Qualla: Battle of Kunfuda Bay https://qualla.com/battle-of-kunfuda-bay en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/m/h/battle-of-kunfuda-bay-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Kunfuda Bay https://qualla.com/battle-of-kunfuda-bay Battle of Kunfuda Bay: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-kunfuda-bay/ Photo credit NA, Public domain. The Ottoman gunboats had come too far on too little coal. Six of them had been stationed in the Persian Gulf when the Italo-Turkish War broke out in September 1911, and they had been recalled - but the steamer carrying their resupply of coal had been captured in December by the Italians. They could not reach the Mediterranean. They could barely reach anywhere. They sheltered in the harbor at Kunfuda, on the Arabian Red Sea coast, along with a tugboat and a yacht, and waited. On 7 January 1912, the Italian protected cruiser Piemonte and two destroyers found them there.

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/m/h/battle-of-kunfuda-bay-wp/sgmh-battle-of-kunfuda-bay-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Kunfuda Bay: A War Over Libya, Fought in the Red Sea https://qualla.com/battle-of-kunfuda-bay/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The Italo-Turkish War began as a scramble over Libya - Italy wanting it, the Ottoman Empire technically ruling it. But the fighting quickly spread wherever the two empires had naval assets. Italy worried about its colony of Eritrea, on the African shore of the southern Red Sea, a...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/m/h/battle-of-kunfuda-bay-wp/sgmh-battle-of-kunfuda-bay-a-war-over-libya-fought-in-the-red-sea.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Kunfuda Bay: The Harbor at Kunfuda https://qualla.com/battle-of-kunfuda-bay/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Kunfuda - today spelled Al Qunfudhah - sits on the Red Sea coast of what is now Saudi Arabia, in Mecca Province. In January 1912 it was part of Ottoman Hejaz. On the morning of 7 January, Piemonte arrived with two destroyers after the Italians received intelligence on the gunboat...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/m/h/battle-of-kunfuda-bay-wp/sgmh-battle-of-kunfuda-bay-the-harbor-at-kunfuda.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Kunfuda Bay: The Next Morning https://qualla.com/battle-of-kunfuda-bay/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. On 8 January, the Italian vessels returned. Landing parties went ashore to destroy the three beached gunboats and strip their light guns. The Italian warships bombarded the port of Kunfuda itself, then seized four dhows - small Arab sailing vessels - before withdrawing. The Ottom...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/m/h/battle-of-kunfuda-bay-wp/sgmh-battle-of-kunfuda-bay-the-next-morning.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Kunfuda Bay: A Blockade, a Peace, an Empire Fading https://qualla.com/battle-of-kunfuda-bay/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. With no Ottoman ships to contest them, the Italians proclaimed a full blockade of the Arabian Red Sea coast. They began seizing vessels carrying contraband. To their credit - or to the political necessity of not enraging the Islamic world - they continued to allow Muslim pilgrims...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/m/h/battle-of-kunfuda-bay-wp/sgmh-battle-of-kunfuda-bay-a-blockade-a-peace-an-empire-fading.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Kunfuda Bay: The Harbor Today https://qualla.com/battle-of-kunfuda-bay/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Al Qunfudhah today is a Saudi port city of roughly 250,000 people on the Red Sea coast, well south of Jeddah, known for fishing, shipping, and a small refinery complex. Nothing visible on the waterfront marks where the Ottoman gunboats went down in 1912. Their wreckage, presumabl...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/m/h/battle-of-kunfuda-bay-wp/sgmh-battle-of-kunfuda-bay-the-harbor-today.mp3 0:06 6 full