On 21 December 1914, U-12 torpedoed the French battleship Jean Bart, Admiral Lapeyrere's flagship. Nevertheless, they had a number of successes.
At the start of hostilities, the KuK had seven U-boats in commission five operational, and two training all were of the coastal type, with limited range and endurance, suitable for operation in the Adriatic. The initial phase of the U-boat campaign in the Mediterranean comprised the actions by the KuK's U-boat force against the French. The Entente powers moved swiftly to blockade the Adriatic, sending a fleet to take station at the straits of Otranto. History 1914: Initial stages Īt the outbreak of World War I, with Italy's decision to remain neutral, the naval strength of the Central Powers was represented by the navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the KuK Kriegsmarine, whose only access to the sea was through the Adriatic coast. It was characterised by the ability of the Central Powers to raid with near impunity during the first years of the war, causing substantial shipping losses, until the introduction of the convoy system allowed the Allies to drastically cut their losses from 1917 on. The Mediterranean U-boat Campaign in the Mediterranean Sea was fought by Austria-Hungary and German Empire (with some support by the Ottoman Empire) against the Allies during World War I.
