Post by babylon218 on Jul 18, 2017 8:21:32 GMT -6
Battle of Sirte, April 1923
Since the large-scale expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (the ‘Kaiserliche und Königliche (KuK) Marine’) of the years 1918-21, the dominance of the French Navy (the ‘Marine Nationale’) in the Mediterranean had been under threat. The rising strength of the KuK Marine had been confirmed with the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s victory over the Kingdom of Italy in 1921, and the extension of the Anglo-Austro-Hungarian Naval Treaty.
The origins for the Mediterranean War, however, did not stem from Austrian naval expansion. In 1922, a French Cruiser made a routine stopover at St. Pierre: one of France’s last colonial holdings off the coast of the British dominion of Newfoundland. As it departed, the French ship made out three small vessels approaching through the mist. Believing himself to be under attack, the French captain opened fire, sinking one vessel and pursuing the remaining two to the north, before being driven off by the batteries of Point May.
As it emerged, the ships the French Cruiser had fired upon had been cable ships then departing St. Lawrence to conduct maintenance on the transatlantic telegraph network. Within weeks, the Royal Canadian Navy, supported by the British Light Cruiser HMS Canada, had blockaded the French vessel in St. Pierre’s harbour.
The British demanded France issue a formal apology and cede St. Pierre and Miquelon to Canada, while also placing the French Captain before the International Criminal Court at The Hague. France refused. In response, Prime Minister David Lloyd George asked Kaiser Franz Ferdinand I if Britain could rely upon Austria-Hungary to guard the Mediterranean. The Kaiser gave Lloyd George his word that if France intended to fight Britain, it would also fight Austria.
The French compromised, agreeing to demilitarise the islands and turning their captain over to The Hague. Under the cover of dark, the French Cruiser snuck past the Canadian gunboats and destroyers and broke out to the Antilles. Britain accepted the French counterproposal and war was averted, but tensions between France and the two Empires was now at vapour point.
In April 1923, a French spy was found amongst the staff of the French Embassy in Vienna. On him were found the war instructions for the KuK Marine, detailing the harbour arrangements for the 1st Battle Squadron in Cattaro, Montenegro, as well as official instructions from the French Government. Seeing no possible interest in such information except for the purposes of a destroyer or air raid against the Austro-Hungarian Fleet in Montenegro, the Dual Monarchy demanded an apology and reparations from France. France refused both counts. On 3 April, 1923, Austria-Hungary declared war on the French Republic; Britain followed 2 days later.
Prelude to Battle
On 2 May, the British Admiralty codebreakers at Room 40 intercepted wireless traffic between the French naval base at Toulon and the port of Tunis in French North Africa. A large troop convoy, escorted by 2 Battle Cruisers, was to depart on the 5th with 2 infantry divisions destined for Egypt. Their objective was the Suez Canal. With the main elements of the Royal Navy outside the Mediterranean, Admiral Miklos Horthy ordered the 1st Battle Squadron under Vizeadmiral Blaž Hildebrand Meisner to put to sea from the Albanian coast on 8 May, with orders to intercept the French Convoy as it passed Malta.
The Battle
On the morning of 10 May 1923, Meisner’s two Dreadnoughts, SMS Monarch and Viribus Unitis were detached to patrol to the west towards Malta, intending to intercept the convoy as it passed, with the Battlecruiser division to the east in case the convoy snuck past or the Battleships required assistance. Meisner was leading the van of the 1st Battlecruiser Division aboard the Kärnten-Class SMS Steiermark when word arrived by wireless from Malta: an Egyptian merchantman had sighted a French capital ship between Malta and Benghazi. Realising that the convoy had already passed Malta, the Battle Division was recalled and Meisner ordered his Battlecruisers into Line Astern heading south.
At around 0900, the old Protected Cruiser SMS Admiral Spaun sighted two capital ships on the horizon. 15 minutes later, she came under heavy fire from the two French Battlecruisers: Tourville and Dunkerque. At 0917, Steiermark engaged with Kärnten and Lissa in tow, hoping to draw fire off the Admiral Spaun.
The Austro-Hungarian Kärnten-Class had a main armament of 12 12” guns in 4 triple turrets in superfiring pairs. They had an armoured belt of 10” amidships tapering to 4” at either end, with 1” of deck armour. The gun turrets received 12” on the faces and 2” on the turret roofs. The ships also received anti-torpedo bulkheads and void spaces to protect against submarine and destroyer attack: a threat highlighted in 1907 when Italian Submarine Tricheco sank the Armoured Cruiser Kaiserin und Königen Maria Theresia off the Dalmatian Coast. The two ships also possessed 12 5” guns for defence against destroyers and light cruisers, fitted in 6 twin batteries armoured with 3” of Krupp steel cementit, a revolutionary arrangement when the ships entered service in 1913 and 1915. In 1917, both ships were refitted with improved fire control directors and rangefinders, which would prove useful in the coming engagement.
Fighting with the Kärnten sisters was the Lissa, the KuK Marine’s second Battlecruiser, and the first Dreadnought to be built in Austro-Hungarian yards (the SMS Tirol was built by Krupp Germania Werft in Germany) and entered service with the fleet in 1911. Fitted with 9 12” guns in triple turrets (two at either end with a third positioned behind the funnels), she was well-armed by the standards of the time, and was the fastest capital ship in the Austro-Hungarian Fleet until the arrival of SMS Monarch in 1918, with a top speed of 26kt. She shared the same secondary armament as her successors of the Kärnten-Class, but unarmoured in twin mounts. Her armour was identical to the later ships, but with a less comprehensive underwater protection system. Like the Kärnten’s, she received new fire control directors in 1917. However, compared to the other two Battlecruisers in Meisner’s squadron, Lissa’s 12” guns had a shorter range and slower muzzle velocity.
On the side of the French Marine Nationale, the Tourville was a Battlecruiser of 1915, with an all-centreline arrangement of 8 14” guns in 4 twin turrets (2 superfiring forwards, 1 amidships and 1 aft) and 16 6” guns in casemates. She could outrun the Austrian ships, with a speed of 28kt, but was less well-armoured at only 9” of belt armour amidships, 9.5” on the turret facings, but with 2” on the deck and 5” on the casemates. Operating in concert with her was the Duquesne-Class Battlecruiser Dunkerque of 1913, with 8 13” guns in twin turrets (with the midships pair arrayed en echelon to allow cross-deck fire) and 14 5” guns in casemates. She also had 12 3” anti-torpedo boat guns. She had only 7” of belt armour, 1.5” of deck armour, 8” turret faces and 4” on the casemates. With a top speed of 25kt, she was comparable to the Austro-Hungarian ships now facing her.
The Austro-Hungarians managed to keep up a torrent of fire against the French ships for the first hour of the engagement, striking the Tourville repeatedly. By 1015, the entire convoy and its destroyer escorts were in sight, and Meisner had successfully positioned his squadron to the east of the transports, with the French Battlecruisers to the north. Destroyer SMS Magnet launched torpedoes against the opposing destroyer line, missing but with the torpedoes successfully hitting a ship in the convoy, sinking it. However, at approximately 1030 SMS Lissa received a French torpedo to her stern, locking her rudder to starboard and reducing her to 16kt, forcing her out of the line. Simultaneously, a 14” shell from Tourville landed and entered one of Steirmark’s gun turrets, disabling it temporarily.
Ordering Lissa to attempt to disengage, Meisner proceeded along a northerly course, parallel with the French Battlecruisers, continuing to exchange fire and heavily damaging Dunkerque. However, with Lissa locked in a turn, the Tourville began to rain down fire on her. The Lissa was for all intents and purposes helpless, although she valiantly kept up fire from her 12” guns against her larger opponent.
Just before 1100, Meisner issued an order to Kärnten for a simultaneous turn to the south to chase down Tourville and attempt to rescue Lissa. At the same time to the west, the 1st Dreadnought Division under Konteradmiral Tódor Loewe arrived with the Battleships Monarch and Veribus Unitus. With 11” belts and 2” decks (with 12” and 3” on the turret faces and roofs respectively) and a top speed of 26kt, these were the most powerful ships in the Austro-Hungarian arsenal until the launch of Wien later in 1923.
By 1127, the Tourville had lost both 1 and 4 turrets, with turret 3 disabled, under the combined fire of Monarch, Veribus Unitis, Steiermark and Kärnten, with Lissa escaping to the west. Limited to only 2 14” guns and slowing, Tourville was now cornered on both sides, with Dunkerque having already escaped to the north. Tourville sank around midday. Meanwhile, the convoy was being decimated like sheep to the wolves by the destroyers of Meisner’s 9th Division.
At 1144, Lissa signalled Steiermark by wireless that she had her flooding under control. By 1400, she had returned to the battle to find the Admiral Spaun engaged in rescuing the survivors from the Tourville and the now destroyed convoy as Steiermark and Kärnten proceeded to the north in search of Dunkerque, leaving Loewe’s Battleships to mop up. Lissa rejoined the division until being detached again when at 1437 a ship was sighted on the horizon. The 2 battleworthy battlecruisers immediately went forward in pursuit, hoping they had caught the wounded Dunkerque. As it turned out, their quarry was simply a destroyer, and Meisner called off the chase at 1500.
Conclusion
The Battle of Sirte had ended with a comprehensive Austro-Hungarian victory. The French Navy had lost one of her newest Battlecruisers and 2 entire divisions, scuppering her planned invasion of Egypt. At the same time, Austria-Hungary had proven it’s ‘fast dreadnought’ concept capable and had justified over a decade of naval construction. It had also broken the concerns of the Admiralty that the poorer size of Austro-Hungarian guns would render them ineffective against nations with more powerful weapons. In the aftermath of the Battle of Sirte, coming within one month of the declaration of hostilities, the KuK Marine had every reason to be confident of victory in the Mediterranean.
For France, the battle of Sirte was a humiliating setback. Weeks after the battle, the French government would issue orders restricting the Marine to defensive operations only. After only 3 months, the French government would approach the combined powers for peace, with Austria-Hungary gaining reparations and France being forced to cede the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon to the Newfoundland dominion.
I didn't even realise they were faster than the BCs until I wrote this AAR. 
I still think the high speed worked out though. With only 12" guns (and comparable armour), the ability to decide the terms of an engagement is valuable.