SMS Tátra
![]() Tátra in 1913
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History | |
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Name | Tátra |
Builder | Ganz-Danubius |
Laid down | 19 October 1911 |
Launched | 4 November 1912 |
Completed | 18 October 1913 |
Fate | Ceded to Italy, January 1920 |
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Acquired | January 1920 |
Renamed | Fasana, 27 September 1920 |
Fate | Discarded, 5 July 1923 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Tátra-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | 83.5 m (273 ft 11 in) ( o/a ) |
Beam | 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in) |
Draft | 3 m (9 ft 10 in) (deep load) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × steam turbines |
Speed | 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
Range | 1,600 nmi (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement | 105 |
Armament |
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SMS Tátra
Design and description
The Tátra-class destroyers were faster, more powerfully armed and more than twice as large as the preceding
The Tátras were powered by two
The main armament of the Tátra-class destroyers consisted of two 50-
Construction and career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Lika_%26_Tatra_NH87673.jpg/220px-Lika_%26_Tatra_NH87673.jpg)
Tátra was
Action off Vieste
The Kingdom of Italy signed a secret treaty in London in late April 1915 breaking its alliance with the German Empire and Austro-Hungary and promising to declare war on the Central Powers within a month. Austro-Hungarian intelligence discovered this and Admiral Anton Haus, commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, planned a massive surprise attack on Italian ports and facilities on the Northern Adriatic coast, outside of interception range of the modern ships of the Regia Marina stationed at Taranto. To warn of any Italian warships able to interfere with the bombardments, Haus prepositioned three groups of destroyers, each led by a scout cruiser. Placed in the Central Adriatic between the island of Pelagosa and the Italian coast, four days prior to the Italian declaration of war on 23 May, were four Tátra-class destroyers, including Tátra, and the cruiser SMS Helgoland. Around midnight on the night of 23/24 May, Haus ordered the reconnaissance groups to move west and attack Italian coastal targets. About an hour later the four Tátras encountered a pair of Italian Nembo-class destroyers, Turbine and Aquilone, but they were believed by the Italians to be friendly ships in the darkness.[6]
The Italian ships separated when Aquilone went to investigate a sighting; Helgoland began bombarding the city of
Tátra bombarded Pelagosa two days after it had been occupied by the Italians on 11 July. Twelve days later, Helgoland and her sister
The
1st Battle of Durazzo
Austro-Hungarian aircraft spotted a pair of Italian destroyers in Durazzo harbor on 28 December and Haus dispatched Seitz to take Helgoland, Tátra, Csepel, Lika, Balaton and their sister
Italian observers had spotted Seitz's ships at 07:00 and the Allied
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Csepel_NH87669.jpg/220px-Csepel_NH87669.jpg)
Seitz turned southwest at 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) to put as much distance between his ships and their pursuers although Dartmouth opened fire at her maximum range of 13,000 meters (14,000 yd) at 13:43 and scored her first hit on Helgoland twelve minutes later. The destroyers were generally not engaged during this battle, being further away, although Csepel was hit once with little effect. Despite further hits on the cruiser which reduced her speed to 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) the Austro-Hungarians were able to disengage before reaching the Italian coast when darkness fell around 17:30. Tátra had a machinery breakdown at 18:45 that reduced her speed to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), but she reached Šibenik safely with the rest of Seitz's ships.[12]
On 4 July 1916 Helgoland, Tátra, Orjen and Balaton raided the barrage, but could not find any targets in the poor visibility. Tátra was refitting 1–31 December in Pola and had a pair of boilers replaced. On the night of 11/12 March 1917, Tátra, Orjen, Csepel and Balaton swept through the Strait of Otranto, but failed to sink the French cargo ship SS Gorgone that they encountered. Tátra did not directly participate in the Battle of the Strait of Otranto on 14–15 May, but was one of the reinforcing ships that caused the Allied ships to break off the action. The ship was returned to Pola on 26 May for a refit that lasted until 13 August; it included replacing a boiler. Helgoland and all of the Tátras attempted to duplicate the success of the earlier raid on 18–19 October, but they were spotted by Italian aircraft and turned back in the face of substantial Allied reinforcements alerted by the aircraft. On the night of 13 December, Tátra, Balaton and Csepel raided the Otranto Barrage, but disengaged after firing torpedoes at what they believed to be four Allied destroyers, although there is no record of any attacks that night in Allied records.[13]
The smaller ships in the Austro-Hungarian Navy were the most active ones and their crews had the highest morale; most of the larger ships did little but swing on their
The ship was based in Pola from 7 April to 6 June and returned to Cattaro the following day in preparation for an attack on the Otranto Barrage by the bulk of Austro-Hungarian Fleet on 10 June. The operation was canceled after the battleship SMS Szent István was sunk by Italian motor torpedo boats as she steamed south to rendezvous with the forces in Cattaro. Tátra and Orjen provided security to the hospital ship SS Oceania that had run aground on 13 October. Tátra transported Seitz to Pola on 30 October.[15]
End of the war
By October it had become clear that Austria-Hungary was facing defeat in the war. With various attempts to quell nationalist sentiments failing,
The following day the National Council in Zagreb announced Croatia's dynastic ties to Hungary had come to an end. This new provisional government, while throwing off Hungarian rule, had not yet declared independence from Austria-Hungary. Thus Emperor Karl I's government in Vienna asked the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs for help maintaining the fleet stationed at Pola and keeping order among the navy. The National Council refused to assist unless the Austro-Hungarian Navy was first placed under its command. Emperor Karl I, still attempting to save the Empire from collapse, agreed to the transfer, provided that the other "nations" which made up Austria-Hungary would be able to claim their fair share of the value of the fleet at a later time. All sailors not of Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian, or Serbian background were placed on leave for the time being, while the officers were given the choice of joining the new navy or retiring.[17]
The Austro-Hungarian government thus decided to hand over the bulk of its fleet, preferring to do that rather than give the fleet to the Allies, as the new state had declared its neutrality. Furthermore, the newly formed state had also not yet publicly rejected Emperor Karl I, keeping the possibility of reforming the Empire into a triple monarchy alive.[18]
Post-war
On 3 November the Austro-Hungarian government signed the
On 23 March 1919, the Italians sailed the ship to Venice together with several other former Austro-Hungarian warships and displayed them in a victory parade the following day. When the Allies divided up the Austro-Hungarian Fleet amongst themselves in January 1920, Tátra was awarded to Italy. She was renamed Fasana on 27 September and towed to Pola on 16 October to provide spare parts for her sisters. The ship was discarded on 5 July 1923 and subsequently scrapped.[22]
Notes
- Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship".
Citations
- ^ a b Sieche 1985a, p. 338
- ^ a b c Greger, p. 44
- ^ Noppen, p. 48
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 168
- ^ Bilzer, p. 116
- ^ Noppen, pp. 54–55; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 153–154
- ^ Noppen, pp. 56–57; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 154–155
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 169; Halpern 1994, pp. 148–150
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, pp. 165, 169; Halpern 1994, pp. 153–154
- ^ Bilzer, p. 116; Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, pp. 165, 169; Halpern 1994, pp. 155–157; Noppen, pp. 60–61; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 157–158
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 165; Halpern 1994, pp. 156–157; Noppen, p. 61; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 157–159
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, pp. 165, 169; Halpern 1994, p. 157; Noppen, pp. 61–62; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 158–161
- ^ Bilzer, p. 116–117; Cernuschi & O'Hara 2016, pp. 62, 67–69; Halpern 2004, pp. 133–134; Noppen, pp. 74–75; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 206, 260, 262, 265, 268–269
- ^ Bilzer, p. 117; Halpern 2004b, pp. 48–50, 52–53; Sondhaus 1994, p. 322
- ^ Bilzer, pp. 116–117
- ^ Sondhaus 1994, pp. 350–351
- ^ Sokol, pp. 136–137, 139; Sondhaus 1994, pp. 351–352
- ^ Halpern 1994, p. 177; Sokol 1968, pp. 136–137, 139; Sondhaus 1994, pp. 353–354
- ^ Sieche 1985a, p. 329
- ^ Sieche 1985b, pp. 137–140
- ^ Sondhaus 1994, pp. 357–359
- ^ Bilzer, p. 117; Sieche 1985b, pp. 138–140
Bibliography
- Bilzer, Franz F. (1990). Die Torpedoschiffe und Zerstörer der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine 1867–1918. Graz: H. Weishaupt. ISBN 3-9003-1066-1.
- Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent (2015). "The Naval War in the Adriatic Part 1: 1914–1916". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2015. London: Conway. pp. 161–173. ISBN 978-1-84486-276-4.
- Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent (2016). "The Naval War in the Adriatic, Part 2: 1917–1918". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2016. London: Conway. pp. 62–75. ISBN 978-1-84486-326-6.
- Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0623-7.
- Halpern, Paul G. (2004). The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in World War I. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34379-8.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
- Noppen, Ryan K. (2016). Austro-Hungarian Cruisers and Destroyers 1914-18. New Vanguard. Vol. 241. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1470-8.
- O'Hara, Vincent P. & Heinz, Leonard R. (2017). Clash of Fleets: Naval Battles of the Great War, 1914-18. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-008-4.
- Sieche, Erwin (1985a). "Austria-Hungary". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Sieche, Erwin F. (1985b). "Zeittafel der Vorgange rund um die Auflosung und Ubergabe der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine 1918–1923". Marine—Gestern, Heute (in German). 12 (1): 129–141.
- Sokol, Anthony (1968). The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. OCLC 462208412.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918: Navalism, Industrial Development, and the Politics of Dualism. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-034-9.