Immediately after the victorious naval battle of Elli for Greece, the Ottomans were preparing intensively for their second exit to the Aegean. It is worth mentioning the distraction attempted by the Turks with the exit of Chamidias, the night of January 1 to 2, 1913. This action of the Turks resulted in, Kountouriotis to order the departure of the fleet, the intensification of patrols in the Straits and the dispatch of 4 torpedo boats between the islands of Lesvos and Chios in order to avoid a possible attempt by Hamidis to go to the port of Izmir. Athens was in turmoil, but Kountouriotis was not discouraged, nor did he fall into the trap to order the pursuit of Hamidis from the Averof, depriving this valuable ship from the Greek formation in case of a new naval battle. Instead, he continued to patrol the Dardanelles, and Averof remained in her post.
On January 5, Kountouriotis received a telegram informing him of the expected exit of the Turkish Fleet. The enemy leadership believed that the Averof pursued Chamidi, but Kountouriotis, having understood the enemy’s trick, awaited with the entire Greek fleet the upcoming confrontation. At 08:15, the destroyer Leo broadcast “EX-EX-EX”, meaning that the Turkish fleet was leaving. The cruiser “Metzitier” was ahead and the three large battleships followed “Barbarossa”, “Turgut Reis”, “Messoudi” and eight destroyers. Their goal was to attack the naval base of Lemnos. The Hellenic Fleet consisted of the flagship “G. Averof”, the battleships “Spetsai”, “Hydra” and “Psara”, 2 scouts the “Eagle” and “Ierax”. Finally, the 3 destroyers “Sfendoni”, “Nafokratousa” and “Niki”.
Shortly after 09:00 our fleet came out of its base, the base of Moudros and it headed southeast forming 3 convoys. The 4 battleships formed the middle convoy having the destroyers on the left and the scouts on the right. At 09:28 Kountouriotis sent the following signal to the crews of the fleet: “The Admiral wishes a good day to the brave staff and crews”.
When Metzhetier perceived the presence of the Greek flagship G. Averof immediately made a 180 turn at full speed towards the main force of the Turkish Fleet. As soon as she received Metzetier’s signal and perceived his change of course, the advance Barbarossa ordered a turn to the south. The rest of his ships had the same opposing fleet. At 11:34 from a distance of 8,400 meters the Ottoman fleet opened fire, while the Greek fleet responded after a minute. The Turkish artillery proved itself again extremely inaccurate, while the Greek artillery was much more accurate than that in the naval battle of Hellas. The best lighting conditions that prevailed this time certainly played an important role in it. After 20 minutes the naval battle was over already judged. The Turkish battleships had been put out of action by their effective Greek fires. Averof in particular managed decisive blows against Barbarossa. The Turkish flagship retreated to the north, burning. Following her example, so did the rest of the enemy Fleet.
At 12:05 the Averof begins the pursuit of the retreating Turkish fleet, with speed of 20 knots and successfully manages to concentrate her fire on the battleships Turgut Reis and Barbarossa, approaching the enemy at 7,500 meters. At 14:42 the Turkish fleet enters the safety of the Straits. At 19:05 Admiral Kountouriotis sends a message to the Minister of the Hellenic Navy: “Enemy fleet directed to Lemnos was defeated and pursued to the Straits, where it fled in disorder. Duration of naval battle three hours. We have only wounded Petty Officer 2nd Class Filigatis A., Damage “AVEROF” was very insignificant. Ship’s fighting force intact”.
Turkish losses amounted to at least 282 killed and wounded. Barbarossa, Turgut Reis and Messoudhi suffered extensive damage. After their new naval failure, the wishful thinking that the Turkish government had to find itself in a favorable position in the peace negotiations that would follow were eliminated. Since then, the Turkish fleet has not attempted a new exit to the Aegean.
