Battle of Kirpen Island

The Battle of Kirpen Island was a small naval battle fought during the Black Sea campaign of World War I. On November 29, 1915 the German U-boat SM U-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 December 10, 1915.[1][2]

Battle of Kirpen Island
Part of World War I

The Russian destroyer Derzky in the Black Sea
DateDecember 10, 1915
Location
off Kefken Island, Ottoman Empire, Black Sea
Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire  Ottoman Empire
Strength
3 destroyers 2 gunboats
Casualties and losses
unknown 2 gunboats sunk

Order of battle

Ottoman Navy:

  • Taşköprü, gunboat
  • Yozgat, gunboat

Russian Navy:

  • Derzky, destroyer
  • Gnevny, destroyer
  • Bespokoiny, destroyer
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References
  1. Halpern, Paul G., A Naval History of World War I, Routledge New York (1994), ISBN 1-85728-498-4, p. 237.
  2. Bernd Langensiepen, Ahmet Güleryüz, The Ottoman Steam Navy, 1828-1923, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1995, ISBN 1-55750-659-0, pp. 163-164.

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