TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Naval battle · 1918
The Battle of Imbros was a naval action that took place during the First World War. The battle occurred on 20 January 1918 when an Ottoman squadron engaged a flotilla of the British Royal Navy off the island of Imbros in the Aegean Sea. A lack of heavy Allied warships in the area allowed the Ottoman battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim and light cruiser Midilli to sortie into the Mediterranean and attack the Royal Navy monitors and destroyers at Imbros before assaulting the naval base at Mudros. Although the Ottoman forces managed to complete their objective of destroying the monitors located at Imbros, the battle turned sour for them as they sailed through a minefield while withdrawing. Midilli was sunk and Yavuz Sultan Selim heavily damaged.
| Date | 20 January 1918 |
|---|---|
| Location | Off Imbros, Aegean Sea |
| Result | Allied victory |
| Belligerents | British Empire Kingdom of Greece | Ottoman Empire German Empire |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Henry F. Kitchener Aristeidis Moraitinis | Hubert Paschwitz |
| Strength | 2 monitors 2 destroyers 12 aircraft | 1 battlecruiser 1 light cruiser 1 protected cruiser 4 destroyers 10 aircraft |
| Casualties | 139 killed 2 monitors sunk 1 aircraft destroyed 1 aircraft damaged | 330 killed 172 captured 1 light cruiser sunk 1 battlecruiser disabled 1 destroyer damaged 3 aircraft destroyed |
With no way to free herself, Yavuz Sultan Selim remained stranded on the sandbar until 26 January when the Ottoman battleship Turgut Reis finally arrived and towed her back into the Black Sea. In one last effort to destroy the battlecruiser, the British sent the submarine HMS E14 into the Dardanelles on 27 January. Yavûz Sultân Selîm had already left the area, and so E14 began sailing back to Allied waters after discovering the battlecruiser's absence. Sighting an Ottoman freighter, the British submarine attempted to torpedo her. The second torpedo fired exploded prematurely, damaging the submarine and forcing her to try to flee the straits.
Took place during the reign of Mehmed V (1909–1918). Mehmed V
The atlas records this territorial change for the year:
Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), adapted for the atlas.