A Sailor of Austria

When I had a clear-out of paperback fiction some years ago, the plan was just to retain my Nigel Tranter novels, reread them, and donate. However, I recently discovered that I still had a few more classics to reread, and one of them was A Sailor of Austria by John Biggins.

This is the fictional story of Austro-Czech naval lieutenant Ottokar Prohaska, who is posted to the modest Royal Austro-Hungarian Submarine Service in the Adriatic port of Pola (Pula). He has no experience with submarines, but very few of his fellow officers have either. When war breaks out with Italy in WW1, he is commanding a small coastal U-Boat. The book recounts the various missions he undertakes and his personal life. While the missions are entertaining, the book also offers insight into the crumbling Habsburg monarchy. The best remaining example of Austro-Hungarian fortifications at Pula is Fort Bourguignon.

Most of his missions involved coastal defence from the submarine base at Pola, and raids across the Adriatic against Italian and Entente shipping, operating out of Italian ports. The convoy system wasn't introduced until late in the war, so even small, basic submarines could be effective. When he received a newer submarine, the mission range expanded beyond the Otranto Barrage into the Mediterranean. The best story involved conveying gold to the Senussi tribes in Libya and receiving, in return, a racing camel for the emperor. 

All of this provides valuable insight into the challenges facing submarine commanders. The Austro-Hungarian Navy was not large, which is not surprising for a largely landlocked empire. I would highly recommend Milan Vego's book, Austro-Hungarian Naval Policy 1904-14, for a better understanding. The navy was always the poor relation of the cash-strapped Austro-Hungarian military. The Navy wanted a larger fleet of 16 Dreadnoughts, but others argued that these were unnecessary to defend the Adriatic coast and called for a smaller fleet of inexpensive cruisers and torpedo craft. There were some innovations. For example, Austria was the first to use aircraft for naval purposes in April 1913, as part of the international blockade of Albania during the Balkan Wars.

However, submarines were low on the list of priorities, and the lack of shipbuilding capacity and expertise meant they had to buy from Germany. The 1914 estimates included five 790-ton submarines, and in May 1914, they had six operational submarines, compared to Italy's 20. There is a room in the Croatian Naval Museum dedicated to the use of torpedoes. Whitehead developed his torpedo at Rijeka, and most of the Austrian sailors were Croats.

Later in the war, our hero and his submarine moved to the base at Cattaro (modern-day Kotor). This is a wonderful natural harbour, and you can still see the Austrian fortifications that protect the bay's entrance (see below), and in the mountains overlooking the bay. 

This book is a great read. Highly recommended. I must develop my modest collection of warships of the period for some naval games in the Adriatic.