|
|
|
HMAS Swan
2nd Oct 1918 Battle of Durazzo 1918 The Second Battle of Durazzo, also known as the Bombardment of Durazzo, was fought on the 2nd October 1918 in the Adriatic Sea. A large Allied fleet led by the Regia Marina attacked the enemy held naval base at Durazzo, Albania. The fleet destroyed the Austro-Hungarian shore defenses and skirmished with a small naval force. Allied forces involved primarily were Italian though British, American and Australian warships also participated.
It was the largest naval battle the United States participated in during the war.
Durazzo is located on the coast of Albania, known in Albanian as Durrës
From 15,29 September 1918, French General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey in command of a large allied army, campaigned in Macedonia. The offensive was a victory and ended with Bulgaria's surrender. Fearing the remaining enemy would fall back on the Austrian-held port of Durazzo for supplies, Franchet d'Espèrey requested that an allied naval fleet be assembled to attack Durazzo. The aim was to prevent the city from supplying retreating enemy forces. Franchet d'Espèrey's request was approved and the Italian Regia Marina accepted the responsibility of leading the attack. Rear Admiral Osvaldo Paladini aboard the cruiser San Marco was to command the operation.
Allied objectives were to bombard Durazzo and attack Austrian ships in the harbour if there were any. The Allies divided their fleet into two forces, one for bombardment and the other to screen the attacking ships from enemy submarines. Allied forces included the Italian battleship Dante Alighieri, which was assigned to the covering force, three Italian armoured cruisers, three Italian light cruisers and eight Italian torpedo boats. The British force included five light cruisers, 14 destroyers and two Australian destroyers. There were also 12 American submarine chasers under Captain Charles P. Nelson and Lieutenant Commander E.H. Bastedo. Allied aircraft were also involved along with several Italian MAS boats. The two Australian destroyers were HMAS Swan and Warrego. Before the battle began, the Austro-Hungarian government decided to withdraw most of their warships from Durazzo. Only two destroyers, one torpedo boat and two U-boats opposed the allied fleet though the Austrian troops on shore manned at least three different shore batteries which duelled with the allied ships. Also in port was a hospital ship. Austrian forces were commanded by Lieutenant Commander Heinrich Pauer.
The Second Battle of Durazzo began on the morning of 2nd of October 1918.
British and Italian aircraft attacked first by bombarding enemy troop concentrations and artillery batteries while the fleet was still steaming across the Adriatic. Afterwards, several of the Italian and British cruisers formed a two-echelon line to begin their bombardment from about 8,000 yards off the coast. Meanwhile, the MAS boats and some American and British vessels attacked the three Austro-Hungarian naval ships, SMS Dinara, Scharfschütze and No. 87. The three warships sailed back and forth around Durazzo harbour firing their guns and dodging torpedoes and shell fire. Torpedo boat No. 87 and the two destroyers were chased by the Allied destroyer force as they fled north along the coast, but they managed to escape. Scharfschütze took some minor hits and suffered three dead and five wounded while torpedo boat No. 87 was struck by a torpedo that failed to explode. Dinara managed to escape unscathed. The shelling of the port was carried out by the Italian armored cruisers San Giorgio, San Marco and Template:Pisa-class cruiser. Three merchantmen, Graz, Herzegovina and Stambul, were hit. Stambul sank and the two others were damaged but escaped complete destruction. The Austro-Hungarian hospital ship Baron Call was stopped and searched by British destroyers before being allowed to proceed.
Most of the American forces were assigned to the covering force and early in the battle were used to chart a clear path through a mine field off Durazzo. A few of the submarine chasers took fire from shore batteries at this time, but none were damaged. Afterwards they were assigned to screen the other allied ships from submarine attacks. Patrolling to the north and to the south of the battle area, the Americans engaged the two Austro-Hungarian U-boats U-29 and U-31. At 1105, a sailor on the submarine chaser No. 129 spotted U-29, which was then depth-charged for 15 minutes and damaged heavily, but she nevertheless survived the encounter. U-31 was also depth charged and survived as well. At one point, No. 129 was fired on by the enemy shore batteries, the closest shot landed about 50 yards (46 m) from the vessel, but the Americans suffered no casualties in the battle.
Later, American forces reported sinking the two submarines but this was not the case. The submarines managed to damage at least one allied light cruiser; HMS Weymouth was struck by a torpedo from U-31 (Lieutenant Rigele), which blew off a large portion of her stern and killed four men.
Weymouth was shelling inland facilities along with four other British cruisers when the torpedo struck home. She spent the remainder of the war under repair. The other British light cruisers are known to have been lightly damaged by shore battery fire before they were silenced or disabled. A British destroyer was also hit by a torpedo. The battle ended by 0130 on 2,3 October. From the start of the action civilians fled the city and by 11 October the once busy port was silent. A few days later a Serbian army was landed and took control.
John Doran
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
|
Want to know more about HMAS Swan?
 There are:1 articles tagged HMAS Swan available in our Library |
Those known to have served in HMAS Swan during the Great War 1914-1918. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of HMAS Swan from other sources.
|
|
The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
- 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
|
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our
Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.
|
Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please see Family History FAQ's
Please note: We are unable to provide individual research.
|
|
Can you help?
The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors.
If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Announcements
- 19th Nov 2024
Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than
264989 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.
Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
|
World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
|
|
|
Want to know more about HMAS Swan? There are:0 items tagged HMAS Swan available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
|
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
