The Novara class, known as Rapidkreuzer or Helgoland-Klasse (in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 literally rapid cruiser ) was a class of light cruisers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy

Austro-Hungarian Navy

The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....

 active during the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The ships were an improved design of the earlier SMS Admiral Spaun

SMS Admiral Spaun

SMS Admiral Spaun was a unique light cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Three other ships were built to similar specifications as the Admiral Spaun, but with different propulsion, and increased armament.-Overview:...

, which had been laid down in 1908.

Three ships were built and commissioned:

Ship	Builder	Launched	Completed
SMS Saida	CNT, Trieste	26 October 1912	1 August 1914
SMS Helgoland	Danubius, Fiume	23 November 1912	29 August 1914
SMS Novara SMS Novara (1912) SMS Novara was a Novara class light cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy which served during World War I.-Construction:In 1912, the cruiser Novara was constructed for the Austro-Hungarian Navy, of the improved Spaun class design...	Danubius, Fiume	15 February 1913	10 January 1915

Design

Main armament for the ships were nine 10 cm guns and six torpedo tubes, an improvement over Admiral Spaun by two 10 cm guns. The lightly armored ships had a top speed of 27 knots (52.9 km/h). The weak point of the Novara class was its relatively light armament. Guns of caliber 12 or 15 cm were considered but not added due to the war situation.

Another three ships with 12 cm guns and maximum speed of 30 knots (58.8 km/h), projected as a replacement of Zenta class

SMS Zenta

SMS Zenta was a small light cruiser built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy, lead ship of her class, named after the town of Senta. and were her sister ships...

, never got over planning phase.

Service history

Together with the Tatra class torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

s they were ideally suited to the naval warfare of the Adriatic sea

Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

. Numerous fast raids on Italian ports were undertaken, the most spectacular action was the successful attack of Novara, Helgoland, and Saida on the Otranto Barrage

Otranto Barrage

The Otranto Barrage was an Allied naval blockade of the Otranto Straits between Brindisi in Italy and Corfu on the Albanian side of the Adriatic Sea in World War I. The blockade was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from escaping into the Mediterranean and threatening Allied operations...

 on 15 May 1917; the three cruisers, along with two destroyers and three German U-boats sank 14 trawlers.

After the war the ships were given to the victorious Entente powers: France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 incorporated Novara under the name Thionville into its fleet (scrapped in 1942). Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

took over Helgoland and Saida as Brindisi and Venezia (both scrapped in 1937).

External links

• Details and photos of Admiral Spaun (text in German)
• Details and photos of Saida, Helgoland and Novara (text in German)
• Post war distribution of Austro-Hungarian warships