“SMS Csepel”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

SMS Csepel{{refn|"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship".|group=Note}} was one of six {{sclass-|Tátra|destroyer}}s built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy ({{lang-de|kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine}}) shortly before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she helped to sink an Italian destroyer during the Action off Vieste in May 1915 after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Two months later the ship participated in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture a small island in the Central Adriatic Sea from the Italians. In November and early December Csepel was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania. She was hit one time during the 1st Battle of Durazzo in late December. Her stern was blown off by a French submarine in early 1916 and her repairs were not completed until early 1917.

Csepel participated in several unsuccessful raids on the Otranto Barrage in 1917, although she sank an Italian destroyer during the Battle of the Strait of Otranto. During the Action of 22 April 1918 in the Strait of Otranto, the ship helped to damage a pair of British destroyers. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Muggia. The {{lang|it|Regia Marina}} (Royal Italian Navy) transferred her to the Far East in 1927 where she ran aground and was wrecked during a typhoon two years later.

Design and description

The Tátra-class destroyers were faster, more powerfully armed and more than twice as large as the preceding {{sclass-|Huszár|destroyer|4}}. The ships had an overall length of {{convert|83.5|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a beam of {{convert|7.8|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a maximum draft of {{convert|3|m|ftin|sp=us}}.^[1] They displaced {{convert|870|LT|t}} at normal load and {{convert|1050|LT|t}} at deep load.^[2] The ships had a complement of 105 officers and enlisted men.^[1]

The Tátras were powered by two AEG-Curtiss steam turbine sets, each driving a single propeller shaft using steam provided by six Yarrow boilers. Four of the boilers were oil-fired while the remaining pair used coal. The turbines, designed to produce {{convert|20600|shp|kW|lk=on}}, were intended to give the ships a speed of {{convert|32.5|kn|lk=on}}. The ships carried enough oil and coal to give them a range of {{convert|1600|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|12|kn}}.^[2]

The main armament of the Tátra-class destroyers consisted of two 50-caliber Škoda Works {{convert|10|cm|in|sp=us|adj=on|1}} K10 guns, one each fore and aft of the superstructure in single mounts. Their secondary armament consisted of six 45-caliber {{convert|66|mm|in|sp=us|adj=on|1}} guns, two of which were on anti-aircraft mountings. They were also equipped with four {{convert|450|mm|in|sp=us|adj=on|1}} torpedo tubes in two twin rotating mountings amidships.^[3]

Construction and career

The Kingdom of Italy signed a secret treaty in London in late April 1915 breaking its alliance with the German Empire and Austro-Hungary and promising to declare war on the Central Powers within a month. Austro-Hungarian intelligence discovered this and Admiral Anton Haus, commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, planned a massive surprise attack on Italian ports and facilities on the Northern Adriatic coast, outside of interception range of the modern ships of the {{lang|it|Regia Marina}} stationed at Taranto. To warn of any Italian warships able to interfere with the bombardments, Haus prepositioned three groups of destroyers, each led by a scout cruiser. Placed in the Central Adriatic between the island of Pelagosa and the Italian coast, four days prior to the Italian declaration of war on 23 May, were four Tátra-class destroyers, including Tátra, and the cruiser {{SMS|Helgoland|1912|6}}. Around midnight on the night of 23/24 May, Haus ordered the reconnaissance groups to move west and attack Italian coastal targets. About an hour later the four Tátras encountered a pair of Italian {{sclass-|Nembo|destroyer}}s, {{ship|Italian destroyer|Turbine|1901|2}} and {{ship|Italian destroyer|Aquilone|1901|2}}, but they were believed by the Italians to be friendly ships in the darkness.^[5]

Action off Vieste

The Italian ships separated when Aquilone went to investigate a sighting; Helgoland began bombarding the city of Barletta at 04:00 and the Italian destroyer spotted the cruiser at 04:38. The ship turned away to the southeast and was able to disengage without any damage. Turbine, however, encountered Helgoland several minutes later and believed that she was an Italian ship until she was disabused by a salvo from the cruiser. The destroyer turned to the north, towards Vieste, to escape, with Helgoland and the destroyer {{SMS|Orjen}} in pursuit. Alerted by Helgoland{{'}}s commander, Linienschiffskapitän (Captain) Heinrich Seitz, the destroyers Csepel and {{SMS|Tátra}}, which had been bombarding Manfredonia, moved to intercept and spotted Turbine at 05:10, opening fire at 05:45. {{SMS|Lika}}, which had been bombarding Vieste, was ordered to block her escape to the north while Helgoland stayed to the east to cut off her access to the Adriatic. Lika scored the critical hit of the battle when one of her 66-millimeter shells broke Turbine{{'}}s steam pipe and caused her to rapidly lose speed. Tátra and Helgoland also scored hits and Turbine was dead in the water with a list when her crew abandoned ship at 06:51. She had hit Tátra and Csepel during the engagement, but failed to inflict any significant damage. The Austro-Hungarians rescued 35 survivors before torpedoing the derelict. As they were withdrawing they were engaged by the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Libia}} and the armed merchant cruiser {{SS|Cittá di Siracusa}} between 07:10 and 07:19. Helgoland was struck by one shell before they were able to disengage from the slower ships.^[6]

On 23 July Helgoland and her sister {{SMS|Saida}}, escorted by Csepel, Tátra, their sister {{SMS|Balaton}} and three other destroyers bombarded the towns of Termoli, Ortona and San Benedetto del Tronto while a landing party cut the telegraph cable in Tremiti. Five days later, all six Tátra-class ships and the same pair of cruisers, reinforced by the German submarine {{SMU|UB-14||2}}, attempted to recapture Pelagosa. Despite a heavy bombardment by the ships, the 108-man landing party was unable to overcome the 90-man garrison and was forced to withdraw.^[7]

The Bulgarian declaration of war on Serbia on 14 October cut the existing supply line from Serbia to Salonika, Greece, and forced the Entente Cordiale to begin supplying Serbia through ports in Albania. This took about a month to work out the details and the Austro-Hungarians took just about as long to decide on a response. Haus ordered Seitz to take Helgoland, Saida and all six Tátra-class destroyers on a reconnaissance mission off the Albanian coast on the night of 22/23 November. They encountered and sank a small cargo ship and a motor schooner carrying flour for Serbia; four Italian destroyers were unable to intercept them before they reached friendly territory. Haus was initially reluctant to send his ships so far south, but an order from the Austro-Hungarian High Command ({{lang|de|Armeeoberkommando}}) on 29 November to patrol the Albanian coast and to disrupt Entente troop movements caused him to transfer Helgoland, her sister {{SMS|Novara}} and the Tátra-class ships to Cattaro. On 6 December, Helgoland and the Tátras swept down the coast to Durazzo, sinking five motor schooners, including two in Durazzo harbor.^[8]

1st Battle of Durazzo

Austro-Hungarian aircraft spotted a pair of Italian destroyers in Durazzo harbor on 28 December and Haus dispatched Seitz to take Helgoland, Tátra, Csepel, Lika and their sisters {{SMS|Triglav}} and {{SMS|Balaton}} south and search the area between Durazzo and Brindisi for them. If they were not found he was to arrive at Durazzo at dawn and destroy any ships found there. Seitz's ships sailed later that day and sank the {{ship|French submarine|Monge|1908|6}} at 02:35. He was unable to find the destroyers and dutifully arrived off Durazzo at dawn. At 07:30 he ordered four of his destroyers into the harbor to sink the cargo ship and two schooners anchored there while Helgoland engaged the coastal artillery defending the port. A well-camouflaged {{convert|75|mm|adj=on|sp=us|0}} artillery battery opened fire at 08:00 at point-blank range. While maneuvering to avoid its fire, Lika and Triglav entered a minefield. After striking two mines in quick succession, Lika sank at 08:03 and Triglav was crippled when her boiler rooms flooded after hitting one mine. After she was maneuvered out of the minefield, Csepel attempted to pass a towline, but it got tangled in one of her own propellers, badly damaging it and limited her to {{convert|20|kn}}. Tátra was finally successful in securing a tow at 09:30, but was limited to a speed of {{convert|6|kn|spell=in}} when Seitz led his ships northwards. He radioed for assistance at 10:35 and was informed an hour later that the armored cruiser {{SMS|Kaiser Karl VI}} and four torpedo boats were en route to support him.^[9]

Italian observers had spotted Seitz's ships at 07:00 and the Entente's quick-reaction force of the British light cruiser {{HMS|Dartmouth|1910|6}}, commanded by Captain Percy Addison, and the Italian scout cruiser {{Ship|Italian cruiser|Quarto||2}}, escorted by five French destroyers, sortied in an attempt to cut off the Austro-Hungarian ships from their base at Cattaro. These were followed two hours later by the Italian scout cruiser {{Ship|Italian cruiser|Nino Bixio||2}}, the British light cruiser {{HMS|Weymouth|1911|6}} and four Italian destroyers. Seitz ordered Triglavto be abandoned at 13:15 once the smoke from these ships had been spotted and for Csepel to turn to the south then southwest while the main body briefly covered her before turning southwest themselves. The French destroyers were ordered to deal with Triglav at 13:38 while the cruisers pursued Seitz's ships.^[10]

On 27 January 1916, Novara, Csepel and Orjen departed Cattaro on a mission to attack the shipping in Durazzo harbor. En route the two sisters accidentally collided with each other and had to return to port although the cruiser continued the mission. On 4 May, the {{ship|French submarine|Bernoulli||6}} torpedoed Csepel off Cattaro and blew off her stern. She was towed to port and repaired. On the night of 11/12 March 1917, Balaton, Orjen, Csepel and Tátra swept through the Strait of Otranto, but failed to sink the French cargo ship {{SS|Gorgone}} that they encountered.^[12]

Battle of the Strait of Otranto

On the night of 14/15 May, Balaton and Csepel departed Cattaro with orders to search off the Albanian coast and the Strait of Otranto for Entente shipping. They were intended to act as a diversion for the attack by the three {{sclass-|Novara|cruiser|0}} scout cruisers on the barrage. The destroyers encountered a convoy of three merchant ships, escorted by the {{ship|Italian destroyer|Borea|1902|6}}, at 03:10. Csepel lit up Borea with her searchlight at 03:24 and opened fire immediately afterward, hitting the Italian ship four times in rapid succession. One of the hits broke her main steam pipe which caused her to slow to a stop and the others set her on fire; she sank shortly before dawn. Balaton fired at the {{GRT|1657|disp=long}} {{SS|Carroccio}} which blew up when her cargo of ammunition exploded. The destroyers engaged the other two ships, setting one on fire and slightly damaging the other one, after which they disengaged and headed north at {{convert|25|kn}}.^[13]

Italian observers reported this action at 03:48 and the patrolling Italian scout cruiser Carlo Mirabello and her escorting trio of French destroyers were alerted at 04:35 and turned south to intercept. They did not spot the Austro-Hungarian ships, but another group of Entente ships did at 07:45. This group consisted of two British light cruisers, the brand-new Italian scout cruiser Aquila and four Italian destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Alfredo Acton. He ordered Aquila and the destroyers to investigate five minutes later as the Habsburg ships turned away towards Durazzo. The scout cruiser was the fastest ship in the Italian fleet and she opened fire at 08:15 at a range of {{convert|12500|yd|m|order=flip|sp=us}} while closing the range to {{convert|10500|yd|m|order=flip|sp=us}} before Csepel hit her once at 08:32; severing her main steam line, killing seven men and causing her to lose power. The destroyers continued the pursuit, but broke off when shells from Durazzo's coastal artillery began dropping around them around 09:05. After the Italian ships were moving to rejoin Acton's force at 09:18, Balaton and Csepel turned towards Cattaro, evading an attack by Bernoulli en route. During the battle, Csepel fired 127 rounds from her main guns, 78 shells from her secondary armament and two torpedoes.^[14]

Helgoland and all of the Tátras attempted to duplicate the success of the earlier raid on 18–19 October, but they were spotted by Italian aircraft and turned back in the face of substantial Allied reinforcements alerted by the aircraft. On the night of 13 December, Csepel, Tátra and Balaton raided the Otranto Barrage, but disengaged after firing torpedoes at what they believed to be four Entente destroyers, although there is no record of any attacks that night in Entente records.

Action of 22 April 1918

On the night of 22–23 April 1918, Csepel and all four {{sclass-|Ersatz Tátra|destroyer|2}}s attempted to intercept Entente shipping in the Strait of Otranto. They were spotted by the pair of British destroyers patrolling the western side of the Strait, {{HMS|Jackal|1911|2}} and {{HMS|Hornet|1911}} who altered course to intercept them. At a range of about {{convert|3000|yd|m|order=flip|sp=us}} the leading Austrian destroyer opened fire. The British ships reversed course and began laying a smoke screen hoping to lure the Austrians further south. The Austrians began hitting their targets quickly with Jackal slightly damaged by three hits, but Hornet was badly damaged by hits that caused a fire and subsequent explosion in her forward magazine and jammed her steering so that she began turning circles. Their return fire was ineffective, but the Austrians disengaged after about 15 minutes, pursued by Jackal. The other four destroyers of the patrol had steamed towards the battle and they joined the pursuit for a couple of hours before turning away about {{convert|20|nmi}} from Cattaro.^[15]

Following the Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria-Hungary on 3 November, the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet was transferred to the newly formed Yugoslavia.^[16] When the Entente divided up the Austro-Hungarian Fleet amongst its members in 1920, the ship was awarded to Italy. She was commissioned in the Regia Marina with the name Muggia and transferred to Shanghai, China, in 1927. Muggia ran aground and was wrecked off Amoy on 25 March 1929 during a typhoon.^[17]

Notes

1. ^¹Sieche, p. 338
2. ^¹²Greger, p. 44
3. ^Noppen, p. 48
4. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 168
5. ^Noppen, pp. 54–55; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 153–154
6. ^Noppen, pp. 56–57; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 154–155
7. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 169; Halpern 1994, pp. 148–150
8. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, pp. 165, 169; Halpern 1994, pp. 153–154
9. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, pp. 165, 169; Halpern 1994, pp. 155–157; Noppen, pp. 60–61; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 157–158
10. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 165; Halpern 1994, pp. 156–157; Noppen, p. 61; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 157–159
11. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, pp. 165, 169; Halpern 1994, p. 157; Noppen, pp. 61–62; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 158–161
12. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 169; Cernuschi & O'Hara 2016, p. 67; Halpern 2004, p. 79; O'Hara & Heinz, p. 200
13. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2016, pp. 62–63, 67; Halpern, pp. 162–163; Noppen, pp. 69, 71; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 260, 262
14. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2016, p. 63; Halpern 1994, p. 163; Noppen, p. 71; O'Hara & Heinz, pp. 263–264, 269
15. ^Cernuschi & O'Hara 2016, pp. 68, 71; Halpern 2004, pp. 137–140; Noppen, p. 80; O'Hara & Heinz, p. 284
16. ^Halpern 1994, p. 177
17. ^Greger, p. 47; Noppen, p. 85