Freivogel, Zvonimir The Great War on the Adriatic (1914-1918)

The book of the already well-known author Zvonimir Freivogel is describing the operations on the Adriatic, but also on the Mediterranean, in the time between the outbreak of the World War One in summer 1914 and the final ending in November of 1918. Shown are also the origin and the development of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, its resources, organization and operations, together with the description of the strength and organization of the principal enemy navies on the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. In contrast to the naval operations on the Adriatic during the World War Two, being led mostly by light and often improvised Axis naval forces against the improvised Partisan naval detachments, but also against Allied coastal forces (motor torpedo boats, motor gunboats, but destroyers too), during the First World War bigger units were engaged; in addition to light cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines, battle fleets of both sides were sometimes at sea, including heavily armed battleships and armored cruisers. The war was fought in the sky too, as both sides were having scores of seaplanes and the Allies also several airships. The book is richly illustrated and there are several tables with ships lists and aircraft data. The list of consulted literature at the end is enabling to search for further details of operations between 1914 and 1918 and of ships involved. This work is trying to close, at least partially, the gap in our knowledge regarding this important part of our naval history.

In contrast to the naval operations in the Adriatic during the Second World War, which were mainly conducted by light and often improvised naval forces of the Axis powers against the improvised formations of the partisans, but also against Allied coastal forces (motor torpedo boats, motor gunboats, but also destroyers), significantly larger types of ships were deployed during the First World War. In addition to light cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines, fleets of battleships and armoured cruisers were sometimes deployed in the Adriatic and Mediterranean theatres of war. The war was also fought in the skies, as both sides had dozens of seaplanes and the Allies even used some airships. The book is richly illustrated and there are several tables with ship lists and aircraft data. The list of literature consulted at the end makes it possible to search for further details of the operations between 1914 and 1918 and the ships involved in the missions. This work attempts to at least partially fill the gap in our knowledge of this important part of the naval history of the First World War.