World War I Austro-Hungarian Navy

1 world war i

1.1 battle @ durazzo
1.2 battle of otranto straits
1.3 cattaro mutiny
1.4 late world war i
1.5 ships lost

world war i


austro-hungarian dreadnoughts @ pola.



austro-hungarian fleet manoeuvres in february 1913.

after assassination of archduke franz ferdinand , wife in 1914, austro-hungarian navy honoured them lying in state aboard sms viribus unitis.

during first world war, navy saw action, prior italian entry spent of time in major naval base @ pola, except small skirmishes. following italian declaration of war mere fact of existence tied italian navy , french navy in mediterranean duration of war.

following declaration of war in august 1914 french , montenegrin forces attempted cause havoc @ cattaro, kuk kriegsmarine s southernmost base in adriatic. throughout september, october , november 1914 navy bombarded allied forces resulting in decisive defeat latter, , again in january 1916 in called battle of lovćen, instrumental in montenegro being knocked out of war early.

linienschiffsleutnant von trapp on bridge of u-5

on 23 may 1915, when italy declared war on austria-hungary, austro-hungarian navy left harbors in pola (today pula, croatia), sebenico (today Šibenik, croatia) , cattaro (today kotor, montenegro) bombard eastern italian coast between venice , barletta. main targets cities of ancona, rimini, vieste, manfredonia, barletta , bridges , railway tracks along coast. 1917 austro-hungarian fleet yet largely undamaged.

the presence of 3 allied navies in mediterranean made measures of co-ordination , common doctrine extraordinarily difficult. mediterranean divided eleven zones, of british naval authorities responsible four, french four, , italians three. differing command structures, national pride , language barrier contributed lack of cohesion in application of allied sea power, producing situation in german , austro-hungarian u-boat attacks on shipping flourished. example of lack of co-ordination sinking of italian troop transport minas bound italy salonika, torpedoed in 1 of british zones in february 1917 loss of 870 lives, british escort not understanding message , failing relieve italian destroyer, turned around @ zone barrier.

battle @ durazzo

in december 1915 k.u.k. kriegsmarine cruiser squadron attempted make raid on serbian troops evacuating albania. after sinking french submarine , bombarding town of durazzo squadron ran minefield, sinking 1 destroyer , damaging another. next day group ran squadron of british, french, , italian cruisers , destroyers. resulting battle left 2 austrian destroyers sunk , light damage another, while dealing minor damage allied warships , others.

a three-power conference on 28 april 1917, @ corfu, discussed more offensive strategy in adriatic, italians not prepared consider big ship operations, considering size of austro-hungarian fleet. british , french seemed reluctant move alone against austro-hungarians, if meant full-scale battle. austrians not inactive either, , allied conference in session planning offensive operation against otranto barrage.

battle of otranto straits


sms novara after battle of otranto straits.



monument heroes of otranto battle on prevlaka in today croatia

throughout 1917 adriatic remained key u-boat war on shipping in mediterranean. cattaro, 140 miles above narrow straits of otranto, main u-boat base entire threat mediterranean shipping came.

the otranto barrage, constructed allies 120 naval drifters, used deploy , patrol submarine nets, , 30 motor launches, equipped depth charges, designed stop passage of u-boats cattaro. however, failed so, , inception in 1916, barrage had caught 2 u-boats, austrian u-6 , german ub-44 out of hundreds of possible passages.

however, barrage meant austro-hungarian surface fleet not leave adriatic sea unless willing give battle blocking forces. this, , war drew on bringing supply difficulties coal, plus fear of mines, limited austro-hungarian navy shelling italian , serbian coastlines.

there had been 4 small-scale austro-hungarian attacks on barrage, on 11 march, 21 , 25 april , 5 may 1917, none of them amounted anything. greater preparations made, 2 u-boats despatched lay mines off brindisi third patrolling exits in case anglo-italian forces drawn out during attack. whole operation timed night of 14/15 may, led biggest battle of austro-hungarian navy in world war i, battle of otranto straits.

the first austro-hungarian warships strike 2 destroyers, sms csepel , sms balaton. italian convoy of 3 ships, escorted destroyer borea, approaching valona, when, out of darkness, austrians fell upon them. borea left sinking. of 3 merchant ships, 1 loaded ammunition hit , blown up, second set on fire, , third hit. 2 austrian destroyers steamed off northward.

meanwhile, 3 austro-hungarian cruisers under overall command of captain miklós horthy, sms novara, sms saida, , sms helgoland, had passed patrol of 4 french destroyers north of barrage, , thought friendly ships passed unchallenged. sailed through barrage before turning attack it. each austrian cruiser took one-third of line , began , systematically destroy barrage 10-centimetre (4 in) guns, urging allies on board abandon ships first.

during battle allies lost 2 destroyers, 14 drifters , 1 glider while austro-hungarian navy suffered minor damage (novara s steam supply pipes damaged shell) , few losses. austro-hungarian navy returned bases north in order repair , re-supply, , allies had rebuild blockade.

cattaro mutiny

in february 1918 mutiny started in 5th fleet stationed @ gulf of cattaro naval base. sailors on 40 ships joined mutiny on demands better treatment , call end war.

the mutiny failed spread beyond cattaro, , within 3 days loyal naval squadron had arrived. coastal artillery squadron fired several shells few of rebel s ships, , assaulted them k.u.k. marine infantry in short , successful skirmish. 800 sailors imprisoned, dozens court-martialed, , 4 seamen executed, including leader of uprising, franz rasch, bohemian. given huge crews required in naval vessels of time indication mutiny limited minority.

late world war i

admiral miklós horthy.

a second attempt force blockade took place in june 1918 under command of rear-admiral horthy. surprise attack planned, mission doomed when fleet chance spotted italian mas boat patrol, commanded luigi rizzo had sunk, @ anchor, 25 year-old battleship sms wien (5,785 tons) year before. rizzo s mas boat launched 2 torpedoes, hitting 1 of 4 austrian dreadnoughts, sms szent istván had slowed down due engine problems. element of surprise lost, horthy broke off attack. huge efforts made crew save szent istván, had been hit below water-line, , dreadnought battleship tegetthoff took in tow until tug arrived. after 6 a.m., pumps being unequal task, ship, listing badly, had abandoned. szent istván sank afterwards, taking 89 crewmen her. event filmed sister ship.

in 1918, in order avoid having give fleet victors, austrian emperor handed down entire austro-hungarian navy , merchant fleet, harbours, arsenals , shore fortifications new state of slovenes, croats , serbs. state of scs proclaimed officially on 29 october 1918 never recognized other countries. diplomatic notes sent governments of france, united kingdom, italy, united states , russia, notify them state of scs not @ war of them , council had taken on entire austro-hungarian fleet; no response provided, , practical purposes war went on unchanged. austria asked armistice on 29 october; after few days negotiation , signatures, armistice entered force on 4 november.

on 1 november 1918 2 sailors of italian regia marina, raffaele paolucci , raffaele rossetti, rode primitive manned torpedo (nicknamed mignatta or leech ) austro-hungarian naval base @ pola. using limpet mines, sank anchored viribus unitis, considerable loss of life, freighter wien. french navy commandeered new dreadnought prinz eugen, took france , later used target practice in atlantic, destroyed.

ships lost

ships lost in world war i:

1914: sms kaiserin elisabeth (siege of tsingtao, 1914), sms zenta
1915: sm u-12, sm u-3, sms lika, sms triglav
1916: sm u-6, sm u-16
1917: sm u-30, sms wildfang, sms wien, sms inn (sunk romanian mine)
1918: sm u-23, sms streiter, sm u-20, sm u-10, sms szent istván, sms viribus unitis


ships lost after world war i:

1919: sms kaiser franz joseph i






^ cite error: named reference wagner invoked never defined (see page).
^ warhola, brian (january 1998). assault on viribus unitis . old news. retrieved 23 april 2010. 
^ dario petković: ratna mornarica austro-ugarske monarhije, pula 2004, page 86, isbn 953-6250-80-2
^ angus konstam, gunboats of world war i, p. 29
^ rené greger, austro-hungarian warships of world war i, p. 142
^ mark axworthy, cornel i. scafeș, cristian crăciunoiu, third axis, fourth ally: romanian armed forces in european war, 1941-1945, p. 327