Anton Johann Haus (13 June 1851 – 8 February 1917) was an Austrian naval officer. Despite his German surname, he was born to a

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

-speaking family in Tolmein (now Tolmin, Slovenia). Haus was fleet commander of the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

in World War I and was the Navy's

Grand Admiral Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparable rank in modern navies is that of admiral of the fleet. Grand admirals in individual n ...

from 1916 until his death.

Biography

Haus entered the Navy in 1869. He distinguished himself as an instructor at the Imperial and Royal Naval Academy in Fiume (now

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...

); a product of his academic study was ''Oceanography and Maritime Meteorology'' (1891). Returning to a seagoing command, Haus was commander of a corvette during the multinational intervention in the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an Xenophobia, anti-foreign, anti-colonialism, anti-colonial, and Persecution of Christians#China, anti-Christian uprising in China ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in 1900/01. After the suppression of the insurrection Haus remained in Peking (now

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

) until 1902. Promoted to ''Vizeadmiral'' in 1907, Haus was Austro-Hungarian envoy to the second

Hague Peace Conference The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...

from May to October of that year. Appointed ''Flotteninspekteur'' (Fleet Inspector) in 1912, Haus succeeded

Rudolf Montecuccoli Rudolf Graf Montecuccoli degli Erri (22 February 1843-16 May 1922) was chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1904 to 1913 and largely responsible for the modernization of the fleet before the First World War. Overview Montecuccoli was born i ...

as ''Marinekommandant'' (Navy Commander) and ''Chef der Marinesektion'' (Chief of the Naval Section of the War Ministry) on 24 February 1913. Perhaps unaware of the gravity of the situation, Haus was notably absent during the July Crisis of 1914. At the crucial crown council of 7 July 1914, where drastic action against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

was decided upon, Karl Kailer von Kaltenfels stood in for his chief. Upon the outbreak of war, Haus was named ''Flottenkommandant'' (Fleet Commander). When Italy entered the war, Haus sent the battle fleet to bombard

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

and other Italian Adriatic ports on the night of 23/24 May 1915, but for the most part he left the active fighting to the light forces—fast cruisers, destroyers and submarines. A shrewd naval strategist, Haus recognized that the real value of his battle fleet lay in maintaining its existence as a

fleet in being In naval warfare, a "fleet in being" is a naval force that extends a controlling influence without ever leaving port. Were the fleet to leave port and face the enemy, it might lose in battle and no longer influence the enemy's actions, but while ...

to counter the threat of the Allied powers. His strategy received severe German criticism, but he was strongly supported by his own high command, including the ''Marineinspekteur'',

Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within ...

. Like his German counterpart,

Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...

, Haus favored

unrestricted submarine warfare Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules") that call for warships to s ...

. In 1916 Haus became the only active-duty Austro-Hungarian naval officer (aside from members of the Imperial house) to be promoted to ''Grossadmiral'' (

). (His immediate successor, Maximilian Njegovan, was named a ''Grossadmiral'' in 1918, but on the retired list.) Haus died of pneumonia in Pola (now

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the I ...

) on 2 February 1917 and was buried at the naval military

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

(''k.u.k. Marinefriedhof'').

Emperor Karl I Charles I or Karl I (german: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria, hu, Károly Ferenc József Lajos Hubert György Ottó Mária; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), King of Croatia, ...

attended the funeral and later conferred upon him the posthumous honour of Commander of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. With Pula under Italian sovereignty postwar, Haus's remains were transferred to Vienna in 1925. Haus was succeeded as ''Marinekommandant'' and ''Flottenkommandant'' by Maximilian Njegovan and as ''Chef der Marinesektion'' by Karl Kailer von Kaltenfels; Njegovan was appointed to the latter post in April 1917 after the death of Kaltenfels. The fleet that Haus had so scrupulously maintained as a 'fleet in being' was parcelled out among the victorious powers after 1918.

References

* Robert Gardiner (editorial director), ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921''. London:

Conway Maritime Press Conway Publishing, formerly Conway Maritime Press, is an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. It is best known for its publications dealing with nautical subjects. History Conway Maritime Press was founded in 1972 as an independent publisher. Its or ...

, 1985. * German Wikipedia entry " Anton Haus" * Paul G. Halpern, ''Anton Haus: Österreich-Ungarns Grossadmiral'' (Graz: Styria, 1998). * Fred T. Jane (editor), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1914''. London:

Sampson Low Sampson Low (18 November 1797 – 16 April 1886) was a bookseller and publisher in London in the 19th century. Early years Born in London in 1797, he was the son of Sampson Low, printer and publisher, of Berwick Street, Soho. He served a short ...

, Marston & Company, Ltd., 1914. *

George Richard Marek George Richard Marek (13 July 1902 – 7 January 1987) was an Austrian-born American music executive and author of biographies of classical composers. Marek was born in Vienna, then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of dentist Ma ...

, ''The Eagles Die. Franz Joseph, Elisabeth, and their Austria''. New York:

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, 1974. * Stephen Pope and Elizabeth-Anne Wheal, ''Dictionary of the First World War''. Barnsley, South Yorkshire:

Pen and Sword Books Pen and Sword Books, also stylised as Pen & Sword, is a British publisher which specialises in printing and distributing books in both hardback and softback on military history, militaria and other niche subjects; factual non-fiction, primarily ...

, 2003.

External links

First World War.com – Who's Who – Anton Haus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haus, Anton 1851 births 1917 deaths Austro-Hungarian admirals Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Admirals of World War I People from Tolmin People from Austrian Littoral Slovene Austro-Hungarians Austrian people of Slovenian descent Commanders Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Commanders of the Order of Franz Joseph Deaths from pneumonia in Croatia

Biography

See also

References

External links