The Ottoman fleet in November 1912 was busy with the advance of the Bulgarians in Thraki and with the conduct of the battle of Tsataltza, which would decide the fate of Constantinople itself. On 19 November, it was reported that an Ottoman fleet was moving to the south and more specifically to its naval base Nagara, which is located near the exit of the Dardanelles. On November 20 it became known the conclusion of an armistice between the Balkan Allies and the Ottoman Empire, except Greece. This action almost certainly indicated that the Ottoman fleet would come out of the Straits. This belief was confirmed by the movements of the Ottoman fleet but also by the reinforcement of fortification positions of the Straits with field artillery. The Chief of the Ottoman fleet was Captain Ramiz, an officer highly trained in schools in Europe. In fact, before 1911 he served as naval attaché at the embassies of Rome and Athens, so he was very well informed about the Greek navy.

On 3 December, the Greek Fleet was in patrol formation between Imbros and Gallipoli. The ships were located in two columns, the left one consisted of the Battleships “Averoff”, “Hydra”, “Spetsai” and “Psara”, while the right column was formed by the destroyers “Ierax”, “Leo”, “Eagle” and “Panther”. At 08:00 the Turkish fleet was seen at the exit of the Dardanelles.

At the top of the formation was the Cruiser “Metzitier” which was accompanied by three destroyers and followed by the battleships “Barbarossa” which was the flagship, “Turgut Reis”, “Messoudi” and “Asar Tefik”. At 8:20 the Averof sent a signal “EX-EX-EX” stating the
appearance of the enemy fleet as well as the unification of the Greek fleet. At 08:55
Admiral Kountouriotis sent to the Greek fleet the historic signal “With the power of God, the blessings of our King, and in the name of the Justice, I sail with uncontrollable momentum and with the conviction of victory over the enemy of the Nation”.

When the distance of the two fleets reached about 12,000 meters the Ottoman fleet, starting with Barbarossa, began to fire against the Greek ships. The Greek fleet opened fire with the Averof firing from a distance of 11,000 meters. As the Averof constantly reduced her distance from the enemy, she raised the “Z” signal, which declared “my movements are independent” and rushed in against the enemy Flagship, with a speed of 20 miles. With this courageous action the Averof concentrated all the fire of the enemy fleet, at the same time she ran a large risk of torpedo attack by Turkish destroyers and finally, for some time was found within range of coastal fortifications enemy artillery. Nevertheless, the Averof managed to reach a distance of 3,200 meters from the enemy fleet, firing at the Turkish flagship. With this action, the Averof caused panic to the Chief of the Turkish fleet, who realized the danger of being within two shots. He made a 180th turn to the right and ordered the return to the safety of the Strait. This move of Barbarossa was followed by the rest of the Ottoman ships retreating in panic. The Averof, taking advantage of her high speed, pursued the Turkish battleships. At 10:05 the Greek battleship changed her course as she had dangerously entered the firing range of the Turkish coastal artillery.

The Averof during the naval battle was hit 19 times by enemy missiles of various calibers. She suffered minimal material damage with 2 dead and Injured. The opposing side suffered extensive damage to the Battleships Barbarossa and Turgut Reis. Turkish casualties amounted to at least 58 dead and unknown number of injured.

With this tactical victory achieved by the Greek Fleet, the foundations were laid for the strategic victory that followed in the naval battle of Limnos.