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Aerial view of the damaged Austrian cruiser Novara following the Battle of the Otranto Straits, 15 May 1917. Generally the term Austro-Hungarian navy refers to the navy of the Hapsburg Empire, even though the dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary did not exist until 1867. Previously equipped only with small gunboats, the Austrian Empire became […]

War of Chioggia, (1378–1381) Noble Venetian family, of which various sons served their republic as admirals and doges over several centuries. An early notable admiral was Tommaso Mocenigo (1343-1423). As a young officer under the great Venetian admiral Vettore Pisani, he fought during the losing 1379 campaign to drive Genoese forces under Andrea Doria from […]

Battle of Oliwa 1627 Most Scots who sought martial fame in Europe did so on land but a considerable number also made a name for themselves at sea. This should come as no surprise for, in common with all the nations around the North Sea, the Scots have always been seafarers. Neither should it come […]

In England his name described a male waterfowl that might be seen bobbing placidly on the village pond — but in Spanish the drake became a dragon. El Draque was a name with which to frighten naughty children, a fire-breathing monster whose steely, glittering scales ‘remained impregnable’, wrote the sixteenth-century dramatist Lope de Vega, ‘to all […]