Aid had arrived just in time, and the British vessels, with engines broken, stood away at some distance, leaving matters for the nonce to the powerful Italian Squadron. It was indeed a very formidable one, and its appearance caused the Russian Admiral such misgivings that he gave orders to retreat, a manœuvre attempted unsuccessfully. The Italian Fleet, as it loomed up in the falling gloom, included no fewer than twenty-six warships and forty-three torpedo boats. The vessels consisted of the barbette-ship Lepanto of 15,000 tons; the Sardegna, Sicilia, and Re Umberto of 13,000 tons; the Andrea Doria, Francesca Morosini, and Ruggiero di Lauria of 11,000 tons; the turret-ships Dandolo and Duilio of the same size; the Ammeraglio di St. Bon of 9800 tons; the armoured cruisers Ancona, Castelfidardo, and Maria Pia, and the San Martino, each of about 4500 tons; the gun-vessels Andrea Provana, Cariddi, Castore, Curtatone; the torpedo gunboats Aretusa, Atlante, Euridice, Iride, Montebello, and Monzambano; the despatch vessels Galileo and Vedetta; and the first-class torpedo vessels Aquila, Avvoltoio, Falco, Nibbio, and Sparviero, and thirty-eight others.
With such a force descending upon the Russian ships, which had already been very severely punished by the vigorous fire of the British, there was little wonder that the Tsar's vessels should endeavour to escape. The Italian Fleet had already bombarded and destroyed Ajaccio two days ago, and, steaming south from the Corsican capital, had anchored for twenty-four hours off Cape della Caccia, near Alghero, in the north of Sardinia. Then again taking a southerly course in the expectation of joining hands with the British Mediterranean Squadron, which was on its way from Marseilles to Cagliari, they had fallen in with the three crippled ships.
Without hesitation the powerful Italian ironclads, several of which were among the finest in the world, opened a terrific fire upon the Russian ships, and as darkness fell the sight was one of appalling grandeur. From all sides flame rushed from turrets and barbettes in vivid flashes, while the Maxims in the tops poured out their deadly showers of bullets. The ponderous 105-ton guns of the Andrea Doria, Francesca Morosini, and Ruggiero di Lauria crashed and roared time after time, their great shots causing frightful havoc among the Russian ships, the four 100-tonners of the Lepanto and the 67-tonners of the Re Umberto, Sardegna, and Sicilia simply knocking to pieces the Petropavlovsk. The Russian ships were receiving terrible blows on every hand. With their search-lights beaming forth in all directions, the ships were fighting fiercely, pounding away at each other with deafening din. It was not long, however, before this vigorous attack of the Italians began to tell, for within an hour of the first shot from the Lepanto the fine Russian battleship Gheorghy Pobyednosets and the great new cruiser Minsk of 17,000 tons had been rammed and sunk, the former by the Duilio, and the latter by the Re Umberto, while the Tchesmé and the gunboat Otvazny had been torpedoed, and scarcely a soul saved out of 1500 men who were on board.
Explosions were occurring in quick succession, and red glares flashed momentarily over the sea. Hither and thither as the Italian torpedo boats darted they ejected their missiles, and the rapid and terrible fire from the leviathans of Italy, pouring into every one of the remaining ships of the Tsar, killed hundreds who were striving to defend themselves.
Suddenly the Sicilia, which had been fighting the Russian flagship, the Tria Sviatitelia, at close quarters, and had blown away her conning-tower and greater portion of her superstructure, performed a neat evolution, and crashed her ram right into her opponent's broadside, breaking her almost in half.
A few moments later there was a terrific explosion on board, and then the doomed vessel sank into the dark rolling sea, carrying with her the Russian Admiral and all hands.
Quickly this success was followed by others—the blowing up of the monster new cruiser Tiumen, the sinking of the Adler and four other Russian torpedo boats, occurring in rapid succession. Seeing with what rapidity and irresistible force they were being swept from the sea, the remainder of the Tsar's shattered fleet struck their flags and called for quarter, not, however, before the torpedo boat Kodor had been sunk. The Russians thus captured were the battleships Petropavlovsk of 10,960 tons, the Dvenadsat Apostoloff of 8076 tons, the two new barbette-ships, Kama and Vologda, both of whose engines had broken down, and fifteen torpedo boats.
At dawn most of the latter were manned by Italians, while the captured ships, with the Italian colours flying and bearing evidence of the terrible conflict, were on their way due north to Genoa, accompanied by the battered British vessels.
The strongest division of Russia's Fleet had been totally destroyed, and the Tsar's power in the Mediterranean was broken.