The Battle of Kaliakra, usually known as the Attack of the ''Drazki'' ( bg, Атаката на Дръзки) in Bulgaria, was a maritime action between four

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n torpedo boats and the Ottoman cruiser '' Hamidiye'' in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. It took place on 21 November 1912 at 32 miles off Bulgaria's primary port of

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

. During the course of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

, the Ottoman Empire's supplies were dangerously limited after the battles in Kirk Kilisse and

Lule Burgas Lule may refer to: * Lule people, an indigenous people of northern Argentina * Lule language, a possibly extinct language of Argentina * Lule Sami language, a language spoken in Sweden and Norway * Luleå, also known as Lule, a town in Sweden * Lu ...

and the sea route from the Romanian port Constanţa to

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

became vital for the Ottomans. The Ottoman navy also imposed a blockade on the Bulgarian coast and on 15 October, the commander of the cruiser ''Hamidiye'' threatened to destroy Varna and

Balchik Balchik ( bg, Балчик ; ro, Balcic) is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is in Dobrich Province, 35 km southeast of Dobrich and 42 km northeast of Varna. It spr ...

, unless the two towns surrendered. On 21 November an Ottoman convoy was attacked by the four Bulgarian torpedo boats '' Drazki'' (Bold), ''Letyashti'' (Flying), ''Smeli'' (Brave) and ''Strogi'' (Strict). The attack was led by ''Letyashti'', whose torpedoes missed, as did those of ''Smeli'' and ''Strogi'', ''Smeli'' being damaged by a 150 mm round with one of her crewmen wounded. ''Drazki'' however got within 100 meters from the Ottoman cruiser and her torpedoes struck the cruiser's starboard side, causing a 10 square meter hole. However, ''Hamidiye'' was not sunk, due to her well-trained crew, strong forward bulkheads, the functionality of all her water pumps and a very calm sea. She did however have 8 crewmen killed and 30 wounded, and was repaired within months. After this encounter, the Ottoman blockade of the Bulgarian coast was significantly loosened.

References

The attack of ''Drazki''
* E.R. Horton, ''Prelude to the First World War: The Balkan Wars 1912–1913'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaliakra, Naval Battte Of Naval Battle of Kaliakra Naval battles involving Bulgaria Naval battles involving the Ottoman Empire History of Varna, Bulgaria Military history of the Black Sea Naval battles of the First Balkan War November 1912 events