Amphibious attack on Pola/Pula naval base and the Istrian peninsula during World War 1 / Gallipoli alternative

[I want to learn]

In reading about Royal Navy planning prior to (and during) World War 1, it seems there was a lot of thought put into the "close blockade" or attacking/neutralizing the German navy in its bases - things like landing army divisions in Schleswig-Holstein, capturing Heligoland, sinking blockships off Wilhelmshaven or (later) aircraft carrier launched torpedo bomber attacks. None of these plans were felt to be viable to be put into action, and for good reasons, although there was some recent precedent for an assault on a fortified naval base (Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese war). Therefore, the German navy functioned as a fleet-in-being for the duration of the war.

However, it occurs to me that the main operational issues that prevented an assault on Wilhelmshaven are substantially lessened if Pula and the Austro-Hungarian navy was the target instead, and the strategic benefits are similar.

- Allied light forces (like destroyers) could not linger off the German coast since it was 300 miles from their bases on the other side of the North Sea, so a close blockade is not practical. But Pula is much closer, within 100 miles of Italian ports on the other side of the Adriatic Sea.

- The Austro-Hungarian navy cannot relocate through interior lines to an alternative safe port if Pula is threatened, like how the German High Seas Fleet could move to Kiel by means of the Kiel canal (and to a lesser extent by the straights of Denmark).

- The Austro-Hungarian navy is fairly small. The French and Italian navies, both fully commited to the Mediterranean, each outnumbered the Austro-Hungarian navy alone, and the Royal Navy could "surge" substantial forces too. The High Seas Fleet was too large to be overwhelmed by numbers alone in the North Sea (especially while they stayed on the defense like they usually did).



If the Austro-Hungarian navy was destroyed and if Pula was destroyed as a functional naval base, it would have strategic benefits. The (historically highly successful) Mediterranean U-boat campaign would be harder for the Central Powers to conduct. The Italian and French navies would be freed from maintaining a watch on the Austro-Hungarian one. Italy also had expansionist objectives in Istria, making it a target from that perspective.
The downsides are that historically the Allies had disputes over chain of command and placing their forces under foreign leadership, complicating coordination. Also, this kind of campaign could probably only take place as a replacement to the Gallipoli campaign, or with some kind of pre-Gallipoli POD. And Gallipoli was infamously unsuccesful in achieving its objectives.

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

Might be a good way to force the Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts into a battle, but otherwise it's be a catastrophe. The Austrians were very good at scouting and observation, any effort to land on Istria would be cut to ribbons at the shore, and an attack directly on Pola will be minced by the heavy concentration of naval guns there (including 17" guns!).

 

[I want to learn]

Might be a good way to force the Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts into a battle, but otherwise it's be a catastrophe. The Austrians were very good at scouting and observation, any effort to land on Istria would be cut to ribbons at the shore, and an attack directly on Pola will be minced by the heavy concentration of naval guns there (including 17" guns!).

What about infiltrating submarines or torpedo boats into the harbor in a night attack, like the initial Japanese attack on Port Arthur, or sinking block ships to immobilize the Austro-Hungarian fleet? Do you have a source on the defenses at Pola?

 

[1962strat]

The first issue I see with this is that the Entente would be extremely reluctant to send their heavy naval units into the confined waters of the Adriatic, where they would be vulnerable to a host of small craft, U-Boats, and mines. And even if the K.u.K. Navy was not on par with the other Great Powers, it was still big enough to doom any efforts that didn't involve enemy Battleships.

Keep in mind the Entente shied away from naval losses very quickly during Gallipoli, and that had a much bigger potential reward, altogether knocking the Ottomans out of the war. This would be similarly risky, if not worse given that IMO A-H was a notch above the Ottomans, and yield a pretty questionable strategic reward. That considered, I don't think they'd go for it.

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

What about infiltrating submarines

Attempted at Cattaro, got caught in submarine nets. You'd probably need a manned torpedo like the Italians would later use.

sinking block ships to immobilize the Austro-Hungarian fleet?

How well did the Zeebrugge and Ostend raids go? And recall that those were against far smaller facilities by much more experienced forces.

Do you have a source on the defenses at Pola?

Unfortunately just the wiki pages for various Austrian shore guns.

 

[jlckansas]

One of the main problems is that you have to go the length of the Adriatic to reach there. You would be under some form of observation from when you enter to when you get there. You don't have enough Italian heavy units stationed on in Venice or the Adriatic coast to make them less likely to notice a large build up and have the lift capacity to carry enough troops to land there.