SMS Novara (1913)
Novara during World War I
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History | |
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Austro-Hungary | |
Name | Novara |
Namesake | Battle of Novara in 1849 |
Builder | Danubius |
Laid down | 9 December 1912 |
Launched | 15 February 1913 |
Commissioned | 10 January 1915 |
Fate | Ceded to France as a war prize, 1920 |
France | |
Name | Thionville |
Namesake | Thionville |
Acquired | 1920 |
Decommissioned | 1932 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1941 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Novara-class scout cruiser |
Displacement | 3,500 long tons (3,600 t) |
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 a speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
Complement | 340 |
Armament |
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Armor |
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SMS Novara was a
The ship saw extensive service during World War I, owing to the cautious strategies adopted by the Austro-Hungarian fleet and their opponents in the
Novara changed hands several times as the war ended, being transferred first to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a successor state to Austria-Hungary, and then to France as a war prize under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Commissioned into the French fleet as Thionville, the ship served from 1920 to 1932 as a training ship, and from 1932 to 1941 as a barracks ship in Toulon before being broken up for scrap.
Design
Novara was 130.64 meters (428 ft 7 in)
Novara was armed with nine 50-
Service history
Construction and early World War I
Novara was
In March, after the beginning of the British
By late in the year, the Austro-Hungarian high command decided to begin attacking the
On 29 December, Novara, the cruiser
Battle of the Strait of Otranto
In February 1917, Horthy began preparations for a major raid on the drifters; he planned to use Novara and both of her sisters, which he modified to look like large British destroyers by cutting down their mainmasts. Each of the ships also received a 7 cm anti-aircraft gun, and their engines were thoroughly cleaned and repaired. While the preparations were being made in late April and early May, destroyers made several sweeps down to the coast of Albania to reconnoiter the Entente defenses in the area; they found none. On 13 May, Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Alexander Hansa issued the order to begin the operation the following morning.[11] The three cruisers steamed south to the drifter line, arriving after night fall; at the same time, a pair of destroyers, Balaton and Csepel, mounted a diversionary attack off the coast of Albania. At around 03:30 on 15 May, Novara and the other cruisers opened fire on the drifters, sinking fourteen and damaging four more before they broke off the attack and withdrew, hoping to return to port before Entente forces could react.[12]
At 06:45, the British cruisers HMS Dartmouth and Bristol and five Italian destroyers sortied to intercept Novara, Helgoland, and Saida. By 09:00, the faster British cruisers had caught up to the Austro-Hungarian vessels, and both sides called for reinforcements; a flotilla centered on the armored cruiser Sankt Georg was sent to assist Horthy's cruisers. Dartmouth opened fire first and scored a hit on Novara, and the three Austro-Hungarian cruisers laid smoke screens and turned back toward their pursuers, scoring several hits on Dartmouth in the process. Novara was hit several more times, and her main feed pumps and starboard auxiliary steam pipe were damaged, which caused the ship to begin losing speed. Horthy was badly injured as well, though he remained in command. At 11:05, the Entente commander, Admiral Alfredo Acton, turned away in an attempt to separate Saida from Novara and Helgoland. At this point, Sankt Georg was approaching the scene, which prompted Acton to temporarily withdraw to consolidate his forces. This break in the action was enough time for the Austro-Hungarians to save the crippled Novara; Saida took the ship under tow while Helgoland covered them.[13][14]
Unaware that Novara had been disabled, and fearing that his ships would be drawn too close to the Austrian naval base at Cattaro (Kotor), Acton broke off the pursuit. The destroyer Acerbi misread the signal, and attempted to launch a torpedo attack, but was driven off by the combined fire of Novara, Saida, and Helgoland. At 12:05, Acton realized the dire situation Novara was in, but by this time, the Sankt Georg group was too close. The Sankt Georg group rendezvoused with Novara, Saida, and Helgoland, and Csepel and Balaton reached the scene as well. The entire group returned to Cattaro together.[15]
End of the war
By early 1918, the long periods of inactivity had begun to wear on the crews of several warships at Cattaro, primarily those of the little-used armored cruisers. On 1 February, the
The following day, many of the mutinous ships abandoned the effort and rejoined loyalist forces in the inner harbor after shore batteries opened fire on the rebel guard ship Kronprinz Erzherzog Rudolf. Liechtenstein tore down the red flag before ordering his ship to escape into the inner harbor; they were joined by the other scout cruisers and most of the torpedo boats, followed by several of the other larger vessels. There, they were protected by shore batteries that opposed the rebellion. By late in the day, only the men aboard Sankt Georg and a handful of destroyers and torpedo boats remained in rebellion. The next morning, the Erzherzog Karl-class battleships arrived from Pola and put down the uprising.[19][20]
On 3 November 1918, the Austro-Hungarian government signed the Armistice of Villa Giusti with Italy, ending their participation in the conflict.[21] Following the armistice, the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet was transferred to the newly formed Yugoslavia.[22]
French service
In 1920, under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Novara and the rest of the fleet was surrendered to the Allied powers as war prizes;[23] Novara was awarded to France in the post-war distribution of ships.[2] She sprang a leak in the Adriatic and put into Brindisi, Italy, where she sank on 29 January 1920.[24] She was refloated in early April 1920.[25] The ship was renamed Thionville and incorporated into the French fleet after repairs. Thionville was assigned to the torpedo school for use as a training ship, a role she filled until 1 May 1932.[26] The ship was then disarmed and converted into a barracks ship based in Toulon. She remained there until 1941, when she was broken up for scrap.[2]
Notes
- ^ a b Fraccoli, p. 317
- ^ a b c d e Gardiner & Gray, p. 336
- ^ Halpern, p. 141
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 266
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 268
- ^ Sondhaus, pp. 274–275
- ^ Halpern, p. 154
- ^ Halpern, pp. 156–157
- ^ Halpern, p. 158
- ^ Halpern, p. 161
- ^ Koburger, p. 72
- ^ Halpern (1994), pp. 162–163
- ^ Halpern (1994), pp. 163–164
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 306
- ^ Halpern (1994), p. 165
- ^ Halpern (2004), pp. 48–50
- ^ Koburger, p. 96
- ^ Halpern (2004), p. 50
- ^ Halpern (2004), pp. 52–53
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 322
- ^ Gardiner & Gray, p. 329
- ^ Halpern (1994), p. 177
- ^ Sondhaus, pp. 359–360
- ^ "Imperial and Foreign News Items". The Times. No. 42321. London. 30 January 1920. col F, p. 11.
- ^ "Imperial and Foreign News Items". The Times. No. 42376. London. 5 April 1920. col F, p. 7.
- ^ Jordan & Moulin, p. 167
References
- Fraccarolli, Aldo (1976). "Question 14/76: Details of Italian Cruiser Brindisi". Warship International. XIII (4). International Naval Research Organization: 317–38. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0623-7.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
- Halpern, Paul (2004). "The Cattaro Mutiny, 1918". In Bell, Christopher M.; Elleman, Bruce A. (eds.). Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective. London: Frank Cass. pp. 45–65. ISBN 0-7146-5460-4.
- Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2013). French Cruisers: 1922–1956. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-133-5.
- Koburger, Charles (2001). The Central Powers in the Adriatic, 1914–1918: War in a Narrow Sea. Westport: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-313-00272-4.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-034-9.
- Freivogel, Zvonimir (2017). Austro-Hungarian Cruisers in World War One. Zagreb: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-7892-85-2.
Further reading
- Sieche, Erwin (2002). Kreuzer und Kreuzerprojekte der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine 1889–1918 [Cruisers and Cruiser Projects of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, 1889–1918] (in German). Hamburg. ISBN 3-8132-0766-8.)
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