Battle of Imbros

Battle of Imbros
Part of the Mediterranean Theatre of World War I
Yavûz Sultân Selîm beached in the Dardanelles
Date 20 January 1918 Location Off Imbros, Aegean Sea Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Greece[1]	Ottoman Empire  Germany
Commanders and leaders
Henry F. Kitchener[2]	Hubert Paschwitz
Strength
2 monitors 2 destroyers 12 aircraft	1 battlecruiser 2 light cruisers 4 destroyers 10 aircraft
Casualties and losses
139 killed 2 monitors sunk 1 aircraft destroyed 1 aircraft damaged	330 killed 172 captured 1 light cruiser sunk 1 battlecruiser disabled 1 destroyer damaged 3 aircraft destroyed

The Battle of Imbros was a naval action that took place during the First World War. The battle occurred on 20 January 1918 when an Ottoman squadron engaged a flotilla of the British Royal Navy off the island of Imbros in the Aegean Sea. A lack of heavy Allied warships in the area allowed the Ottoman battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm and light cruiser Midilli to sortie into the Mediterranean and attack the Royal Navy monitors and destroyers at Imbros before assaulting the naval base at Mudros.

Although the Ottoman forces managed to complete their objective of destroying the monitors located at Imbros, the battle turned sour for them as they sailed through a minefield while withdrawing. Midilli was sunk and Yavûz Sultân Selîm heavily damaged. Although Yavûz Sultân Selîm managed to beach herself within the Dardanelles, she was subjected to days of air attacks until she was towed to safety. With the most modern cruiser of the Ottoman Navy sunk, and its only battlecruiser out of action, the battle effectively curtailed the Ottoman Navy's offensive capability until the end of the war.