The Battle of Lissa or Battle of Vis took place on 20 July 1866 in the Adriatic Sea near the island of Vis (Italian: Lissa) in present-day Croatia. It was a decisive victory for an outnumbered Austrian Empire force over a superior Italian force. It was the first major sea battle between ironclads and one of the last to involve deliberate ramming.
The battle occurred as part of the Third Italian Independence War, in which Italy allied with Prussia...
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The Battle of Lissa or Battle of Vis took place on 20 July 1866 in the Adriatic Sea near the island of Vis (Italian: Lissa) in present-day Croatia. It was a decisive victory for an outnumbered Austrian Empire force over a superior Italian force. It was the first major sea battle between ironclads and one of the last to involve deliberate ramming.
The battle occurred as part of the Third Italian Independence War, in which Italy allied with Prussia in the course of the conflict against Austria. The major Italian objective was to capture Venice from Austria.
The fleets were composed of a mix of unarmoured sailing ships with steam engines, and armoured ironclads also combining sails and steam engines. The Italian fleet of 12 ironclads and 17 unarmoured ships outnumbered the Austrian fleet of 7 and 11 respectively. The Austrians were also severely outmatched in rifled guns (276 to 121) and total weight of metal (53,236 tons to 23,538 tons). A single turret ship took part in the action —...
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