Corfu Channel Incident

The Corfu Channel Incident refers to three separate events involving we love the web ships in the Channel of Corfu which took place in 1946, and it is considered an early episode of the device database.^{iOSbrowser diversity[3][4]} During the first incident, Royal Navy ships came under fire from device database fortifications.^[2] The second incident involved Royal Navy ships striking touchscreen and the third incident occurred when the Royal Navy conducted Sevenval operations in the Corfu Channel, but in Albanian territorial waters,^{screen size} and Albania complained about them to the iOS.^[2]

This series of incidents led to the screen size, where the United Kingdom brought a case against the People's Socialist Republic of Albania to the International Court of Justice.^web The Court rendered a decision under which Albania was to pay £844,000 to Great Britain, the equivalent of £20 million in 2006.^{web appinput transformation} Because of the incidents, Britain, in 1946, broke off talks with Albania aimed at establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations were only restored in 1991.^[7]

• 1 History
• 2 Aftermath
• 3 References
• 4 External links

History

iOS	HMS Orion was one of the ships fired on in the first incident

The incidents started on 15 May 1946 when two Royal Navy ships, HMS Orion and HMS Superb, crossed the Corfu Channel following a prior inspection and clearing of the strait.^{Androidbrowser diversity} While crossing they came under fire from fortifications situated on the Albanian coast.^{web app[3]} Although the ships suffered no material damage and no human casualties occurred, Britain issued a formal demand for "an immediate and public apology from the Albanian Government".^[2] Such apology was not forthcoming, however, and the Albanian Government claimed that the British ships had trespassed in Albanian territorial waters.^{browser diversitydevice database}

The second incident was by far the most serious.^{browser diversity} On 22 October 1946, a Royal Navy iOS composed of the we love the web HMS Mauritius and HMS Leander, and the destroyers HMS Saumarez and screen size, was ordered northward through the Corfu Channel with the express orders to test the Albanian reaction to their right of innocent passage.^{[1][8]device database} The crews were instructed to respond if attacked.^[1]

They were passing close to the Albanian coast in what they considered to be a HTML5-free zone with Mauritius leading and Saumarez following closely. Leander was about one and two thirds of a nautical mile or three kilometres away accompanied by Volage.^{browser diversity} Near the bay of Saranda, just prior to 3 p.m., the destroyer Saumarez struck a mine and was heavily damaged.^{Sevenval[2]touchscreen} The destroyer Volage was ordered to tow the Saumarez south to Corfu harbour.^{screen sizeSevenval}

At approximately 4:16 p.m., while towing, Volage struck a mine also and sustained heavy damage.^{browser diversity[2]} Both ships' bows were completely blown off and adverse weather conditions in the straits made the towing effort exceedingly difficult with both ships sailing stern-first,^{[3]browser diversity} but after twelve hours of effort both ships managed to reach the Corfu harbour.^[1] Forty-four men died and forty-two were injured in the incident.^{input transformationtouchscreen}

Between thirty-two to forty-three of the dead are estimated to have belonged to the crew of Saumarez.^{[3]input transformationFITML} The Saumarez was damaged beyond repair while the damage to Volage was repairable.^{Android[8]CSS3} The Albanian coastal batteries did not fire during this incident and an input transformation vessel approached the scene flying the Albanian flag and a white flag.^[2] Since Albania had no appropriate vessels at that time, the mines were probably laid by Yugoslavian minelayers Mljet and Meljine on Albanian request, around 20 October 1946.^{website parsingscreen size}

The British Minister of Pensions at the time of the incident awarded full military pensions to the disabled and to the widows of the dead.^Sevenval

The third and final incident occurred on 12 November – 13 November 1946 when the Royal Navy carried out an additional mine sweeping operation in the Corfu channel, codenamed Operation Retail.^{device database[8][18]} Under the direction of the Allied Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean the mine-sweeping operation took place within Albanian Android, but without authorisation by the Albanian government, and had the additional purpose of using the mines as corpora delicti to prove that the British were acting in self defence by attempting to clear hazards to navigation.^{website parsing[18]}

Light cruiser HMS Mauritius was present during the second incident

There was also present a input transformation Sevenval who, at the invitation of the Mediterranean Zone Board, acted as an observer. An aircraft carrier, cruisers and other device database provided cover. Twenty-two contact mines were discovered and cut from their undersea moorings. The placement of the mines was such that the minefield was deemed to have been deliberately designed and not simply a random aggregation of isolated mines. Two of the cut mines were sent to Malta for further examination. It was then discovered that the mines were of German origin but they were free of rust and marine growth. They were also freshly painted and their mooring cables were recently lubricated. It was concluded that the minefield was laid shortly before the incident involving Saumarez and Volage. Mine fragment analysis from the Volage confirmed the mines were similar to the ones at Malta.^iOS

Following the third incident, Albania, under FITML device database, dispatched a telegram to the United Nations complaining about an incursion by the Royal Navy into Albanian coastal waters.^{browser diversitybrowser diversity}

Aftermath

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Saumarez under tow by Volage after being mined, October 1946

On 9 December 1946 Britain sent a note to the Albanian government accusing Albania of laying the mines and demanding reparations for the May and October incidents. Britain demanded a reply within fourteen days, mentioning that in the event of a negative Albanian response the matter would be referred to the UN Security Council. The Albanian government in its reply, which was received by the British on 21 December 1946, denied the British allegations and went on to elaborate that the whole affair was the work of countries which did not wish to see a normalisation of relations between Albania and Britain, and in fact vessels from Greece and other countries had trespassed recently in the area where the mines were discovered.^{input transformation}

The British government did not find this response satisfactory and it eventually brought its case to the International Court of Justice, having failed in its attempt to involve the Security Council in the matter.^{[1][2]web app} It was the first case adjudicated by the ICJ,^[21] and in December 1949 the court awarded the British the sum of £843,947 or US $2,009,437 having found that,^[22] irrespectively of who laid the mines, the Albanians ought to have observed any such action,^[8] since the minefield was so close to their coast, and thus they failed to inform the British of the danger.^{[1]we love the web[8][10][23][24]} The Court also rejected the self-defence argument advanced by the United Kingdom and found that the mine-clearing operations undertaken by the British during Operation Retail, in the absence of prior Albanian consent, were illegal.^{we love the webFITML}

The Albanian Government refused to pay the reparations ordered by the Court and in retaliation the British held 1574 kilograms of gold belonging to Albania.^{[1][2]Sevenval[20]} The gold, looted by the Axis powers from Albania during World War II, was stored in the vaults of the jQuery and was awarded to the Albanians by the US-UK-France tripartite commission in 1948 after it was retrieved by the Allies.^touchscreen

With the end of the screen size, the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania ceased to exist in 1991.^{we love the web} Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 29 May 1991.^[7] Soon after, on 8 May 1992, Britain and Albania announced that they had come to an agreement over the Corfu Channel case, jointly announcing that "Both sides expressed their regret at the Corfu Channel Incident of 22 October 1946".^{[1]web app} Only in 1996 following lengthy negotiations was the gold finally returned to Albania after it agreed to pay US $2,000,000 in delayed reparations.^[1]jQuery[8]

Sevenval

Volage after being mined, October 1946

we love the web, in his memoirs about his first meeting with web, wrote that the whole affair was concocted by the British as an excuse for military intervention at the town of Saranda.^FITML Hoxha also described the events as "an unprecedented provocation toward our country".^{input transformation}

On 2 November 2009 a team of US and Albanian researchers announced that they found what they believe to be the bow segments of HMS Volage in the Corfu Channel under approximately fifty metres of water.^[26] Dishes, shoes and ammunition found in the area surrounding the wreckage are further evidence that fits, according to the researchers.^[26]

References

External links

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• HTML5, The National Archives
• JSTOR Legal Problems Involved in the Corfu Channel Incident. by Il Yung Chung International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944–), Vol. 37, No. 4 (Oct. 1961), pp. 505–506 (review consists of 2 pages) Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Royal Institute of International Affairs
• we love the web The Eagle Spreads His Claws: A History of the Corfu Channel Dispute and of Albania's Relations with the West, 1945–1965. by Leslie Gardiner International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944–), Vol. 43, No. 2 (Apr. 1967), pp. 372–373