THE NAVAL ACTION OF LISSA

West Coast Times, Issue 319, 1 October 1866, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE NAVAL ACTION OF LISSA

The " Patrie," under date of Vienna, July 22, publishes the following account of the action between the Italian arid Austrian squadrons in the Adriatic : —

" Admiral Tegethoff, the same who on May 12, 1864, had to retirebefore the brave little squadron' of the Danes in the, action off Heligoland, was on board the armour-plated frigate, Archduke Maximilian, lying off the port^ of Pola, when a signal from a sloop which had been sent out to cruise denoted some movement of importance. There were then under steam only two wooden ships of the line, the Kaiser, threedecker, and a two-decker, and an ironplated frigate. With this moderate force the admiral put to sea, and was joined soon' after by several armoured, gunboats. When in sight of Zara he received intelligence that the Italian fleet comprising twenty-three „ vessels, . most of them iron^plated, were about to attack Lissa. Three other vessels, of which two had belonged to the fleet of the Austrian' Lloyd's, but had recently been converted into vessels of war, and an armoured corvette, joined the admiral's squadron. This force, of which the three-decked Kaiser formed the centre, took up its station at some distance from Lissa, the guns- of which town had, on the previous evening, crippled an Italian armoured frigate. Upon the squadron coming into sight, the firing both on sea' and land became appalling. Four Italian armoured vessels, two frigates, and- two corvettes, bore down under full steam upon the Austrian three-decker. The action be-

came furious, the three»decker, enveloped in smoke, appeared like some monstrous animal standing at bay against a, pack of hounds. Her gunners, nearly all Dalmatians, and who •were not under fire for the first time, replied to the „ broadsides of their antagonists by a fire less rapid, but better aimed. The admiral, seeing the danger in which that ship was placed, went to its aid, and directed his own vessel at full speed upon one of the -^ large Italian frigates. This frigate, already damaged at the water line, was stove in a little above the deck. A great cry was heard, a loud clamor, an immense gulf seemed to open amid the waves, and then wide spreading circles were seen upon, "the surface of the water which had again becoma smooth. The. frigate had been swallowed up. Its engulfment was, however, marked by a glorious episode. A half battalion of Bersaglieri, who were on board, climbed up into the tops, and, while holding on bytheropes, shouldered their rifles as on parade ground, and sent a final volley upon the deck of the Archduke Maximilian. This parting farewell produced terrible effects — twenty killed and' sixty wounded falling around the admiral, who seemed to be invul-

nerable. Scarcely had this event been concluded when a fearful explosion was heard. A shower of iron and wooden fragments, mingled with portions of human- bodies, fell upon the decks of the vessels, and an immense wall of water appeared to rise up near the Kaiser. The Austrian Admiral then

found that a hollow shot from one of the guns of the three-decker had caused the explosion of a second Italian frigate. Thus, two vessels were destroyed, two crews lost, besides other serious damages

to.tli£ fleet. On board the Austrian ships the killed were numerous, among them 'being one of the most distinguished officers of tho Austrian marine, the Irishman, Captain Eric O'Kiln (sic). Trieste has been illuminated ; Spalatio", Zara, and Ragusa, which have furnished the fleet with many of its combatants, have hee^i decked out with flags. This battle will have a great moral effect, for it is no mystery that in all the towns just mentioned there exists a- party which is seeking* to promote annexation to Italy." The " also contains the following letter from Milan, dated July 22 :— r " The fleet has at last shaken off its immobility. After quitting the waters of Ancona it proceeded towards the island of Lissa, which it bombarded. The 1 Austrian fleet, although inferior in number, offered battle to the Italian squadron The information already received is very confused, but from despatches recently arrived we gather some ' interesting facts. It appears that on board the Austrian ships were embarked a number of Tyrolese sharpshooters, whose fire inflicted much damage to the Italians. Two of the Italian vessels are lost, but one, the Palestro— although the official account is silent upon the pomt — was captured by the enemy, and was blown up by its crew rather than haul down its flag. Besides tlie .two- vessels lost, vthree others were entirely hors de combat.

The action in its results was indecisive, /but the retirement of th< '• -istrians' gave an apppararice of victor^ . > the Italian's. One result of the action, however, was to demonstrate the superiority of the French iron-plating over that of other countries. The Italian squadron comprised several vessels built and plated m France-, not one of •which has suffered, notwithstanding the terrible fire of the Austrians. On the contrary, \ all the vessels constructed in England ar.e in a deplorable condition, and have their armor plating pierced. The' Re d' ltalia, ■which sank almost at a stroke, was a vessel of very large dimensions, quite new, and entirely constructed in English yards.

Lamentable. — A recent traveller stopped at a cabaret in France/ where the host had two sorts of wine, which he called ' first table ' and • common table.' — 'I tried them both,' says our traveller, 5 and found them lamentable. 5 , *