//Ed. note: As the Italy-Turkey war over Libya began in the Fall of
1911, the Italian fleet needed a port in eastern Libya and Tobruk was
the choice. Ottoman opposition was negligible at Tobruk, although
much more vibrant at Derne, to the west.
Herewith, in English, the story of the choice of Tobruk as related in a
report written about the entire war by Italian Capt. I. Revol, whose
report was translated into Turkish and published in 'Askeri Mecmuası'
(Military Journal) in 1940.//
Tobruk
Summary: Importance
of the port of Tobruk from the strategic
and
tactical perspective – Italians’
defensive situation.
On 4 October 1911, Admiral (Augusto) Aubry was positioned
off the
coast of Tobruk in order to
establish a naval base for a fleet that
would provide for observation of the
Aegean Sea and ensure
security for military transports cruising between Sicily
and the
African coast. The enemy force in Toburk consisted of about 20
regular
Turkish soldiers, whose commanding officer yielded to the
force facing him and
evacuated his snipers on the shore, expecting
the warship Napoli to fire some rounds.
Subsequently, he left with
his small detachment toward Derne, after
which 400 Italian sailors
landed and were met by a welcoming ovation by the Arabs.
On the night of 5-6 October,
a battalion from the 40th infantry
regiment came ashore from the
Napoli and on the 9th of October
an
infantry company was landed from the ship Favignano. The
remaining three companies headed for
Derne.
Up until the 29th of October, the defense of Tobruk was carried out
by this
infantry company, although it was supported by a few marines
from the ship
Etna, which remained off Tobruk in a stationary manner.
On the
29th, a battalion of the 40th infantry regiment was assembled
at Tobruk but
departed again, in the middle of November, for Derne.
Subsequently, the defense of the naval base
was handed over to the
20th infantry regiment.
The Arabs took their time about deciding to fight the
Italians, who
had no intention of advancing toward the interior anyway. It would
be sufficient for them to hold the
coast, after having set up a food
and materials depot. Any enemy operations and initiatives would
be dissuaded by the presence of the warships.
So what was the importance and value of Tobruk? Like Bizerte (in
Tunisia), Tobruk was on the
African coast 173 maritime miles from
the island of Crete, 276 maritime miles
from the tip ot the Peloponnese
and equidistant from Brindisi and the Turkish
Straits. Consequently,
its strategic
value and importance was indisputable.
In 1883 Georg
August Schweinfurth visited Tobruk and declared that the
nation that
held Tobruk would gain control of the eastern seas.
The Italian notable de Martino visited the region in 1907
with
Monsieur Baldari and then wrote that Tobruk would ensure
possession of Benghazi and provide for control over the
Mediterranean sea lanes. Based on de Martino’s judgment, a
few
defensive redoubts at Tobruk would put in on a par with
Bizerte and La
Valletta (on Malta).
Actually, the port of Tobruk
was not particularly suitable because
although the harbor went quite far
inland and even the largest ships
could anchor there, defense against the
prevailing northwest winds
in the area was lacking. In addition, the land around Tobruk was
quite
unfertile, nor was there any center of
natural resources nearby.
For most of
the year drinking water was unavailable in Tobruk, which
was really nothing
more than a poor village.
The Italian naval community was divided with regard to the tactical
value of Tobruk. Some preferred Bomba,
west of Tobruk in the same
Marmarik region,
and Soloum to the east of Tobruk.
However, the
idea of the Italian fleet occupying Soloum, on the border
with Egypt,
would conflict with
England’s legal claim to it and invite problems for
Italy’s annexation of
Libya. As a result, the choice for an Italian naval
port came down to Bomba and
Tobruk, and since Admiral Aubry
preferred Tobruk the matter was settled.
//END of PART ONE//
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