Bakar mockery
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Bakar Mockery (Bakar Raid) | |||||||
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Part of the Mediterranean Theatre of World War I | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Italy | Austria-Hungary | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Costanzo Ciano | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
3 motor torpedo boats | Coastal defenses of Bakar | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None | One cargo ship slightly damaged |
The Bakar mockery (Italian Beffa di Buccari), or Bakar raid, was a raid of the Italian Navy (Regia Marina) in the last year of World War I.[1] Whilst it had little material effect on the war at sea, it was a particularly bold venture which had a welcome effect on Italian morale, which was at a low ebb following the defeat at Caporetto a few months prior.
Background
In World War I, the Kingdom of Italy fought on the side of the Allies against the Central Powers, including Austria-Hungary and the German Empire. Italy's campaign on land against the Austro-Hungarian Army had been stalemated for two-and-a-half years, with little movement, though at the cost of huge casualties.
At sea, equality with the
In November 1917 the deadlock on land on the Italian front was upset by an Austro-Hungarian offensive, supported by German forces made available by the collapse of the Russian Empire on the Eastern Front. In the resulting Battle of Caporetto, the Italian Royal Army was defeated, and in a period of three weeks the front was pushed back 50 miles (80 km), to within striking distance of Venice.
Action
The Italians conceived th Bakar Raid as an attack on Austro-Hungarian shipping in the harbor at Bakar (known to the Italians as Buccari), a port on the coast of Austria-Hungary in the enclosed Bay of Bakar near Fiume (now Rijeka) at the head of the Kvarner Gulf. The Austro-Hungarians believed Bakar was beyond Italy's ability to attack, as it lay 80 kilometres (50 mi; 43 nmi) up a sheltered waterway, so the Italians intended the raid as a psychological, as well as a physical, assault.
The operation was led by Capitano di fregata Frigate Captain Costanzo Ciano, and comprised three MAS boats, with a total crew of 30 men. One of the boats, MAS 96, was commanded by Tenente (Lieutenant) Luigi Rizzo, who later led the attack on the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István off Premuda in June 1918. Also on board was the Italian nationalist and irredentist poet Gabriele D'Annunzio.
On 10 February 1918 the three MAS boats, under tow by torpedo boats to conserve fuel and escorted by two destroyers and a scout cruiser, set out from their base and at 22:00, after 14 hours' steaming, entered the Farasina Channel, the waterway between Istria and the island of Cherso (now Cres).
Several hours later, having evaded Austro-Hungarian patrols and the
Despite the alerted enemy, the MAS boats escaped and, making a dash down the channel, regained the open sea where they were reunited with their escort.
Aftermath
Despite the lack of material success, the raid was a considerable
Commemoration
MAS 96 is preserved at the Vittoriale degli italiani in Gardone Riviera, Italy.[2]
Notes
- ^ Halpern, p 172.
- ^ "MAS 96 - Gruppo di Cultura Navale". www.culturanavale.it (in Italian). Retrieved 13 July 2021.
References
- Halpern, Paul (1995). A Naval History of World War I. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85728-498-0.