Editing Tegetthoff-class battleship (section)

==== Otranto Raid ====
[[File:SMS_Tegetthoff_Otranto.png|thumb|left|300px|''Szent István'' sinking in June 1918 after being struck by an Italian torpedo. ''Tegetthoff'' can be seen on the right|alt=A battleship lies low in the water with a heavy list after being struck by a torpedo. Another battleship can be seen floating in the background close by.]]
Horthy was determined to use the fleet to attack the Otranto Barrage. Planning to repeat his [[Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1917)|successful raid on the blockade in May 1917]],{{sfn|Koburger|2001|p=104}} Horthy envisioned a massive attack on the Allied forces with his four ''Tegetthoff''-class ships providing the largest component of the assault. They would be accompanied by the three ships of the ''Erzherzog Karl''-class pre-dreadnoughts, the three {{sclass|Novara|cruiser|2}}s, the cruiser ''Admiral Spaun'', four {{sclass|Tátra|destroyer|2}}s, and four torpedo boats. Submarines and aircraft would also be employed in the operation to hunt down enemy ships on the flanks of the fleet.{{sfn|Halpern|1987|p=501}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=335}}{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=134}}

On 8 June 1918 Horthy took his flagship, ''Viribus Unitis'', and ''Prinz Eugen'' south with the lead elements of his fleet.{{sfn|Koburger|2001|p=104}} On the evening of 9 June, ''Szent István'' and ''Tegetthoff'' followed along with their own escort ships. Horthy's plan called for {{SMS|Novara|1913|2}} and {{SMS|Helgoland|1912|2}} to engage the Barrage with the support of the ''Tátra''-class destroyers. Meanwhile, ''Admiral Spaun'' and {{SMS|Saida|1912|2}} would be escorted by the fleet's four torpedo boats to [[Otranto]] to bombard Italian air and naval stations. The German and Austro-Hungarian submarines would be sent to [[Vlorë|Valona]] and Brindisi to ambush Italian, French, British, and American warships that sailed out to engage the Austro-Hungarian fleet, while seaplanes from [[Cattaro]] would provide air support and screen the ships' advance. The battleships, and in particular the ''Tegetthoff''s, would use their firepower to destroy the Barrage and engage any Allied warships they ran across. Horthy hoped that the inclusion of these ships would prove to be critical in securing a decisive victory.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=335}}

En route to the harbour at [[Slano|Islana]], north of [[Dubrovnik|Ragusa]], to rendezvous with ''Viribus Unitis'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' for the coordinated attack on the Otranto Barrage, ''Szent István'' and ''Tegetthoff'' attempted to make maximum speed in order to catch up to the rest of the fleet. In doing so, ''Szent István''{{'}}s turbines started to overheat and speed had to be reduced to {{convert|12|kn|sp=us}}. When an attempt was made to raise more steam in order to increase to {{convert|16|kn|sp=us}} ''Szent István'' produced an excess of smoke. At about 3:15&nbsp;am on 10 June,{{refn|Debate exists over what was the exact time when the attack took place. Sieche states that the time was 3:15&nbsp;am when ''Szent István'' was hit while Sokol claims that the time was 3:30&nbsp;am.|group = lower-alpha}} two Italian [[MAS (boat)|MAS boats]], ''MAS-15'' and ''MAS-21'', spotted the smoke from the Austrian ships while returning from an uneventful patrol off the Dalmatian coast. The MAS platoon was commanded by [[Corvette Captain|''Capitano di corvetta'']] [[Luigi Rizzo]], who had sunk the Austro-Hungarian coastal defense ship {{SMS|Wien}} in Trieste six months before.{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=135}} The individual boats were commanded by ''Capo timoniere'' Armando Gori and [[Ensign (rank)|''Guardiamarina di complemento'']] [[Giuseppe Aonzo]] respectively. Both boats successfully penetrated the escort screen and split to engage each of the dreadnoughts. ''MAS-21'' attacked ''Tegetthoff'', but her torpedoes failed to hit the ship.{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=135}} ''MAS-15'' fired her two torpedoes successfully at 3:25&nbsp;am at ''Szent István''. Both boats evaded any pursuit although ''MAS-15'' had to discourage the Austro-Hungarian torpedo boat [[Yugoslav torpedo boat T1|''Tb 76 T'']] by dropping [[depth charge]]s in her wake. ''Tegetthoff'', thinking that the torpedoes were fired by [[submarine]]s, pulled out of the formation and started to [[zigzag]] to throw off any further attacks. She repeatedly fired on suspected submarine [[periscope]]s.{{sfn|Sieche|1991|pp=127, 131}}

[[File:A Szent István csatahajó pusztulása.ogv|thumb|300px|Film footage about the sinking of ''Szent István''|alt=A large battleship lists in the water as the crew evacuates the vessel before it capsizes.]]
''Szent István'' was hit by two {{convert|45|cm|adj=on|0|sp=us}} torpedoes abreast her boiler rooms. The aft boiler room quickly flooded and gave the ship a 10° list to starboard. Counterflooding of the portside trim cells and [[magazine (artillery)|magazines]] reduced the list to 7°, but efforts to use collision mats to plug the holes failed. While this was going on the dreadnought steered for the nearby [[Molat (island)|Bay of Brgulje]] at low speed, before eventually coming to a halt in order to provide additional power to the ship's pumps, which could discharge {{convert|6000|t|LT|0|sp=us}} of water per hour. However, water continued to leak into the forward boiler room and eventually doused all but the two boilers on the port side. This killed the power for the pumps and only left enough electricity to run the lights. The turrets were trained to port in a futile effort to counter the list and their ready ammunition was thrown overboard.{{sfn|Sieche|1991|pp=127, 131}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=335}} Upon returning to the formation at 4:45&nbsp;am, ''Tegetthoff'' attempted to take ''Szent István'' in tow, which failed.{{sfn|Noppen|2012|p=42}} Many of the crew members of the sinking battleship assembled on the deck to use their weight along with the turned turrets as a [[counterbalance]], but the ship was taking on too much water, with her watertight bulkheads giving way to the flooding one by one.{{sfn|Prasky|1978|p=106}} ''Szent István''{{'}}s chaplain performed one final blessing while the crew of ''Tegetthoff'' emerged onto her decks to salute the sinking ship. At 6:12&nbsp;am, with the pumps unequal to the task, ''Szent István'' capsized off [[Premuda]]. 89 sailors and officers died in the sinking, 41 of them from Hungary. The low death toll can be partly attributed to the long amount of time it took for the battleship to sink, and the fact that all sailors with the Austro-Hungarian Navy had to learn to swim before entering active service.{{sfn|Sieche|1991|pp=127, 131}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=335}}{{sfn|Sokol|1968|pp=134–135}} The captain of ''Szent István'', Heinrich Seitz, [[The captain goes down with the ship|was prepared to go down with his ship]] but was saved after being thrown off the bridge when she capsized.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=336}}

Film footage and photographs exist of ''Szent István''{{'}}s last half-hour, taken by [[Captain Lieutenant|''Linienschiffsleutnant'']] Meusburger of ''Tegetthoff'' with his own camera and by an official film crew. The two films were later spliced together and exhibited in the United States after the war.{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=135}} The battleship's sinking was one of only two on the high seas to ever be filmed, the other being that of the British battleship {{HMS|Barham|04|6}} during [[World War&nbsp;II]].{{sfn|Sieche|1991|p=131}} Proceeds from the film of ''Szent István'' capsizing were eventually used to feed children in Austria following the ending of the war.{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=135}}

Fearing further attacks by torpedo boats or destroyers from the Italian navy, and possible Allied dreadnoughts responding to the scene, Horthy believed the element of surprise had been lost and called off the attack. In reality, the Italian torpedo boats had been on a routine patrol, and Horthy's plan had not been betrayed to the Italians as he had feared. The Italians did not even discover that the Austrian dreadnoughts had departed Pola until 10 June when aerial reconnaissance photos revealed that they were no longer there.{{sfn|Sieche|1991|p=135}} Nevertheless, the loss of ''Szent István'' and the blow to morale it had on the navy forced Horthy to cancel his plans to assault the Otranto Barrage. The fleet returned to the base at Pola where it would remain for the rest of the war.{{sfn|Sokol|1968|pp=134–135}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=336}}