The rescue of the crew of the Italian battleship Amalfi, July 7, 1915, sunk by Austrian submarine U-26. The submarine was German submarine UB-14, but, because Italy and Germany were not at war, sailed under as an Austro-Hungarian vessel. From a painting by Harry Heusser, 1915. The message on the reverse was written March 22, 1916, and the card postmarked from Vienna the same day.
Text:Harry Heusser 1915Reverse:Offizielle Postkarte des Österreichischen Flottenvereines zu Gunsten des Kriegsfürsorgeamtes, des Kriegshilfsbüros und des Roten KreuzesHarry Heusser: Rettung der Bemannung des ital. Panzerkreuzers AmalfiOfficial postcard of the Austrian Fleet Association for the benefit of the War Welfare Agency, the War Aid agencies, and the Red Cross.Harry Heusser: rescue of the crew of the Italian armored cruiser Amalfi.
"The same day [July 7, 1915] the disaster many feared occurred in the northern Adriatic. That morning Cagni sent the large armored cruiser Amalfi, escorted by only two torpedo boats, to support a sweep by Italian destroyers. The Amalfi was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine UB14, the first naval disaster of the war for the Italians. The small submarine had only just been assembled at Pola, and a week after sinking the Amalfi it left for Aegean waters. Her commander, Oberleutnant zur See von Heimburg, and all the officers and men, save for a single Austrian officer embarked as a pilot, were German. Germany and Italy were not yet officially at war, however, and would not be for another year, and the submarine had the Austrian designation U.26."
On July 7, 1915, as Italian Vice Admiral Thaon di Revel made plans to occupy Austro-Hungarian islands in the Adriatic, Italian Rear Admiral Umberto Cagni ordered a naval force to clear the sea of enemy ships. Flying the Austrian flag, the German submarine left Pola, Austria-Hungary's primary port, and sank Amalfi with the loss of 67 men of a crew of 685. Sailing to the Aegean would put the Austro-German submarine in position to target Allied transport and naval support for the Gallipoli invasion.
A Naval History of World War I by Paul G. Halpern, page 148, copyright © 1994 by the United States Naval Institute, publisher: UCL Press, publication date: 1994
1915-07-07, 1915, July, submarine, Adriatic, Thaon di Revel, Cagni, Umberto Cagni, Pola, Aegean
