Raid On Porto Buso
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The raid on Porto Buso was an assault launched by the
Italian Royal Navy The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origins ...
on an
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
naval station and border post located in Porto Buso island, in the Marano-Grado Lagoon, in the first hours of 24 May 1915, the day when the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
entered
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
on the side of the
Entente Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...
. The incursion became the first offensive action of the Italian Navy in the conflict, and ended with the destruction of the naval outpost, the sinking of a flotilla of small vessels and the capture of the majority of the Austro-Hungarian garrison. The action eventually resulted in the withdrawal of all Austro-Hungarian forces from the nearby town of
Grado Grado may refer to: People * Cristina Grado (1939–2016), Italian film actress * Jonathan Grado (born 1991), American entrepreneur and photographer * Francesco De Grado (fl. 1694–1730), Italian engraver * Gaetano Grado, Italian mafioso * Grad ...
and neighbouring islands during the subsequent days.


Italian entry in World War I

On 3 May 1915, as a result of the Treaty of London, signed in secrecy on 26 April, the Italy's government changed sides and lined up with the
Entente Cordiale The Entente Cordiale (; ) comprised a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and the French Third Republic, French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Fr ...
and
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, breaking their 33-year-old ties with the
Triple Alliance Triple Alliance may refer to: * Aztec Triple Alliance (1428–1521), Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan and in central Mexico * Triple Alliance (1596), England, France, and the Dutch Republic to counter Spain * Triple Alliance (1668), England, the ...
. By that time, the German Empire and Austria-Hungary had been at war with Russia and the western powers since August 1914. The relationship between Italy and their former allies had already stranded since the beginning of the war, when the Italian government declared neutrality on the basis that the alliance was defensive in nature, and that Austria-Hungary had declared war on
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without any official notification to them. In the following months, Italian diplomacy also tried to exert concessions from the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
, specially in the Adriatic region, to no avail.


Plans for the Adriatic theatre

In a 4 January letter to the naval commander of the naval base of
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, the Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, Vice Admiral
Paolo Thaon di Revel Paolo Camillo Thaon, Marquess of Revel (10 June 1859 – 24 March 1948), latterly titled with the honorary title of 1st Duke of the Sea, was an Italian admiral of the ''Regia Marina'' during World War I and later a politician. Early life a ...
, devised an offensive strategy in the event of an Italian intervention in the Adriatic on the side of the Entente, when the destroyers and torpedo boats were to be major players. The letter mentioned a possible attack on the Austro-Hungarian jetty and naval detachment at Porto Buso. The small island of Porto Buso is located in the mouth of the river Ausa the southernmost border post of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When it became obvious by mid-May that Italy would join the
Entente Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...
, the customs outpost was reinforced by soldiers from the Imperial Army's coastal defence, along with a signals detachment from the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Italian intelligence reports gave the impression that Porto Buso had received heavy machine guns and artillery to counter a possible Italian assault by sea. The border post was actually the home of 69 servicemen and another 17 were scattered along other islands in the lagoon. The Italian goal was to clear the Austro-Hungarian presence across the northwest Adriatic coast to allow the Italian Navy support to the army. The move was also intended to deny the enemy the use of bases for their small torpedo units. On 25 April 1915, the task was assigned to the Sardegna Division, a flotilla of destroyers based at Venice.


The action

The commander of the Sardegna Division, Admiral Giovanni Patris, codenamed the destroyer operation in the upper Adriatic "Missione A" (Mission A). The plan devised the deployment of four destroyers around the island of
Grado Grado may refer to: People * Cristina Grado (1939–2016), Italian film actress * Jonathan Grado (born 1991), American entrepreneur and photographer * Francesco De Grado (fl. 1694–1730), Italian engraver * Gaetano Grado, Italian mafioso * Grad ...
. The Soldato-class destroyers ''Bersagliere'' and ''Artigliere'' were ordered to shell Austro-Hungarian positions and naval assets around the town of Grado itself, while the Nembo-class ''Zeffiro'', under the command of Captain Arturo Ciano, was in charge of the attack on Porto Buso. Another Soldato-class destroyer, ''Corazziere'', was to sweep an area south of the lagoon in order to prevent any Austro-Hungarian interference. A secondary target was the telegraph cable connecting Grado with Cittanova. At 02:00 am local time, ''Zeffiro'' passed through a channel southeast of Porto Buso unseen, at a 345° course, and stopping at 500 mt from the Austro-Hungarian wharf. The Italian destroyer launched a torpedo, but it became stuck in the muddy bottom. The device was later recovered by Italian divers. Ciano immediately ordered Zeffiro's 76 mm guns to open fire on the watchtower and the jetty, hitting the outpost, several customs motorboats, and other small craft at anchor with 169 rounds. The Italian reports said that the barracks were repeatedly hit and that a number of small vessels were set on fire. The Austro-Hungarian garrison was taken by surprise, most of them in their sleep. A great number of personnel gathered on one of the sides of the jetty weaving a white flag. According to Austro-Hungarian reports, particularly that of Oswald Steiger, commander of the Imperial coastal defences in the upper Adriatic, a column of smoke was spotted by the sentry Amandus Hummar, who reported two Italian destroyers approaching from the mouth of the
Tagliamento river The Tagliamento (; ; ) is a braided river in north-east Italy, flowing from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea at a point between Trieste and Venice. The Tagliamento river is considered as the last morphologically intact river in the Alps. (I ...
. Mareth gave orders to abandon the outpost by sea. A motorboat with two staff petty officers aboard received a direct hit from ''Zeffiro'' and sank,Jung (2013), p. 18 while a whaler evacuating ten customs personnel and soldiers capsized; only three of the passengers managed to survive. Another four Austro-Hungarian servicemen were killed in action. When Lieutenaunt Mareth realised that any resistance would be futile, he stopped the withdrawal attempt and raised the white flag. Only six men were able to slip away to Grado, crawling through shallows and swamps. The 17 men manning observation posts at the nearby islands also escaped Italian captivity. Picked up by ''Zeffiros cutter, Lieutenant Mareth formally surrendered to Captain Ciano, giving up his sabre and his revolver. The lukewarm attitude of Lieutenant Mareth, a Hungarian, was later criticised by Admiral Alfred von Koudelka, commander of the naval sector of
Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
at the time.


Aftermath

''Zeffiro'' arrived in Venice with 48 prisoners onboard, one of them seriously wounded. The local population was astonished when they realised that most of the captives were
Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...
an-speaking men. Moreover, one of the Austro-Hungarian servicemen killed at Porto Buso was the cook Eugenio Sandrigo, from Grado, who became the first ethnic Italian to die in the war. The other destroyers of the Sardegna Division did not enjoy the same success. ''Corazziere'' not only did not find any enemy unit, but she was also unable to cut the telegraph cable to isolate Grado. In the same way, ''Bersagliere'' and ''Artigliere'' searched in vain for valuable targets at Grado. The destroyers' commanders renounced to bombard the town in order to avoid civilian casualties. The Italian sortie did not prevent the free movement of the Austro-Hungarian Fleet that, departing from
Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...
and Sibenik, bombarded several Italian ports and facilities further south. On 25 May, an Italian marines' detachment landed in Porto Buso and took the facilities over. The marines rounded up some stragglers and seized two abandoned motorboats untouched by ''Zeffiro'''s shelling. The next day Grado was captured by a company of
Bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Ar ...
after being vacated by the remaining Austro-Hungarian troops. Rizza 2015, p. 75


See also

*
Bombardment of Ancona The Bombardment of Ancona was a naval engagement of the Adriatic Campaign of World War I between the navies of Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Italy and Austria-Hungary. Forces of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Imperial and Royal Navy attacked and ...
*
Battle of Ad-Dawrah The Battle of Ad-Dawrah was a naval engagement fought on the night of 18 January and into 19 January in 1991 during the Gulf War. In the battle, Coalition forces captured an Iraqi offshore oil field forty miles from the Kuwaiti shore. The 29 ...
*
Attack on Snake Island The Snake Island campaign was a period of Russian occupation and military conflict for Snake Island, a small, strategically located Ukrainian island in the Black Sea. On 24 February 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the R ...


Notes


References

* Rizza , Claudio (2015) ''Il Forzamento di Porto Buso''. Rivista Maritima, October 2015, pp. 70-77. (In Italian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Porto Buso, Raid on Naval battles of World War I involving Italy Naval battles of World War I involving Austria-Hungary World War I raids May 1915 in Europe 1915 in Italy