SMS Novara (1913)

The launch of Novara

Novara was laid down at the Danubius shipyard in Fiume on 9 December 1912, the last member of her class to begin construction. She was launched on 15 February 1913; the ship was still undergoing fitting-out work when World War I broke out in July 1914. The ship was completed on 10 January 1915 and commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian fleet.[2] The commander of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, Admiral Anton Haus, adopted a cautious strategy to preserve his fleet, since he was outnumbered by the Anglo-French fleets in the Mediterranean, and the attitude of Austria-Hungary's erstwhile ally Italy remained unknown. Haus decided the best course of action would be to act as a fleet in being, which would tie down Allied naval forces, while torpedo boats, mines, and raids with fast cruisers like Novara could be used to reduce the numerical superiority of the enemy fleets before a decisive battle could be fought.[3]

In March, after the beginning of the British Dardanelles Campaign against the Ottoman Empire, Germany began to pressure Austria-Hungary to assist their ally; Haus considered sending Novara with a cargo of munitions. Haus ultimately decided the operation was too risky for what would have been a minimal gain, as the ship would not have been able to carry a particularly large amount.[4] On 2 May, Novara towed the German U-boat UB-8 from Pola out of the Adriatic Sea. They evaded French patrols until 6 May, off Cephalonia, they were spotted by a French vessel. Novara cut the tow and sped north, while UB-8 submerged and evaded the French patrol.[5] Following the Italian declaration of war against the Central Powers on 23 May, the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet sortied to bombard Italian coastal targets. Novara took part in the operation; along with a destroyer and two torpedo boats, she bombarded Porto Corsini near Ravenna. Defensive fire from Italian coastal guns killed six men aboard Novara.[6]

By late in the year, the Austro-Hungarian high command decided to begin attacking the Entente supply shipments being sent to Serbia via Albania. The first such raid, conducted by Novara's sister ships Saida and Helgoland, took place on the night of 22–23 November. The Austro-Hungarian fleet commander, Admiral Haus, transferred Novara, Helgoland, and six destroyers to Cattaro at the end of the month to facilitate further attacks. On 5 December, Novara, four destroyers, and three torpedo boats made an attack on the shipping lanes; they sank three transport ships and numerous fishing boats. While on their way back to Cattaro, they spotted the French submarine Fresnel, which had run aground off the mouth of the Bojana river. Novara and the other vessels took the crew captive and destroyed the submarine.[7]

On 29 December, Novara, the cruiser Admiral Spaun, and the old coastal defense ship Budapest sortied to support Helgoland and six destroyers after they had run into a minefield, which sank a destroyer and badly damaged another. Novara and the other vessels did not reach Helgoland's flotilla before they were able to disengage from pursuing Italian warships.[8] On 29 January 1916, Novara and two destroyers began another raid, this time on the port of Durrazo. While en route, the two destroyers collided and had to return to port, leaving just Novara to conduct the attack. Upon reaching the target, she encountered the Italian protected cruiser Puglia and a French destroyer. After a short engagement, Novara broke off the action and retreated, since the element of surprise was no longer available.[9] Then-Linienschiffskapitän (Captain) Miklós Horthy, who commanded Novara at the time, launched an attack on the Otranto Barrage on 9 July. Novara sank a pair of drifters, damaged two more, and captured nine British sailors.[10]

Novara in action with the British cruisers

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, 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]

Novara sometime during World War I

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 Cattaro Mutiny broke out, starting aboard Sankt Georg. They then rapidly gained control of the cruiser Kaiser Karl VI and most of the other major warships in the harbor.[16] The crews of Novara and Helgoland resisted the mutiny,[17] with the latter preparing their ship's torpedoes but Sankt Georg's gunners aimed their 24 cm (9.4 in) guns at Helgoland, which convinced them to back down. Novara's commander, Prince Johann of Liechtenstein, initially refused to allow a rebel party to board his vessel, but after Kaiser Karl VI trained her guns on Novara, he relented and let the crew fly a red flag in support of the mutiny. Liechtenstein and Erich von Heyssler, the commander of Helgoland, plotted overnight how to extricate their vessels, their crews having abstained from actively supporting the rebels.[18]

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]

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]