Editing Tegetthoff-class battleship (section)

==== End of the war ====
{{main|Raid on Pola}}
[[File:SMS_Viribus_Unitis_Sinking.png|thumb|left|''Viribus Unitis'' sinking in Pola on 1 November 1918.]]

On 17 July 1918, Pola was struck by the largest air raid the city would see during the war. 66 Allied planes dropped over 200 bombs, though none of the ''Tegetthoff''s were hit or damaged in the attack.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=337}}

By October 1918 it had become clear that Austria-Hungary was facing defeat in the war. With various attempts to quell nationalist sentiments failing, Emperor Karl&nbsp;I decided to sever Austria-Hungary's alliance with Germany and appeal to the Allied Powers in an attempt to preserve the empire from complete collapse. On 26 October Austria-Hungary informed Germany that [[Dual Alliance (1879)|their alliance]] was over. In Pola the Austro-Hungarian Navy was in the process of tearing itself apart along ethnic and nationalist lines. Horthy was informed on the morning of 28 October that an armistice was imminent, and used this news to maintain order and prevent a mutiny among the fleet. While a mutiny was avoided, tensions remained high and morale was at an all-time low. The situation was so stressful for members of the navy that the captain of ''Prinz Eugen'', Alexander Milosevic, committed suicide in his quarters aboard the battleship.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|pp=350–351}}

On 29 October, the [[State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs#National Council|National Council]] in [[Zagreb]] announced Croatia's dynastic ties to Hungary had come to a formal conclusion. The National Council also called for Croatia and Dalmatia to be unified, with Slovene and Bosnian organizations pledging their loyalty to the newly formed government. This new provisional government, while throwing off Hungarian rule, had not yet declared independence from Austria-Hungary. Thus Emperor Karl&nbsp;I's government in Vienna asked the newly formed [[State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs]] for help maintaining the fleet stationed at Pola and keeping order among the navy. The National Council refused to assist unless the Austro-Hungarian Navy was first placed under its command.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|pp=351–352}} Emperor Karl&nbsp;I, still attempting to save the Empire from collapse, agreed to the transfer, provided that the other "nations" which made up Austria-Hungary would be able to claim their fair share of the value of the fleet at a later time.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=352}} All sailors not of Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian, or Serbian background were placed on leave for the time being, while the officers were given the choice of joining the new navy or retiring.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=352}}{{sfn|Sokol|1968|pp=136–137, 139}}

The Austro-Hungarian government thus decided to hand over the bulk of its fleet to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs without a shot being fired. This was considered preferential to handing the fleet to the Allies, as the new state had declared its neutrality. Furthermore, the newly formed state had also not yet publicly dethroned Emperor Karl&nbsp;I, keeping the possibility of reforming the Empire into a triple monarchy alive. The transfer to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs began on the morning of 31 October, with Horthy meeting representatives from the South Slav nationalities aboard his flagship, ''Viribus Unitis''. After "short and cool" negotiations, the arrangements were settled and the handover was completed that afternoon. The Austro-Hungarian Naval Ensign was struck from ''Viribus Unitis'', and was followed by the remaining ships in the harbor. After the transfer, Horthy took with him from his personal cabin a portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph&nbsp;I, which the late Emperor had gifted to the battleship, along with the ceremonial silk ensign of ''Viribus Unitis'', and Horthy's own personal admiral's flag. That evening ''Viribus Unitis'' was renamed ''Jugoslavija''.{{sfn|Koburger|2001|p=118}} Control over the battleship, and the head of the newly established navy for the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, fell to Captain [[Janko Vuković]], who was raised to the rank of admiral and took over Horthy's old responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|pp=353–354}}{{sfn|Sokol|1968|pp=136–137, 139}}

On 1 November 1918, the transfer being still unknown to Italy, two men of the Italian Regia Marina, Raffaele Paolucci and [[Raffaele Rossetti]], rode a primitive manned torpedo (nicknamed ''[[Mignatta]]'' or "leech") into the naval base at Pola. Using limpet mines, they attacked ''Jugoslavija'' and the freighter ''Wien''.<ref name="Warhola" /> Traveling down the rows of battleships, the two men encountered ''Jugoslavija'' at around 4:40&nbsp;am. Rossetti placed one canister of TNT on the hull of the battleship, timed to explode at 6:30&nbsp;am. He then flooded the second canister, sinking it on the harbor floor close to the ship.  The men had no [[Scuba set|breathing sets]], and therefore had to keep their heads above water. They were discovered and taken prisoner just after placing the explosives under the battleship's hull. The Italians did not know that the Austrian government had handed over ''Viribus Unitis'', along with most of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. They were taken aboard ''Jugoslavija'', where they informed her new captain of what they had done but did not reveal the exact position of the explosives.<ref name="Warhola" /> Vuković then arranged for the two prisoners to be taken safely to the sister ship ''Tegetthoff'', and ordered the evacuation of the ship.{{sfn|Noppen|2012|p=44}} The explosion did not happen at 6:30&nbsp;am as predicted and Vuković, believing mistakenly that the Italians had lied, returned to the ship with many sailors. When the mines exploded shortly afterwards at 6:44&nbsp;am, the battleship sank in 15&nbsp;minutes; Vuković and 300–400 of the crew went down with her. The second explosive canister, lying on the bottom, exploded close to the freighter ''Wien'', resulting in her sinking.<ref name="Warhola" /> The two Italians were interned for a few days until the end of the war and were honored by the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Kingdom of Italy]] with the [[Gold Medal of Military Valor]].<ref name="difesa.it Rossetti" /><ref name="difesa.it Paolucci" />{{sfn|Halpern|1987|p=567}}{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=139}}