Battle of Lissa (1866)

Battle of Lissa
	Part of the Third Italian War of Independence
	; The Sea Battle of Lissa, Carl Frederik Sørensen
Date	20 July 1866
Location	Off Lissa, Adriatic Sea43°10′35″N 16°3′12″E / 43.17639°N 16.05333°E
Result	Austrian victory
Belligerents
Austria	Italy
Commanders and leaders
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff	Carlo di Persano
Strength
26 ships:; 4 ironclads ; 3 armoured frigates ; 1 ship of the line ; 5 screw frigates ; 1 screw corvette ; 2 screw gunboats ; 6 gunboats ; 1 screw tender ; 3 steamships	32 ships:; 9 ironclads ; 1 armoured frigate ; 2 armoured corvettes ; 7 screw frigates ; 1 screw corvette ; 2 paddle corvettes ; 1 sloop ; 3 gunboats ; 2 avisos ; 4 merchantmen
Casualties and losses
176 killed and wounded	700 killed and wounded
	Location within Croatia

The Battle of Lissa (or Battle of Vis) (Croatian: Bitka kod Visa) was a naval battle between an Italian and an Austrian fleet during the Third Italian War of Independence. It took place on July 20, 1866, near the island of Vis (then Lissa), which is now part of Croatia. The Kingdom of Italy intended to capture Habsburg Venetia and break Austria's naval dominance in the Adriatic. However, the Imperial Austrian Navy managed to secure victory despite the numerical and technical superiority of the Italian fleet by employing ramming tactics. This battle was the first naval engagement in which newly developed ironclad warships were used on a significant scale. Both naval forces at Lissa exhibited notable technical deficiencies, while the Italian Navy also suffered from severe rivalries within its command staff and inadequate training of its crews.