Battle of Lissa

20 July 1866, Off the island of Lissa (Vis), Adriatic

Austrian victory

Admiral Persano's fleet was bombarding the Austrian island of Lissa when Tegetthoff arrived from Fasana with an older, weaker fleet formed in wedges. Persano moved his flag from Re d'Italia to Affondatore just as the battle began, leaving his captains unsure who was in command. Tegetthoff drove through a gap in the Italian line into a close-range melee. His flagship rammed Re d'Italia, which rolled over and sank, and Palestro caught fire and blew up. Italy lost 612 killed to Austria's 38.

Regia Marina (Italy)

20 ships, 2 lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
Affondatore Persano's new flagship	Ironclad	Survived
Re d'Italia Rammed by Erzherzog Ferdinand Max	Ironclad Re d'Italia class	Sunk
Palestro Caught fire and blew up	Ironclad	Sunk
San Martino	Ironclad	Survived
Principe di Carignano Vacca's flagship	Ironclad	Survived
Castelfidardo	Ironclad	Survived
Ancona	Ironclad	Survived
Re di Portogallo Collided with Kaiser	Ironclad Re d'Italia class	Damaged
Maria Pia	Ironclad	Survived
Varese	Ironclad	Survived
Terribile Arrived late	Ironclad	Survived

Flotillas and other craft	Number	Lost
Wooden frigates and corvettes Albini's squadron, which hardly engaged.	9	0

Flotillas and other craft

Number

Lost

Wooden frigates and corvettes

Albini's squadron, which hardly engaged.

Austrian Navy

13+ ships, none lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
Erzherzog Ferdinand Max Tegetthoff's flagship; rammed Re d'Italia	Ironclad	Survived
Habsburg	Ironclad	Survived
Kaiser Max	Ironclad	Survived
Prinz Eugen	Ironclad	Survived
Don Juan d'Austria	Ironclad	Survived
Drache	Ironclad	Survived
Salamander	Ironclad	Survived
Kaiser Commodore Petz's flagship; collided with Re di Portogallo	Ship of the line	Damaged
Schwarzenberg	Frigate	Survived
Radetzky	Frigate	Survived

Flotillas and other craft	Number	Lost
Wooden frigates Adria, Donau and Novara, with Schwarzenberg and Radetzky in the second division.	3	0
Gunboats and small craft Including Narenta, Kerka, Hum, Vellebich, Dalmat, Seehund, Wal, Streiter, Reka, Andreas Hofer, Kaiserin Elisabeth, Greif and Stadion; sources differ on which were present.	10–13	0

Flotillas and other craft

Number

Lost

Wooden frigates

Adria, Donau and Novara, with Schwarzenberg and Radetzky in the second division.

Gunboats and small craft

Including Narenta, Kerka, Hum, Vellebich, Dalmat, Seehund, Wal, Streiter, Reka, Andreas Hofer, Kaiserin Elisabeth, Greif and Stadion; sources differ on which were present.

10–13

Map

Persano sails from Ancona to attack Lissa 16–18 July 1866
Tegetthoff sails from Fasana 19–20 July 1866