Danube Flotilla | |
---|---|
Active | c. 1870-1918 |
Country | Austria-Hungary |
Branch | Austro-Hungarian Navy |
The Austro-Hungarian Danube Flotilla was a section of the navy of Austria-Hungary established after the Austro-Prussian War.[1] It consisted of 9 gunboats (valued at 17.5 million golden crowns), 8 armoured patrol boats (valued at 9 million golden crowns) and 55 other miscellaneous boats (valued at 4.5 million golden crowns), with a combined total manpower of 1000 soldiers.[2] The flotilla fired the first shots of the First World War during the night of July 28 to 29, 1914 (only a few hours after the Declaration of War had been transmitted)[3] and continued to participate in the war on the Eastern Front between 1914 and 1918 until Austria-Hungary's collapse. The Trianon Treaty of 1920 divided the ships of the flotilla between Austria and Hungary.[4]