Austrian cruiser sinking in Qingdao - Queen Catherine Elizabeth:

A long time ago, Austria's territory bordered the seaside, and had a navy, and had brilliant achievements in the history of modern naval warfare. It was only due to historical changes that a pure inland country was finally formed. The cruiser "Queen Elizabeth" that served in the navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, "Queen Elizabeth", was born and experienced countless ups and downs, and its final fate was actually associated with Qingdao, which was thousands of miles away.

History should also start from the beginning: In 1848, a large-scale "constitutional revolution" broke out across Europe and quickly spread to Austria. At that time, the powerful Austria had defeated Italy several times, and its national territory had reached the Venice region in northern Italy, becoming the supreme emperor of the countries around the south. The vast territory of the country fully expanded Austria's expansion ambitions, but at that time, although Austria had a small navy with a small number of people and ethnic groups, it was not

It can serve as the pioneer force for maritime expansion. When the revolution broke out, almost all Italians rose to resist Austria's rule. In this Austrian navy with 5,000 people, only 72 officers and 665 sailors expressed their loyalty to the Austrian Emperor and drove some warships to a very barren and desolate fishing village on the Iskoa Peninsula (now Croatia) on the Adriatic coast in northern Italy. At this point, the Austrian naval fire is ignited here!

In 1866, Austria was attacked by Prussia and the newly established Italian army. The Austrian army failed in the land war, but the war in the ocean ended with the victory of the Austrian army [Note: On July 20, 1866, the famous "Battle of Lissa", the Austrian fleet completely defeated the Italian fleet by adopting new tactics.] Austria reoccupied part of Italy's territory and was still the ruler there. Since then, the Austrian government began to carry out large-scale military preparations and expand its navy. That year, the small Pula fishing port gradually became a considerable military port and shipbuilding.

Base. On September 25, 1890, an armored cruiser named "Queen Catherine Elizabeth" was built and launched in Pula Port. This was named after the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I (i.e. Princess Sissi of Bavaria). The basic data of the ship is as follows: displacement of 4,030 tons, coal-fired boiler equipment, speed of 20 knots, 424 officers and soldiers on the ship, equipped with 8 150mm naval guns, 2 70mm secondary guns, 14 50mm rapid-fire guns and 1 47mm salute, etc. The ship was a very advanced warship at that time.

In 1892, Austrian Crown Prince Franz Pedinan conducted a global voyage on the ship. This global voyage prompted him to have great interest in developing the Austrian Navy, although he was just an army officer. In the years that followed, the role of the cruiser "Queen Elizabeth" was more of a training navy, with the main tasks being to cultivate the Austrian navy and protect Austria's commercial interests in countries around the world and engage in foreign affairs activities. It was once left in the ports of China, Egypt, India and the Middle East. In 1900, the Boxer Movement broke out in China, and the Western Eight-Nation Alliance attacked Tianjin in the name of protecting embassies and expatriates. As the Austrian Navy's display of its strength,

The cruiser "Queen Elizabeth" also joined the eastern expedition of Western powers, and together with the Austrian cruiser "Queen of Maria Theresa", gunboats "Asperne" and "Zanta" participated in the battle against the Dagukou Fort in Tianjin, and sent Marine soldiers to the land to participate in the military operation to rescue the Embassy in Beijing. After the war, the ship was stationed in Tianjin. During this period, Major Arthur von Yanoke, an officer on the "Queen Elizabeth", also brought Chinese Go back to China and established the first Go enthusiast association in Europe in the Naval Club of the Pula Naval Base. From 1905 to 1906, the ship was renovated and partially modified and stationed in Mediterranean waters for a long time.

On August 19, 1913, the cruiser "Queen Elizabeth" sailed to China again. As a symbol of Austria's naval power in the Far East, it was stationed outside the sea outside Dagukou, Tianjin for a long time. On June 24, 1914, an emergency in Sarajevo, the capital of Serbia in Europe - Austria's Grand Duke Franz Peidinan was assassinated. The already tense relationship between European countries suddenly lost control and actively prepared for war. The clouds of the war enveloped the European land. When the tension reached the Far East, the cruiser "Queen Elizabeth" who was anchored in Shibafu Port, Shandong (now Yantai City). The cruiser "Queen Elizabeth" that was expected to visit Japan was also quickly terminated its visit.

Extreme maintenance and replenishment of coal water and ammunition. In early July, the ship was ordered to go north to Dagukou, Tianjin to visit the Austrian guards stationed in the Tianjin Concession and the embassy and consulate [Note: 185 officers and soldiers of the Austrian colonial army stationed in the Chinese colonial army (garrison army), carrying 2 77mm rapid-fire field guns and 8 Austrian-made Maxim heavy machine guns.] went south and arrived at Zhifu Port on July 22. After a short stay, he came to Qingdao on the 27th of the same month. Other Austrian officers and soldiers took the train to Qing. This time, the Austrian army was an allies of Germany, assisting the German army in the Far East. After receiving the instructions of the Austrian Command, they gathered Qingdao to participate in the battle to defend the Jiaozhou Bay Colony.

On August 1, 1914, the European War broke out. At noon on August 23, the Japanese government declared war on Germany, and the battle to defend Qingdao began.

During the Japanese-German War in Qingdao, the Austrian officers and soldiers of the "Queen Elizabeth" cruiser showed heroic performance. Although in the early stages of the war, in order to support the firepower of the German land-based fortress, the ship removed four 150mm naval guns, two 70mm secondary guns and some 50mm rapid-fire guns on the ship, and installed them on the west highlands on Zhongjiawa (located north of today's Hisense Overpass) and Dabao Island Mountain (now Guanxiang Mountain) on the back of the German central fortress. Some officers and soldiers also landed on the shore to join the ground artillery battle. However, the ship was still able to use the remaining artillery to fight against the Japanese army. During the war, they were always active in the waters of Jiaozhou Bay, and continued to go north with the German land-based fortress to launch artillery bombardment on the frontier Japanese positions, supporting the German fortress, and delaying the Japanese advancement.

On November 1, 1914, when the last shell was fired from the "Queen Elizabeth", the sound of the guns of the ship fell silent. In order to prevent the armed forces and to block the main channel of Qingdao Port, the "Queen Elizabeth" cruiser opened the undersea valve at 3 a.m. the next day, sinking itself in the waters of the main channel between Tuan Island and Huangdao (that is, the seabed at 4.5 chain southwest of Tuan Island Lighthouse). The precise coordinates of the wreck were 36 degrees 00 minutes north latitude and 120 degrees 15 minutes east longitude! Austrian cruise
Chapter completed!