SMS Helgoland | |
History | |
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Austria-Hungary | |
Name | SMS Helgoland |
Namesake | Battle of Heligoland (1864) |
Builder | Danubius, Fiume |
Laid down | 28 October 1911 |
Launched | 23 November 1912 |
Completed | 5 September 1914 |
Fate | Ceded to Italy, 19 September 1920 |
Italy | |
Name | Brindisi |
Namesake | Brindisi, Italy |
Acquired | 19 September 1920 |
Reclassified | as depot ship, 26 November 1929 |
Stricken | 11 March 1937 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1937 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Novara-class scout cruiser |
Displacement | 3,500 metric tons (3,400 long tons) |
Length | 130.64 m (428 ft 7 in) |
Beam | 12.79 m (42 ft 0 in) |
Draft | 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
Range | 1,600 nmi (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
Complement | 340 |
Armament |
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Armor |
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SMS Helgoland [Note 1] was a Novara-class scout cruiser built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy right before World War I. Helgoland participated in several raids on the ships defending the Strait of Otranto, including the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in May 1917. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending World War I and renamed Brindisi. After modifications, the ship was assigned to the squadron responsible for the Eastern Mediterranean until 1924. She spent the next five years based in Libya and Italy before Brindisi was disarmed and turned into a depot ship in 1929. The ship was stricken from the Navy List in 1937 and later broken up.
The ship measured 130.64 meters (428 ft 7 in) overall, with a beam of 12.79 meters (42 ft 0 in). Helgoland had a mean draft of 4.6 meters (15 ft 1 in) and displaced 3,500 metric tons (3,400 long tons) at normal load. At deep load, she displaced 4,017 metric tons (3,954 long tons). Her propulsion system consisted of two sets of AEG-Curtis steam turbines driving two propeller shafts. They were designed to provide 25,600 shaft horsepower (19,100 kW) and were powered by 16 Yarrow [1] water-tube boilers. These gave the ship a top speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). [2] Helgoland carried about 710 metric tons (700 long tons) of coal that gave her a range of approximately 1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). The ship had a crew of 340 officers and men. [1]
Helgoland was armed with nine 50-caliber 10 cm (3.9 in) guns in single pedestal mounts. Three were placed forward on the forecastle, four were located amidships, two on either side, and two were side by side on the quarterdeck. A Škoda 7 cm (2.8 in)/50 K10 anti-aircraft gun and six 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes in twin mounts were added in 1917. The navy planned to remove the guns on the forecastle and quarterdeck and replace them with a 15-centimeter (5.9 in) guns fore and aft, but nothing was done before the end of the war. [2]
The ship was protected by a waterline armored belt that was 60 mm (2.4 in) thick amidships. The conning tower had 60 mm thick sides, and the deck was 20 mm (0.79 in) thick. [1]
Helgoland was laid down at the Danubius shipyard in Fiume on 28 October 1911 and was launched on 23 November 1912. The ship was completed on 5 September 1914, a month after the start of World War I. [1]
One day after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915, Helgoland and two destroyers engaged and sank the Italian destroyer Turbine. [3] On 17 August 1915, Helgoland, her sister ship Saida, and four destroyers bombarded Italian forces on the island of Pelagosa which had recently been occupied by the Italians. [4]
In late 1915, the Austro-Hungarian Navy began a series of raids against the merchant ships supplying Allied forces in Serbia and Montenegro. On the night of 22/23 November 1915, Helgoland, Saida, and the 1st Torpedo Division raided the Albanian coast and sank a pair of Italian transports carrying flour. To facilitate these raids, Helgoland, her sister Novara, six modern Tátra-class destroyers, six 250t-class T-group torpedo boats and an oiler were transferred to Cattaro to facilitate further raids on 29 November. [5] Helgoland, together with five destroyers, participated in another of these raids at the end of December. On the night of 28/29 December 1915, while making her sortie, Helgoland rammed and sank the French submarine Monge between Brindisi and the Albanian port of Durazzo. Helgoland and the destroyers attacked shipping in Durazzo the following morning. Two of the destroyers struck mines while after sinking several ships in the port and had to be abandoned. The Austro-Hungarians managed to evade the Allied pursuit only when darkness fell. On the night of 31 May/1 June 1916, the ship covered a raid by two destroyers and three torpedo boats on the drifters defending the Strait of Otranto against submarines trying to exit the Adriatic Sea, sinking one. [6]
Erich Heyssler assumed command of Helgoland in April 1917 and Miklós Horthy planned another raid on the drifters using a force composed of the three Novara-class cruisers. The three cruisers were to attack separately while two destroyers made a diversionary attack on the drifters near the Albanian coast. On the night of 14 May, the ships departed port and managed to pass through the line of drifters in the darkness without being identified. As the sounds from the diversionary attack were heard, the drifters released their nets and began to head towards Otranto. Helgoland turned around and attacked the westernmost group of drifters as dawn began on the morning of 15 May. Between the three cruisers, they sank 14 drifters and badly damaged an additional four. The skipper of the drifter Gowan Lea, Joseph Watt, refused to surrender and abandon ship when demanded by Helgoland, despite the cruiser only being 100 yards (91 m) away. [7] Watt's crew only managed to fire one shot before their single 57 mm (2.2 in) six-pounder gun was disabled. Watt's refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds was recognized after the battle by the award of the Victoria Cross. [8]
Helgoland did not linger to ensure that Gowan Lea was sunk, but proceeded to attack other drifters. She did, however, pause briefly to rescue 18 survivors from other drifters before turning for home. The Austrian ships were first contacted during their retreat by a group of three French destroyers led by a small Italian scout cruiser, Carlo Mirabello, but the heavier guns of the Austrian ships dissuaded the Allied commander from closing the range. They were intercepted shortly afterward by a stronger group of two British protected cruisers, Bristol and Dartmouth, escorted by four Italian destroyers. Dartmouth opened fire with her 6-inch (152 mm) guns at a range of 10,600 yards (9,700 m) and Horthy ordered his ships to make smoke several minutes later. This nearly caused the three Austrian cruisers to collide in the dense smoke, but covered them against the fire from the British ships as they closed the range. When they emerged, the Austrian ships were only about 4,900 yards (4,500 m) from the British, a range much more suitable for the smaller Austrian guns. [9]
The three cruisers were gradually drawing away from their pursuers when Novara, leading the Austrian ships, was hit several times; most critically in the engine room that knocked out half her boilers. Helgoland was also hit five times, but not seriously, aside from one gun disabled. One crewman had been killed and 16 were wounded. The British ships turned away, around the time that Novara had to extinguish her remaining boilers and went dead in the water, upon learning that more Austrian ships were approaching. Saida was preparing to take Novara under tow when several Italian destroyers attacked in succession. The weight of fire from the three cruisers prevented them from closing to torpedo range and they scored no hits. The Allied ship returned to Brindisi and the Austrians slowly proceeded back to base. Helgoland had fired 1052 shells from her 10 cm guns. Heyssler received the Order of Leopold with crossed swords in recognition of his leadership during the battle. [10]
Helgoland and six destroyers attempted to duplicate the success of the earlier raid on 18–19 October 1917, but they were spotted by Italian aircraft and turned back in the face of substantial Allied reinforcements alerted by the aircraft. [11] She was caught under the guns of several mutinous armored cruisers during the Gulf of Kotor Mutiny in February 1918, but managed to escape without damage. [12] The ship was tasked to participate in a major attack on the Allied ships defending the Strait of Otranto on 11 June, but it was called off after the dreadnought SMS Szent István was sunk by an Italian motor torpedo boat en route to the rendezvous for the operation. [13] Following the Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria-Hungary on 3 November, the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet was transferred to the newly formed Yugoslavia. [14]
Italy received Helgoland from Austria-Hungary on 19 September 1920 as part of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye that ended the country's participation in World War I. [1] Renamed Brindisi and anchored at Bizerte, Tunisia, when the transfer was made, the ship was rated as an esploratore (scout cruiser) by Italy, and reached La Spezia on 26 October where she was assigned to the Scouting Group (Gruppo Esploratori). The ship was modified to suit the Italians at La Spezia from 6 April to 16 June 1921 before she entered service. She became the flagship of Rear Admiral Massimiliano Lovatelli, commander of the Light Squadron, upon recommissioning. Brindisi sailed for Istanbul on 3 July, visiting a number of ports in Italy, Greece, and Turkey en route. She relieved the armored cruiser San Giorgio as flagship of the Eastern Squadron upon her arrival on 16 July. The ship was replaced as flagship on 6 October and remained assigned to the Eastern Squadron until she returned to Italy on 7 January 1924. [1]
Brindisi hosted King Victor Emmanuel III aboard during the ceremonies that transferred Fiume to Italian control in accordance with the Treaty of Rome in February–March 1924. [1] The ship was then transferred to Libya, where she spent the next year. Brindisi returned to Italy the following year and was briefly assigned to the Scout Squadron on 1 April 1926 before she was placed in reserve on 26 July. The ship was reactivated on 1 June 1927 when she was assigned as the flagship of the 1st Destroyer Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Enrico Cuturi. Six months later, she was relieved as flagship and was transferred to the Special Squadron where she became flagship of Rear Admiral Antonio Foschini on 6 June 1928. In May–June 1929, Brindisi made a cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean where she visited ports in Greece and the Dodecanese Islands. Rear Admiral Salvatore Denti relieved Foschini on 15 October and the ship was disarmed on 26 November. She was used as a depot ship at Ancona, Pula, and Trieste until she was stricken from the Navy List on 11 March 1937. [15]
The Otranto Barrage was an Allied naval blockade of the Strait of Otranto between Brindisi in Italy and Corfu on the Greek side of the Adriatic Sea in the First World War. The operation consisted of over 200 vessels at the height of the blockade. The blockade was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from escaping into the Mediterranean and threatening Allied operations there. The blockade was effective in preventing surface ships from escaping the Adriatic, but it had little or no effect on the submarines based at Cattaro.
SMS Sankt Georg was the third and final armored cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She was built at the Pola Arsenal; her keel was laid in March 1901, she was launched in December 1903, and completed in July 1905. Her design was based on the previous armored cruiser Kaiser Karl VI, with the primary improvement being a stronger armament. Sankt Georg, named for Saint George, was armed with a main battery of two 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns, five 19 cm (7.5 in) guns, and four 15 cm (5.9 in) guns.
The Adriatic Campaign of World War I was a naval campaign fought between the Central Powers and the Mediterranean squadrons of Great Britain, France, the Kingdom of Italy, Australia, and the United States.
SMS Novara was a Novara-class scout cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy which served during World War I. Built by the Danubius shipyard between December 1912 and January 1915, Novara was the third and final member of her class to enter service, some six months after the start of the war. She was armed with a battery of nine 10-centimeter (3.9 in) guns and had a top speed of 27 knots.
The Battle of the Strait of Otranto of 1917 was the result of an Austro-Hungarian raid during the Adriatic Campaign of World War I on the Otranto Barrage, an Allied naval blockade of the Strait of Otranto. The battle took place on 15 May 1917, and was the largest surface action in the Adriatic Sea during World War I. The Otranto Barrage was a fixed barrier, composed of lightly armed naval drifters with anti-submarine nets coupled with minefields and supported by Allied naval patrols.
Nino Bixio was a protected cruiser built by the Italian Regia Marina in the early 1910s. She was the lead ship of the Nino Bixio class, which were built as scouts for the main Italian fleet. She was equipped with a main battery of six 120-millimeter (4.7 in) guns and had a top speed in excess of 26 knots, but her engines proved to be troublesome in service. Nino Bixio saw service during World War I and briefly engaged the Austro-Hungarian cruiser SMS Helgoland in 1915. Her career was cut short in the post-war period due to severe cuts to the Italian naval budget, coupled with her unreliable engines. Nino Bixio was stricken from the naval register in March 1929 and sold for scrap.
Marsala was a protected cruiser built by the Italian Regia Marina in the 1910s. She was the second and final member of the Nino Bixio class, which were built as scouts for the main Italian fleet. She was equipped with a main battery of six 120-millimeter (4.7 in) guns and had a top speed in excess of 26 knots, but her engines proved to be troublesome in service. Marsala spent World War I based at Brindisi; she was involved in the Battle of the Otranto Straits in May 1917, where she briefly engaged Austro-Hungarian cruisers. Marsala's career was cut short in November 1927 when she was stricken from the naval register and sold for scrap, the result of her unreliable engines and drastic cuts to the naval budget.
Quarto was a unique protected cruiser built by the Italian Regia Marina in the 1910s. Her keel was laid in November 1909, she was launched in August 1911, and was completed in March 1913. She was the first Italian cruiser to be equipped with steam turbines, which gave her a top speed of 28 knots. Her high speed was a requirement for the role in which she was designed to serve: a scout for the main Italian fleet.
SMS Saida was a Novara-class scout cruiser built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the early 1910s. The ship was armed with a main battery of nine 10 cm (3.9 in) guns, and six twin 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes were added in 1917. She was built by the Cantiere Navale Triestino shipyard from 1911 to 1914, entering service days after the outbreak of World War I. She spent the war as a flotilla leader, conducting raids and patrols in the narrow waters of the Adriatic Sea.
Bisson was the name ship of her class of destroyers built for the French Navy during the 1910s, entering service in 1913. She served in the Mediterranean Sea during the First World War, sinking the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-3 on 6 July 1915 and took part in the Battle of Durazzo in December 1915 and the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in May 1917. She was stricken in 1933 and scrapped in 1939.
The Novara class was a class of three scout cruisers built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Named for the Battle of Novara, the class comprised SMS Saida, SMS Helgoland, and SMS Novara. Construction started on the ships shortly before World War I; Saida and Helgoland were both laid down in 1911, Novara followed in 1912. Two of the three warships were built in the Ganz-Danubius shipyard in Fiume; Saida was built in the Cantiere Navale Triestino shipyard in Monfalcone. The Novara-class ships hold the distinction for being the last cruisers constructed by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
SMS Admiral Spaun was a scout cruiser built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Named for Admiral and Marinekommandant Hermann von Spaun, Admiral Spaun was constructed shortly before World War I. Laid down at the Pola Navy Yard in May 1908, the cruiser was launched in October 1909. Admiral Spaun was commissioned into the Navy just over a year later, in November 1910. The first ship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy to be constructed with steam turbines, her design later influenced the construction of the Novara-class cruisers.
SMS Orjen was one of six Tátra-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine shortly before the First World War. Completed in 1914, she helped to sink an Italian destroyer during the action off Vieste in May 1915 after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Two months later the ship participated in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture a small island in the central Adriatic Sea from the Italians. In November and early December Orjen was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania, although she did not participate in the First Battle of Durazzo in late December. Orjen participated in several raids on the Otranto Barrage in 1916–1917 with limited success. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Pola. She mostly served as a training ship or in Italian North Africa when she was not in reserve from 1924 to 1928. Renamed Zenson in 1931, the ship was scrapped in 1937.
SMS Balaton was one of six Tátra-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine shortly before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she did not participate in the attacks on the Italian mainland after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915. Two months later the ship bombarded a small island in the Central Adriatic Sea during an unsuccessful attempt to recapture it from the Italians. In November and early December Balaton was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania. She played a minor role in the 1st Battle of Durazzo in late December. Balaton participated in several unsuccessful raids on the Otranto Barrage in 1917, although she sank an ammunition ship during the Battle of the Strait of Otranto. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Zenson. The Regia Marina used her for spare parts; she was discarded in 1923 and subsequently scrapped.
Insidioso was an Italian Indomito-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina in 1914, she served in World War I, playing an active role in the Adriatic campaign and seeing action in the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in 1917. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she was stricken in 1938. Reinstated in 1941, she was captured by Nazi German forces in 1943 during World War II. She then served in the German Kriegsmarine as TA21 until she was sunk in 1944.
Rosolino Pilo was the lead ship of the Italian Rosolino Pilo-class destroyers. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina in 1915, she served in World War I, playing an active role in the Adriatic campaign and seeing action in the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in 1917. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she served in the Mediterranean and Adriatic campaigns of World War II. Briefly captured by Nazi Germany in 1943, she served on the Allied side in the Italian Co-belligerent Navy for the remainder of the war. She served in the postwar Italian Navy and was reclassified as a minesweeper in 1952. She was stricken in 1954.
Antonio Mosto was an Italian Rosolino Pilo-class destroyers. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina in 1915, she served in World War I, playing an active role in the Adriatic campaign and seeing action in the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in 1917. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she participated in the Mediterranean and Adriatic campaigns of World War II. In 1943, she switched to the Allied side, operating as part of the Italian Co-belligerent Navy for the remainder of the war. She served in the postwar Italian Navy and was reclassified as a minesweeper in 1953. She was stricken in 1958.
Ippolito Nievo was an Italian Rosolino Pilo-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina in 1915, she served in World War I, participating in the Adriatic campaign, during which she took part in motor torpedo boat raids and operated on convoy escort duty. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she was stricken in 1938.
Simone Schiaffino was an Italian Rosolino Pilo-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina in 1915, she served in World War I, participating in the Adriatic campaign, including the Battle of the Strait of Otranto. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she took part in the Mediterranean campaign of World War II until she was sunk in 1941.
Indomito was an Italian Indomito-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina in 1913, she served in World War I, playing an active role in the Adriatic campaign and seeing action in the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in 1917. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she was stricken in 1937 and subsequently scrapped.
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