Battle of Lissa (1866)

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Battle of Lissa
Part of the Third Italian War of Independence
The Sea Battle of Lissa, Carl Frederik Sørensen
Date 20 July 1866 Location Off Lissa, Adriatic Sea 43°10′35″N 16°3′12″E / 43.17639°N 16.05333°E / 43.17639; 16.05333 Result Austrian victory
Belligerents
Austria	Italy
Commanders and leaders
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff	Carlo di Persano
Strength
26 ships: 4 ironclads 3 armoured frigates 1 ship of the line 5 screw frigates 1 screw corvette 2 screw gunboats 6 gunboats 1 screw tender 3 steamships	32 ships: 9 ironclads 1 armoured frigate 2 armoured corvettes 7 screw frigates 1 screw corvette 2 paddle corvettes 1 sloop 3 gunboats 2 avisos 4 merchantmen
Casualties and losses
176 killed and wounded[1]	660 killed and wounded[1] 2 ironclads sunk
class=notpageimage| Location within Croatia

The Battle of Lissa (or Battle of Vis) (Croatian: Bitka kod Visa) took place on 20 July 1866 in the Adriatic Sea near the Dalmatian island of Vis (Italian: Lissa) and was a significant victory for an Austrian Empire force over a numerically superior Italian force. It was the first major sea battle between ironclads and one of the last to involve deliberate ramming.

The Italian navy fired roughly 1450 shots during the engagement, but failed to sink any Austrian ship and lost two ironclads. This poor performance was largely due to rivalry between the Italian fleet commanders. For instance, Italian Vice Admiral Albini's ships did not engage the enemy.^[2]

The engagement was made up of several small battles: The main battle was fought between seven Austrian and twelve Italian ironclads. This battle showed the ability of Austrian Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff to divide his more numerous opponents and then destroy the isolated ironclads.