Battle of Antivari

The Battle of Antivari or Action off Antivari was a naval engagement between a large fleet of French and British warships and two ships of the Austro-Hungarian navy at the start of World War I. The old Austrian protected cruiser SMS Zenta and the destroyer SMS Ulan were blockading the Montenegrin port of Antivari, when on 16 August 1914 they were surprised and cut off by a large Anglo-French force that had sortied into the Adriatic. The Austrian warships were forced to fight an engagement in an attempt to let the destroyer escape. Although Zenta was destroyed, Ulan escaped and those ships of the Austrian fleet which were at Cattaro, unaware of events, did not come out of port to meet the Allied fleet. After blockading the Adriatic for a short while the French were forced to withdraw due to lack of supplies.

When war broke out between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Montenegro, the Austro-Hungarians began a blockade of the Montenegrin coast as well as several bombardments of the various towns there including the port of Antivari , where the protected cruiser SMS Zenta and destroyer SMS Ulan were stationed.

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