B10016 AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN SAILOR WW I

With the foundation of Austria-Hungary in 1867, the navy of this dualist state was also formed, called Imperial and Royal Navy (Ger. Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine ). It was based on the tradition of the great victory of Tegethoff at Lissa in 1866, and the main area of operation was considered to be the Mediterranean Sea or, more precisely, the Adriatic Sea. By contrast, the potential main enemy was seen in the Italian Navy. After 1906, the Austro-Hungarian navy began to undergo organizational changes, and in the years 1911-1914 four new Tegethoff type battleships (dreadnoughts), armed with 12 305 mm guns, were added to the line. Just before the outbreak of World War I, the Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine had 9 battleships (pre-dreadnoughts), 4 coastal defense battleships, 3 armored cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 30 destroyers, 36 torpedo boats and 6 submarines, but treated as experimental weapons. It is worth adding that the KuK Kriegsmarine doctrine was defensive and placed a lot of emphasis on mine warfare. After mobilization in 1914, it numbered approximately 34,000 officers and sailors. During the Great War, the KuK Kriegsmarine spent most of their time in their bases, and the more important ones involved were the Battle of Durazzo (1915) and the Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1917). It is worth adding that in the last months of the war there was a revolt of sailors at the base in Cattaro.