After the defeat at Basra, the Ottomans decided to take up a defensive position at the small town of Qurna to the north.

Since both the Tigris and Euphrates join at Qurna, it made for an ideal position to make a stand, since the British would have to cross the two rivers.

[2] The Royal Navy vessels on the Euphrates kept the Ottomans under fire while British troops managed to cross the Tigris.

Lieutenant Commander Wilfrid Nunn of the British gunboat Espiegle took aboard three Ottoman officers.

On 9 December, the Ottoman commander, Colonel Subhi Bey, the Wali or Governor of Basra, surrendered his forces.