The Battle of Tripoli was fought in October 1911, during the initial stages of the Italo-Turkish War, and saw the capture of Tripoli, capital city of Tripolitania (and present-day Libya), by Italian landing forces. It marked the beginning of the land campaign in Libya of the Italo-Turkish War as well as the beginning of the Italian colonization of Libya.
The Kingdom of Italy, seeking to conquer Libya from the Ottoman Empire, declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 29 September 1911, starting the Italo-Turkish War. After the declaration of war, an Italian naval squadron under Admiral Luigi Faravelli was sent to patrol the Libyan coast, especially the waters off Tripoli; the Italian government wanted the fleet to bombard the forts of Tripoli, but Faravelli initially refrained from this, as he feared this would cause retaliation from the local Arab population against the Europeans living in the city, estimated to be about 2,000.[1] Faravelli offered to take foreign citizens aboard his ships, but the consuls of the neutral countries stated that they felt protected enough by the Ottoman authorities, therefore only the Italian citizens, including many journalists that had rushed to Libya to follow the events as they unfolded (among them Luigi Barzini and Corrado Zoli), were taken aboard.[2]
Between 29 and 30 September an attempt was made to launch a torpedo launch with the aim of torpedoing the Turkish steamer Derna, that in the previous days had run the Italian blockade, carrying a cargo of weapons, and was now moored in the harbour. The rough seas, however, prevented the torpedoes from being embarked on the launch, therefore the attempt was abandoned.[3]
Naval bombardment
On 2 October 1911, the Italian squadron was deployed in front of Tripoli harbour, in anticipation of the arrival from Italy of an expeditionary force that would be landed in Libya; the ships were also tasked with preventing the arrival of supplies and reinforcements from Turkey. Faravelli was ordered to demand the surrender of the Ottoman garrison and, in case of refusal, to commence hostilities; the admiral complained that the Army troops were not yet ready to be sent ashore and the landing parties of his ships were numerically insufficient, but Rome sent another telegram urging immediate action.[4] Faravelli then invited the Turkish defterdar, Ahmed Bessim Bey, aboard his flagship, and he commanded him to surrender the city; Bessim Bey refused and tried to buy time, claiming that he was unable to contact Istanbul and ask for instruction. During this encounter, Colonel Neshat Bey ordered all the Ottoman troops in Tripoli, some 2,000 men, to leave the city and to quarter at ‘Aziziya, about ten kilometres from Tripoli.[4][5]
Tripoli was defended by two main forts, Fort Hamidiye east of the city and Fort Sultaniye west of the city, as well as smaller fortifications in the harbour area; following Colonel Neshat Bey's orders, however, these fortifications were only partially manned. At 15:30 on 3 October, the Italian squadron opened fire on the forts: the battleshipBenedetto Brin fired first, soon followed by the battleship Emauele Filiberto and by the armoured cruisersGiuseppe Garibaldi and Carlo Alberto. The ships commenced their bombardment from a distance of 9,500 meters, outside of the range of the forts' guns, and gradually closened; at 16:15, when the distance had been reduced to 6,500 meters, the ships' 152mm secondaries also opened fire. At 17:15 the ships ceased fire; all the Ottoman forts were severely damaged, and their guns silenced. No significant damage was inflicted to the civilian buildings. The only Ottoman warship present in Tripoli, the gunboatSeyyad, was scuttled by her crew during the bombardment, and the steamer Derna suffered the same fate (she was later raised and commissioned into the Italian Navy as an auxiliary ship).[6][7][8]
On the following day, 4 October, the Italian squadron bombarded once more the Ottoman forts; only Fort Sultaniye returned fire, firing a few sporadic shots. An Italian patrol was sent ashore and found out that Fort Hamidiye had been abandoned; the German consul, Adrian Tilger, informed the members of the patrol that the Ottoman troops had abandoned Tripoli, and asked them to occupy the city in order to prevent looting.[3][9]
Landing
On 5 October, the Italian command took the decision of deploying the Italian Navy's landing force, under CaptainUmberto Cagni. This force consisted of two regiments, each made of three battalions, of which one (Commander Mario Grassi, from the battleship Sardegna) drew its personnel from the Training Ship Division, and the other (Commander Enrico Bonelli, from the battleship Re Umberto) drew its personnel from the 1st and 2nd Naval Division. The landing began at 7:30 on 5 October; the men from battleship Sicilia were the first to land, followed by those from Sardegna and by an artillery section. There was no reaction, and the men occupied Fort Sultaniye and prepared the defenses. Afterwards, the men from the Re Umberto were also sent ashore with four artillery pieces, and at noon the Italian flag was raised upon the fort. At the same time, a sapper unit occupied Fort Hamidiye, at the other end of the harbour, and at 16:30 the entire second regiment was sent ashore and reached Tripoli's marketplace, where they met up with the men of the first regiment.[10]
Captain Cagni organised immediately a defense line in order to safeguard the landing area. As the landing force was the only force available to hold the city (the convoy with the Army troops had not yet sailed from Naples and Palermo, and would not arrive for a few days), the situation for the Italians was rather dangerous, as a counterattack by the numerically superior Ottoman forces, that had retreated a few kilometres from Tripoli, could have overwhelmed the Italian bridgehead. Cagni, however, managed to trick the Turks into thinking that his forces were far more numerous than they actually were, by having his troops continually march from place to place in the city. This ruse managed to delay Ottoman counterattacks for a week; in the meantime, Admiral Raffaele Borea Ricci d'Olmo, who had been appointed provisional Governor of Tripolitania, tried to keep good relations with the Arab leaders of the city, who accepted the occupation without much opposition. The mayor of Tripoli Hassan Karamanli, whom had been appointed by the Ottoman authorities, was confirmed in his office and was also appointed as deputy governor of Tripolitania by the Italian authorities.[9][10]
Fighting at Bu Meliana and arrival of reinforcements
On the night between 9 and 10 October the Ottoman troops, supported by Libyan irregulars, attacked the Italian positions in the area of the Bu Meliana wells, south of Tripoli, the main source of water for the city. The attack was repelled with the help of gunfire from the warships moored in the roads. This attack prompted the Italian commands to speed up the transport of the Army troops to Tripoli, in order to reinforce the scarce Navy forces that were still holding the city; the armoured cruiser Varese and the troopshipsAmerica and Verona, being the fastest ships in the troop convoy that had sailed from Italy, detached from the convoy and proceeded towards Tripoli at a higher speed. They reached destination on 11 October, and they landed the 84th Infantry Regiment, two battalions of the 40th Infantry Regiment and a battalion of the 11th Bersaglieri Regiment, altogether 4,800 men. On the following day, the remainder of the convoy also reached Tripoli; with these reinforcements, the Italian forces occupying the city grew to 35,000 men, under the command of General Carlo Caneva. After the arrival of the Army forces, Captain Cagni's naval landing personnel were re-embarked on their ships.[11]
Most of the Turkish garrison, however, remained intact; having retreated into the desert, as planned beforehand, they established bases outside of the range of the warships' guns and started recruiting Arab volunteers. A few weeks later, the Turkish and Arab forces would attempt to retake Tripoli in the battle of Sciara Sciat, but without success.[12]
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captured the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet, of which the main sub-provinces were Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripoli itself. These territories became the colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, which would later merge into Italian Libya.
Tripolitania, historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya.
The Italian invasion of Libya occurred in 1911, when Italian troops invaded the Turkish province of Libya and started the Italo-Turkish War. As result, Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica were established, later unified in the colony of Italian Libya.
The Italian colonizationof Libya began in 1911 and it lasted until 1943. The country, which was previously an Ottoman possession, was occupied by Italy in 1911 after the Italo-Turkish War, which resulted in the establishment of two colonies: Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica. In 1934, the two colonies were merged into one colony which was named the colony of Italian Libya. In 1937, this colony was divided into four provinces, and in 1939, the coastal provinces became a part of metropolitan Italy. The colonization lasted until Libya's occupation by Allied forces in 1943, but it was not until the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty that Italy officially renounced all of its claims to Libya's territory.
The military history of Libya covers the period from the ancient era to the modern age.
Libya was a colony of Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitania, which had been Italian possessions since 1911.
Italian Tripolitania was an Italian colony, located in present-day western Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire after the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. Italian Tripolitania included the western northern half of Libya, with Tripoli as its main city. In 1934, it was unified with Italian Cyrenaica in the colony of Italian Libya. In 1939, Tripolitania was considered a part of the Kingdom of Italy's 4th Shore.
Italian Cyrenaica was an Italian colony, located in present-day eastern Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911, alongside Italian Tripolitania.
Re Umberto was a Re Umberto-class ironclad battleship built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1880s, the lead ship of her class. She was laid down in July 1884 and launched in October 1888; work proceeded so slowly that she was not finished until February 1893. She was armed with a main battery of four 343 mm (13.5 in) guns and had a top speed of 20.3 knots, though this high speed came at the cost of armor protection.
Sicilia was the second of three Re Umberto-class ironclad battleships built for the Italian Regia Marina. The ship, named for the island of Sicily, was laid down in Venice in November 1884, launched in July 1891, and completed in May 1895. She was armed with a main battery of four 343 mm (13.5 in) guns and had a top speed of 20.3 knots, though this high speed came at the cost of armor protection.
Sardegna was the third of three Re Umberto-class ironclad battleships built for the Italian Regia Marina. The ship, named for the island of Sardinia, was laid down in La Spezia in October 1885, launched in September 1890, and completed in February 1895. She was armed with a main battery of four 340 mm (13.5 in) guns and had a top speed of 20.3 knots —albeit at the cost of armor protection—and she was one of the first warships to be equipped with a wireless telegraph.
The Battle of Preveza was the first naval engagement fought during the Italo-Turkish War, which took place in the Ionian Sea on 29–30 September 1911. The action took part in two separate engagements, the first off Preveza, and the second at Gomenítza the following day. Five Italian destroyers encountered a pair of Ottoman torpedo boats off the port of Preveza on 29 September and forced one aground; the second fled into the safety of Preveza. The next day, the Italian destroyers raided Gomenítza, where another two torpedo boats and an armed yacht were at anchor. The Italians sank both torpedo boats and seized the yacht as a prize.
The Battle of Rhodes or Invasion of Rhodes was fought in May 1912 as part of the Italo-Turkish War. Italian troops under Lieutenant General Giovanni Ameglio landed on the Turkish held island and took control after thirteen days of fighting, ending nearly 400 years of Ottoman rule. The battle became the major engagement during the Italian operations in the Aegean Sea.
The Battles of Zanzur or Battles of Janzur, were a series of battles that took place in 1911–1912 at Zanzur oasis, near Tripoli during the Italo-Turkish War. During the battles, the Italians unsuccessfully attacked the Turkish-Arab stronghold located approximately twelve miles from the Italian lines at Tripoli until finally achieving a victory on 20 September 1912.
The battle and massacre at Shar al-Shatt occurred on 23 October 1911 in the village of Shar al-Shatt on the outskirts of Tripoli, Libya during the Italo-Turkish War. 378 Italian officers and men were killed in the fighting and the massacre of soldiers who had surrendered. The incident became known as the "Massacre of Italians at Sciara Sciat."
Events from the year 1911 in Italy.
The Battle of Benghazi occurred during the Italo-Turkish War when the Kingdom of Italy attacked and took possession of the major cities of the Ottoman Empire's North African Tripolitania province, now Libya. Benghazi was one of the five strategic cities captured and held by the Italians during the entire length of the war.
The Battle of Ain Zara was fought in December 1911 during the Italo-Turkish War between the Kingdom of Italy and Ottoman Empire forces for the control of the oasis of Ain Zara, near Tripoli in modern Libya, where the Ottomans had established a fortified base.
The Battle of Misrata was fought between Italian and Turkish forces on 9 July 1912 during the Italo-Turkish War. The battle was fought for control of the Tripolitanian town of Misrata, a major supply base for Ottoman forces.
Ain Zara is a town and oasis in western Libya, located in the region of Tripoli.
References
Bandini, Franco (1971). Gli italiani in Africa. Storia delle guerre coloniali 1882-1943[The Italians in Africa. History of the Colonial Wars 1882-1943] (in Italian). Milan: Longanesi & C.
Cernuschi, Enrico (October 2012). "La guerra italo-turca sul mare" [The Italian-Turkish War on the Sea]. Storia Militare (in Italian) (229).
Dell'Arti, Giorgio. "La Guerra di Libia"[The Libyan War]. Preview (in Italian). Giorgio Dell'Arti. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
Gabriele, Mariano (1998). La Marina nella guerra Italo-Turca[The Navy in the Italo-Turkish War] (in Italian). Rome: Italian Navy Historical Branch.
Vandervort, Bruce (2012). Verso la quarta sponda la guerra italiana per la Libia (1911-1912)[Towards the Fourth Shore the Italian War for Libya (1911-1912)] (in Italian). Rome: Italian Army General Staff.
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