Editing Tegetthoff-class battleship (section)

==== Bombardment of Ancona ====
{{main|Bombardment of Ancona}}
[[File:Ramberg - Bombarding of Ancona, 1915, HGM, 2017-03-08.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Bombarding of Ancona'' by August von Ramberg, depicting Austro-Hungarian battleships shelling the Italian coastline in May 1915|alt=A painting depicting multiple battleships in a row shelling a coastline. Smoke can be seen coming out of both the land and the guns of each ship.]]

After failed negotiations with Germany and Austria-Hungary over Italy joining the war as a member of the [[Central Powers]], the Italians negotiated with the [[Triple Entente]] for Italy's eventual entry into the war on their side in the [[Treaty of London (1915)|Treaty of London]], signed on 26 April 1915.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=272}} On 4 May Italy formally renounced her alliance to Germany and Austria-Hungary, giving the Austro-Hungarians advanced warning that Italy was preparing to go to war against them. On 20 May, Emperor Franz Joseph&nbsp;I gave the Austro-Hungarian Navy authorization to attack Italian ships convoying troops in the Adriatic or sending supplies to Montenegro. Haus meanwhile made preparations for his most valuable battleships to sortie out into the Adriatic in a massive strike against the Italians the moment war was declared. On 23 May 1915, between two and four hours after the Italian declaration of war reached the main Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola,{{refn|There are two conflicting times given for when the fleet departed Pola. Halpern states that it was four hours until the fleet set sail while Sokol claims that the fleet left Pola two hours after the declaration reached Admiral Haus.|group = lower-alpha}} the Austro-Hungarian fleet, including the three ships of the ''Tegetthoff'' class, departed to bombard the Italian coast.{{sfn|Halpern|1995|p=144}}{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=107}}

While several ships bombarded secondary targets and others were deployed to the south to screen for Italian ships that could be steaming north from [[Taranto]], the core of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, spearheaded by the ships of the ''Tegetthoff'' class, made their way to [[Ancona]]. The bombardment across the [[province of Ancona]] was a major success for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In the port of Ancona an Italian steamer was destroyed and three others damaged. An Italian destroyer, ''Turbine'', was sunk further south. The infrastructure of the port of Ancona and the surrounding towns was severely damaged. The railroad yard and port facilities in the city were damaged or destroyed, while local shore batteries defending them were knocked out. Multiple wharves, warehouses, oil tanks, radio stations, and coal and oil stores were set on fire by the bombardment, and the city's electricity, gas, and telephone lines were severed. Within the city itself, Ancona's police headquarters, army barracks, military hospital, sugar refinery, and Bank of Italy offices all saw damage. 30 Italian soldiers and 38 civilians were killed, while an additional 150 were wounded in the attack.{{sfn|Sokol|1968|pp=107–108}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|pp=274–275}}

The Austro-Hungarian ships would later move on to bombard the coast of Montenegro, without opposition; by the time Italian ships arrived on the scene, the Austro-Hungarians were safely back in Pola.{{sfn|Hore|2006|p=180}} The objective of the bombardment of Ancona was to delay the Italian Army from deploying its forces along the border with Austria-Hungary by destroying critical transportation systems.{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=107}} The surprise attack on Ancona succeeded in delaying the Italian deployment to the [[Alps]] for two weeks. This delay gave Austria-Hungary valuable time to strengthen its Italian border and re-deploy some of its troops from the Eastern and Balkan fronts.{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=109}} The bombardment also delivered a severe blow to Italian military and public morale.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=276}}