Fighting the Great War at the Adriatic Sea: charts by Hydrographic Office of the Austro-Hungarian Navy

ABSTRACT

The Hydrographic Office of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, headquartered in Pola since 1869, was in charge of conducting maritime surveys and producing all sea charts until 1918. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was still using the revised charts that were based on the hydrographic survey conducted by Tobias von Oesterreicher in 1866–1870. In order to meet the new requirements necessitated by the introduction of dreadnought battleships and submarines, at the dawn of WWI Austro-Hungary started a new hydrographic survey of the Adriatic, conducted under the command of Arthur Catinelli Edler von Obradich-Bevilacqua. The survey, which was launched in 1907 had the task of providing modern and reliable maritime charts accompanied by dense soundings, more data on the composition of the seafloor, as well as some adjustments in the process of construction of the charts. Charts that were based on this survey had a crucial role in all WWI naval operations in the Adriatic Sea.

RÉSUMÉ

Le bureau hydrographique de la marine Austro-hongroise, dont le quartier général était situé à Pola depuis 1869, était chargé de réaliser les levers maritimes et de produire toutes les cartes marines jusqu’en 1918. Au début du 20^ème siècle, la marine Austro-Hongroise utilisait encore des cartes révisées, basées sur les levers hydrographiques réalisés par Tobias von Oesterreicher entre 1866 et 1870. Afin de répondre aux nouveaux besoins dus à l’arrivée de cuirassées d’escadre et de sous-marins, l’Austro Hongrie entreprit, à l’aube de la première guerre mondiale, de nouveaux levers hydrographiques en mer Adriatique, réalisés sous le commandement d'Arthur Catinelli Edler von ObradichBevilacqua. Les levers, démarrés en 1907, avaient pour objectifs de produire des cartes marines modernes et fiables accompagnées de sondages denses, de plus de données sur la composition des fonds marins ainsi que des améliorations dans les méthodes utilisées pour construire ces cartes. Les cartes qui ont été construites à partir de ces levers ont eu un rôle crucial pour toutes les opérations navales qui ont eu lieu dans la mer Adriatique pendant la première guerre mondiale.

KEYWORDS:

• Maritime cartography
• Hydrographic Office of Austro-Hungarian Navy
• WWI
• Adriatic
• submarine warfare

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Mirela Altić is chief research fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences in Zagreb, Croatia. As full professor at the Department of History, University of Zagreb, Dr. Altić lectures on the history of cartography. She is the author of numerous scholarly papers and a contributor to The History of Cartography Project. Dr. Altić serves as Vice-Chair of the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography and as Vice-President/President Elect of the Society for the History of Discoveries.

Notes

1 Tobias Ritter von Oesterreicher (1831–1893) was born in Piesling (Písečné), Moravia. He studied at the Polytechnic School in Vienna and the Nautical School in Trieste. As a cadet in the navy, he participated in the blockade of Venice and Ancona. Between 1859 and 1860, he distinguished himself as a frigate captain in the hydrographic survey of the coastal part of the Adige at a scale of 1:57 000, and then in the hydrographic survey of the coast between the Po and Piave Rivers, which resulted in 54 sheets of charts at a scale of 1:14 400. State Archives of Austria/War Archive, Neues Marinearchiv, PA Offiziere und Beamte Akten, QL 3927

2 Arthur Catinelli Edler von Obradich-Bevilacqua (1867–1938) was born in Brezje, Croatia. He was first educated at a civilian school in the town of Karlovac, and then at the Naval Academy (K.u.k. Marine-Akademie) in Rijeka (Fiume). Upon his graduation in 1886, he lectured at the Academy where he was in charge of holding various courses for mariners. During his career he served as captain of several boats and warships. Catinelli was appointed as the Director of the Naval Academy in 1917, and was promoted to the rank of counter-admiral in 1918 but retired at the end of the same year. State Archives of Austria/War Archive, Neues Marinearchiv, PA Offiziere und Beamte Akten, QL 731.

3 State Archives of Austria/War Archive, Neue Feldakten (1914–1918), KK V. Korps, 477 Operative Akten, 1-229.

4 Croatian State Archives, The National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, f. 415.