The Allied operation assembled an Italian battleship, cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats, motor boats, and aircraft, reinforced by British cruisers and destroyers, U.S. submarine chasers, and two Australian destroyers. Austria-Hungary answered with shore batteries, a small surface contingent, and submarines rather than sending out its battleships. The resulting action damaged light forces and shipping and destroyed three shore batteries, while Dante Alighieri waited outside the immediate fight. The mismatch explains why a powerful battleship could be operationally important yet find no suitable target. The passage gives a compact picture of littoral warfare in the Adriatic and the limits of capital-ship firepower when the enemy fleet remains in harbor.
Notable Point · 23:20-24:44
A multinational Durazzo force faces submarines and shore batteries
The 1918 attack combined Italian, British, American, and Australian forces, but the Austrian battle fleet never emerged to meet Dante Alighieri.