NationStates

The Battle of Lezhë was one of the most brutal night actions in Korongolese naval history. It is recorded as an Allied strategic victory in official accounts, but the battle was very much a tactical defeat. On the 10th of June 1918, the Mediterranean Squadron of the Royal Naval Service received orders to steam north of the Otranto barrage. Its mission was simple: evaluate the strength of Austro-Hungarian naval forces in the southern Adriatic and return to port. The Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Szent István had been torpedoed by Italian MAS boats early in the morning and one of her sisters was also spotted at sea. It was believed that a large-scale attack on the barrage, involving an unknown number of dreadnoughts, was imminent. This assumption was mostly correct. Kontreadmiral Miklós Horthy, the commander of Austo-Hungarian fleet, had scheduled an attack on the barrage for the 11th at dawn. However, he did not hope to break the barrage with dreadnoughts. His capital ships would remain in the Adriatic while his cruisers and torpedo boats assaulted the barrage. They would then be in the perfect position to annihilate any Allied response.

The Korongolese force, led by the dreadnoughts Aurani and Mendam, left Taranto Harbour at noon on the 10th of June. They were accompanied by the cruisers Lelatedo and Zirak. A small flotilla of four destroyers was also present. The squadron did not pass through the Strait of Otranto until night had fallen. At 12:08 AM on the 11th, Zirak spotted a periscope and opened fire with its secondary 3 inch battery. The rest of the squadron took evasive action and began scouring the water with searchlights. While German and Austro-Hungarian submarines were in the area, no attack followed and the periscope likely never existed. Unbeknownst to the Korongolese, the light show had gained unwanted attention. The scout cruiser Helgoland had spotted searchlights on the horizon and quickly identified the Korongolese force. It began shadowing the enemy fleet with the rest of its flotilla following close behind.

Mendam spotted the masts of Helgoland at 3:25 AM. The commander of the Korongolese squadron, Admiral Hel Atrihas, ordered Zirak to leave the formation and investigate the ship. The Austro-Hungarian shadow force distanced itself from Zirak in an effort to avoid contact and lost sight of the Korongolese dreadnoughts. Horthy had been alerted by this time and the dreadnoughts Viribus Unitis and Prinz Eugen were proceeding south to meet the Korongolese. A battleship engagement was a risky endeavour, but he would be forced to call off his attack on the barrage if the Korongolese remained in the area. He also possessed an advantage. While his dreadnoughts carried four triple 12 inch turrets, he knew the Korongolese battleships had four twin 12 inch turrets. The Korongolese were building super-dreadnoughts, but all evidence correctly indicated that these superior vessels were not yet in service.

At 4:30 AM, Aurani spotted the Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts on the horizon. The two battle lines were moving parallel to one another, the Korongolese steaming north and the Austro-Hungarians heading south. The Korongolese force came under fire almost immediately. At the same time, the shadow force turned to engage Zirak. The Korongolese dreadnoughts were unable to return fire for several minutes as their guns could not fire as far. Fortunately, Austro-Hungarian gunfire proved to be inaccurate at extreme range. Atrihas ordered two of his destroyers to break off and rescue Zirak to the southeast. He would do the same in time. However, he did not want to turn across the bow of the Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts. To do so would close the engagement distance to torpedo range and devolve the battle into a knife fight. He would instead wait for the Austro-Hungarian ships to pass and move across their rear.

As the four dreadnoughts steamed past each other, four torpedo boats accompanying the Austro-Hungarian line moved in to engage. The 12 inch and 6 inch batteries aboard Aurani and Mendam continued to engage the enemy dreadnoughts, while the their 3 inch batteries, Lelatedo, and the remaining two destroyers focused on the torpedo boats. One of the destroyers was struck by three 5.9 inch shells from Viribus Unitis and came to screeching halt. The order was soon given to abandon ship. The other broke off, leaving Lelatedo to scatter the torpedo boats. Fortunately, the Korongolese had gained extensive gunnery experience during the First Korongolese Civil War and were able to strike the attacking vessels with precision. One torpedo boat disappeared in a bright flash of light, and another suffered the same fate as the sinking Korongolese destroyer. The remaining two withdrew under an intense barrage of fire. For Mendam, however, it was too late.

At 5:05 AM, two torpedoes struck Mendam. The first tore a large hole beneath her X turret, while the second blew apart the bow forward of the main armour belt. Damage control efforts were already hampered by a fire which had broken out amidships and the battleship fell out of formation. Flooding soon became uncontrollable, and the existing fire became even more dangerous as it started detonated 6 inch powder charges. The order to abandon ship was given at 5:20 AM. It was the first loss of the Korongolese battleship since Tygar had sank en-route from France in the 1890s. Atrihas ordered Aurani to continue ahead with Lelatedo. With the Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts distracted, could aid the crew of Mendam.

The two destroyers dispatched to aid Zirak opened fire in the Austro-Hungarian shadow force at 5:40 AM. Zirak's captain, who had been fleeing the shadow force for the better part of an hour, had evaded nineteen torpedoes and survived dozens of 3.9 inch shell hits. Unfortunately, his luck ran out. The destroyers moved in and launched their own torpedoes to cover Zirak's retreat. While moving to evade the twentieth enemy torpedo, Zirak ran into one of the Korongolese torpedoes. The hit caused an immediate loss of speed and the ship began listing to starboard. It would have been the end of Zirak if it was not for a miracle.

At 5:50 AM, Horthy ordered his ships to withdraw. Aurani and Mendam had successfully turned across the rear of the Austro-Hungarian battle line and were now bearing down on the shadow force. The manoeuvre had forced Viribus Unitis and Prinz Eugen to turn sharply, allowing Atrihas to increase the distance between himself and the enemy. Both Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts had suffered damage during the battle and could no longer close on the remaining Korongolese dreadnought. If he did not withdraw, the shadow force would be devastated. Furthermore, he feared that dawn would be accompanied by Allied bombers. The arrival of Italian and French battleships was also a distinct possibility.

At the end of the battle, the Royal Naval Service had lost a dreadnought and a destroyer. The sinking of the former was a severe setback. The First Korongolese Civil War had delayed Korongolese dreadnought construction and Aurani was the only ship of that type left in the fleet. Zirak was towed back to Taranto by Aurani, but an examination of the damage revealed that it was too extensive for repair. The other surviving ships had all sustained some degree of damage, though were able to continue their service. The Austro-Hungarians had lost two ocean-going torpedo boats. However, Viribus Unitis and Helgoland were heavily damaged. Neither ship saw action again for the duration of the war. Horthy's offensive ambitions were also tempered by the action. A repeat of the 1917 attack against the Otranto barrage was no longer on the table.

The loss of Mendam did have some positive aspects. Under the Treaty of Sèvres, New Korongo was awarded the battlecruiser Yavuz as compensation. The Royal Marine Corps secured the vessel before the Turkish War of Independence imposed the far more lenient Treaty of Lausanne, allowing the former German warship to enter active service with the Royal Naval Service. The sinking also allowed the Korongolese to seek an exemption in the Washington Naval Treaty for three battleships then under construction. One was allowed to be completed as a battleship, while the remaining two would be converted to aircraft carriers.