Battle of Kirpen Island
Minor World War I naval battle at the mouth of Sakarya river in Turkey in 1915
Battle of Kirpen Island | |||||||
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Part of World War I | |||||||
![]() The Russian destroyer Derzky in the Black Sea | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
3 destroyers | 2 gunboats | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
unknown | 2 gunboats sunk |
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Black Sea (1914–1918)
- Black Sea raid
- Cape Sarych
- 10 May 1915
- Battle of the Bosporus
- Kirpen
- 8 January 1916
The Battle of Kirpen Island was a small naval battle fought during the Black Sea campaign of World War I. On 29 November 1915 the German U-boat SM UC-13 was shadowing five Russian merchant ships when she ran aground off the mouth of the Sakarya River in poor weather.[1] Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, the German commander of the Ottoman Navy sent two gunboats to recover the wreck. During the following cruise, the three Russian Derzky-class destroyers Derzky, Gnevny and Bespokoiny encountered the gunboats Taşköprü and Yozgat. In the ensuing combat the Russian gunners fired accurately and quickly sank both of the gunboats off Kefken Island on 10 December 1915.[1][2]
Order of battle
Ottoman Navy:
- Taşköprü, gunboat
- Yozgat, gunboat
Russian Navy:
- Derzky, destroyer
- Gnevny, destroyer
- Bespokoiny, destroyer
References
- ^ a b Halpern, Paul G., A Naval History of World War I, Routledge New York (1994), ISBN 1-85728-498-4, p. 237.