouriotis	Ramiz Bey
Strength
1 armored cruiser 3 ironclad battleships 7 destroyers	2 pre-dreadnought battleships 1 ironclad battleship 1 protected cruiser 5 destroyers
Casualties and losses
1 wounded	41 killed 104 wounded 2 battleships damaged 1 ironclad damaged[2]

TheNaval Battle of Lemnos (Greek:Ναυμαχία της Λήμνου,Turkish:Mondros Deniz Muharebesi), fought on 18 January [O.S. 5 January] 1913, was anaval battle during theFirst Balkan War, in which the Greeks defeated the second and last attempt of theOttoman Empire to break the Greek naval blockade of theDardanelles and reclaim supremacy over theAegean Sea. This, the final naval battle of the First Balkan War, forced the Ottoman Navy to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war, thus ensuring the dominion of the Aegean Sea and theAegean islands by Greece.

Following the loss of a number ofAegean Islands to Greece during the first phase of the war in 1912, and its first defeat at theBattle of Elli, the Ottoman Navy sought to check Greek progress by destroying the Greek fleet docked at the port ofMoudros,Lemnos. However, it faced the problem of countering the Greek flagship, theGeorgios Averof, which had already defeated them atElli.

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 theGeorgios Averof itself, leaving the remainder of the Greek fleet weakened for attack. Indeed, the cruiserHamidiye evaded the Greek lookout ships on the night of 13/14 January 1913, and sank a Greek transport ship atSyros 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". AdmiralKountouriotis refused to obey, suspecting an Ottoman trap, and instead prepared for the inevitable exit of the Ottoman Fleet from theDardanelles Straits.

On the Ottoman side, efforts were made to uplift the morale of the crews, including the hoisting of the original banner of the greatcorsair andadmiralHayreddin Barbarossa on the flagship,Barbaros Hayreddin, which was named after him.

The Greek fleet, led by Rear AdmiralPavlos Kountouriotis was composed of its 9,960 tonarmored cruiser flagshipGeorgios Averof; the three oldironclad battleshipsSpetsai,Hydra andPsara; and sevendestroyers. The Ottoman flotilla, led by Captain RamizBey included thepre-dreadnought battleshipsBarbaros Hayreddin andTurgut Reis and the older ironclad battleshipMesûdiye; the cruiserMecidiye; and five destroyers. The old ironcladÂsâr-ı Tevfik remained in the Dardanelles and did not participate in the battle.

At 08:20 on the morning of January 5, the Greek patrols signalled that the Ottoman fleet had appeared. At 09:45, the Greek fleet sailed from Moudros Bay. The two fleets met some 19.3 kilometers (12 miles) SE ofLemnos, sailing southeast in converging columns, with their flagships in front. The gunnery exchange commenced at 11:34, when the two fleets were at a distance of 8400 meters (9186 yards). Immediately the Greek column turned left, further diminishing the distance. Soon after, theMecidiye and the accompanying destroyers turned northeast towards the Dardanelles, followed by theMesûdiye at 11:50, after it had suffered heavy damage from the combined fire ofHydra andPsara. At 11:54, a successful salvo from theGeorgios Averof hit theBarbaros Hayreddin, destroying its middle tower, forcing it to withdraw towards the Dardanelles, along with theTurgut Reis at 12:00. As at Elli, theGeorgios Averof commenced independent action, using its superior speed, and maneuvering so that it could use the artillery of both its sides, to pursue the Ottoman ships, while the older battleships followed as fast as they could. The pursuit ended finally at 14:30, as the Ottoman ships were nearing the Dardanelles.

Throughout the battle, the Ottoman ships achieved an excellent rate of fire, firing about 800 shells, but with dismal accuracy. Only two hits were registered on theGeorgios Averof, causing one injury and minor damages, while the other battleships escaped unscathed. The Ottoman ships suffered far more.Barbaros Hayreddin was hit by over 20 shells, which destroyed much of its artillery, and suffered 32 dead and 45 wounded.Turgut Reis suffered a major leak and other minor damages from 17 hits, and 9 dead and 49 wounded.Mesûdiye also suffered several hits, but the main damage was caused by a 270mm shell which destroyed the central 150mm gun platform, and caused 68 casualties. This, the final naval battle of theFirst Balkan War, forced the Ottoman Navy to retreat to its base within theDardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war, thus ensuring the dominion of theAegean Sea by Greece.

For the Greeks, the withdrawal of the Ottoman fleet within theDardanelles was confirmed by 1st LieutenantMichael Moutoussis and EnsignAristeidis Moraitinis on January 24, 1913. They conducted a naval aviation mission, flying theirMaurice Farman hydroplane over theNagara naval base, where they spotted the enemy fleet. During theirsortie, they accurately drew a diagram of the positions of the Ottoman fleet, against which they dropped four bombs. Moutoussis and Moraitinis travelled over 180 kilometers (111.8 miles) and took 140 minutes to complete their mission, which was extensively reported in both the Greek and international press.

• Erickson, Edward J.; Bush, Brighton C. (2003).Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912–1913. Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN 0275978885.
• Fotakis, Zisis (2005).Greek naval strategy and policy, 1910–1919. Routledge.ISBN 978-0-415-35014-3.

• Battle of Lemnos - Naval battle 1913Archived 2011-02-12 at theWayback Machine

• Conflicts in 1913
• 1913 in Greece
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• Naval battles involving Greece
• Naval battles involving the Ottoman Empire
• History of Lemnos
• History of the Aegean Sea
• 1913 in the Ottoman Empire
• January 1913 in Europe
• 20th-century naval battles

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