1840, Official service cover of the k.k. Levant Squadron during the
Austrian expedition under Admiral Bandiera leading the
1840, Official service cover of the k.k. Levant Squadron during the
Austrian expedition under Admiral Bandiera leading the operation
frigate MEDEA (44 guns), to Commodore Vittori Zambelli aboard the
frigate GUERRIERA (40 guns), reverse with crisp red wax seal K.K.
MARINE COMMANDO, both ships lay at anchor in Alexandria, Egypt, 20
August – 6 September 1840, while the Allied Powers (Britain,
Austria, Prussia, Russia) pressed Viceroy Mehmed Ali to accept the
London Convention ultimatum of 15 July 1840, Muhammad Ali’s refusal
to evacuate Syria triggered a four-power intervention, an
Anglo-Austrian fleet showed the flag off Alexandria to add
diplomatic pressure before opening hostilities further north,
Rear-Admiral Bandieras squadron comprised the frigates Medea,
Guerriera, Bellona and several corvettes, court painter Eduard Gurk
accompanied the flagship to document the cruise, the first
large-scale deployment of the new Imperial Navy outside the
Adriatic, aftermath: bombardment and storming of Sidon, 26
September 1840 - Guerriera, with Archduke Friedrich temporarily in
command, joined the British squadron of Commodore Napier, the
allied landing party took the town and 1 500 Egyptian prisoners and
capture of Acre, 3 November 1840, the Anglo-Austrian flotilla
silenced the forts in three hours, Archduke Friedrich personally
raised the Ottoman, British and Austrian flags over the citadel,
these actions forced Mehmed Ali to capitulate on 27 November,
confirming the political purpose of the earlier stand-off in
Alexandria, historical naval correspondence between two
Austro-Hungarian warships, exceptional documentation from Austrian
naval presence during Eastern Mediterranean crisis, cited in Patka
I page 213, a unique document of Austrian mariteam forces
supporting an international intervention by the Nil-Blocade, XF!
Schätzpreis 9.000€.
