First Battle of Durazzo
Part of World War I, Battle of the Mediterranean, Battle of the Adriatic
Date December 28-29, 1915 Location off Durazzo, Albania, Adriatic Sea Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Allies:  United Kingdom  Kingdom of Italy  France	Austria-Hungary
Strength
British: 2 light cruisers Italian 2 light cruisers, French: unknown destroyers	1 light cruiser, 5 destroyers, 1 sumarine
Casualties and losses
1 sumarine sunk	1 destroyer sunk, 1 destroyer scuttled, 1 light cruiser damaged, 1 destroyer damaged

The First Battle of Durazzo was a naval battle of World War I. It was fought at the end of December in 1915 and involved the navies of Austria, the United Kingdom, Italy, and France.

Background

In December 1915 the Austro-Hungarian Navy sent another cruiser Squadron into the Adriatic, this time to interfere with the Serbian Campaign. The new light cruiser Helgoland accompanied by five Tatra-class destroyers left Cattaro and headed for Durazzo late on December 28th, 1915, with the submarine U-15 on patrol off Durazzo.

Battle

While on passage, the Austro-Hungarians sighted the French submarine Monge on patrol to the south of Cattaro. Destroyer Balaton opened fire before ramming and sinking the Monge.

Early the next day the Austrian squadron arrived off Durazzo and opened fire on the town, with Helgoland sinking a Greek steamer. Then the destroyer Lika ran into a minefield and was sunk, then Triglav was badly damaged by another mine. Csepel attempted to take Triglav in tow, but fouled a propeller, and the job was taken over by Tatra. The crippled Austrian force now returned slowly north.

Allied forces in Brindisi were alerted to the Austrian force, and the British sent out the Town-class cruisers Dartmouth and Weymouth to intercept them. These were quickly followed by the Italian Quarto, Nino Bixio, and several French destroyers.

The Austrians also responded and despatched from Cattaro, the armoured cruiser Kaiser Karl VI, and the light cruiser Novara, to support the returning survivors of the raid, but they did not see action.

Early in the afternoon of December 29th, the forward Allied ships came into action with the Austrian squadron which was still only half way home. The French destroyers headed for the Austrian destroyer Triglav, still under tow, which was abandoned and scuttled off Cape Rondini, after being fired upon by the French destroyer Casque.

Meanwhile, the Allied cruisers attempted to cut off and deal with the Helgoland and the three remaining destroyers. In a long-range gunnery duel fought throughout the afternoon, Helgoland skillfully avoided the Allied cruisers and reached Cattaro safely but with the loss of the valuable Lika and Triglav. Tatra suffered a damaged engine from several shell hits.