SMS Helgoland ( 1912 ) SMS " Helgoland " was a " Novara " - class scout cruiser built for the Austro - Hungarian Navy right before World War I . " Helgoland " participated in several raids on the ships defending the Strait of Otranto , including the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in May 1917 . She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending World War I and renamed " Brindisi " . After modifications , the ship was assigned to the squadron responsible for the Eastern Mediterranean until 1924 . She spent the next five years based in Libya and Italy before " Brindisi " was disarmed and turned into a depot ship in 1929 . The ship was stricken from the Navy List in 1937 and later disposed of . Design and description . The ship measured overall , with a beam of . " Helgoland " had a mean draft of and displaced at normal load . At deep load , she displaced . Her propulsion system consisted of two sets of AEG - Curtis steam turbines driving two propeller shafts . They were designed to provide and were powered by 16 Yarrow water - tube boilers . These gave the ship a top speed of . " Helgoland " carried about of coal that gave her a range of approximately at . The ship had a crew of 340 officers and men . " Helgoland " was armed with nine 50 - caliber guns in single pedestal mounts . Three were placed forward on the forecastle , four were located amidships , two on either side , and two were side by side on the quarterdeck . A 50 - caliber anti - aircraft gun and six torpedo tube s in twin mounts were added in 1917 . The navy planned to remove the guns on the forecastle and quarterdeck and replace them with a guns fore and aft , but nothing was done before the end of the war . The ship was protected by a waterline armored belt that was thick amidships . The conning tower had 60 mm thick sides , and the deck was thick . Service history . " Helgoland " was laid down at the Danubius shipyard in Fiume on 28 October 1911 and was launched on 23 November 1912 . The ship was completed on 5 September 1914 , a month after the start of World War I . The ship ' s first combat came on 17 August 1915 when she , her sister , and four destroyer s bombarded Italian forces on the island of Pelagosa which had recently been occupied by the Italians . In late 1915 , the Austro - Hungarian Navy began a series of raids against the merchant ships supplying Allied forces in Serbia and Montenegro . On the night of 22 / 23 November 1915 , " Helgoland " , " Saida " , and the 1st Torpedo Division raided the Albanian coast and sank a pair of Italian transports carrying flour . To facilitate these raids , Helgoland , her sister , six modern " Tátra " - class destroyers , six T - 74 class torpedo boat s and an oiler were transferred to Cattaro to facilitate further raids on 29 November . " Helgoland " , together with five destroyers , participated in another of these raids at the end of December . They sank a French submarine between Brindisi and the Albanian port of Durazzo on 28 December and the destroyers attacked shipping in Durazzo the following morning . Two of the destroyers struck mines while after sinking several ships in the port and had to be abandoned . The Austro - Hungarians managed to evade the Allied pursuit only when darkness fell . On the night of 31 May / 1 June 1916 , the ship covered a raid by two destroyers and three torpedo boat s on the drifter s defending the Strait of Otranto against submarines trying to exit the Adriatic Sea , sinking one . Erich Heyssler assumed command of " Helgoland " in April 1917 and Miklós Horthy planned another raid on the drifters using a force composed of the three " Novara " - class cruisers . The three cruisers were to attack separately while two destroyers made a diversionary attack on the drifters near the Albanian coast . On the night of 14 May , the ships departed port and managed to pass through the line of drifters in the darkness without being identified . As the sounds from the diversionary attack were heard , the drifters released their nets and began to head towards Otranto . " Helgoland " turned around and attacked the westernmost group of drifters as dawn began on the morning of 15 May . Between the three cruisers , they sank 14 drifters and badly damaged an additional four . The skipper of the drifter " Gowan Lea " , Joseph Watt , refused to surrender and abandon ship when demanded by " Helgoland " , despite the cruiser only being away . Watt ' s crew only managed to fire one shot before their single six - pounder gun was disabled . Watt ' s refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds was recognized after the battle by the award of the Victoria Cross . " Helgoland " did not linger to ensure that " Gowan Lea " was sunk , but proceeded to attack other drifters . She did , however , pause briefly to rescue 18 survivors from other drifters before turning for home . The Austrian ships were first contacted during their retreat by a group of three French destroyers led by a small Italian scout cruiser , " Carlo Mirabello " , but the heavier guns of the Austrian ships dissuaded the Allied commander from closing the range . They were intercepted shortly afterward by a stronger group of two British protected cruiser s , and , escorted by four Italian destroyers . " Dartmouth " opened fire with her guns at a range of and Horthy ordered his ships to make smoke several minutes later . This nearly caused the three Austrian cruisers to collide in the dense smoke , but covered them against the fire from the British ships as they closed the range . When they emerged , the Austrian ships were only about from the British , a range much more suitable for the smaller Austrian guns . The three cruisers were gradually drawing away from their pursuers when " Novara " , leading the Austrian ships , was hit several times ; most critically in the engine room that knocked out half her boilers . " Helgoland " was also hit five times , but not seriously , aside from one gun disabled . One crewman had been killed and 16 were wounded . The British ships turned away , around the time that " Novara " had to extinguish her remaining boilers and went dead in the water , upon learning that more Austrian ships were approaching . " Saida " was preparing to take " Novara " under tow when several Italian destroyers attacked in succession . The weight of fire from the three cruisers prevented them from closing to torpedo range and they scored no hits . The Allied ship returned to Brindisi and the Austrians slowly proceeded back to base . " Helgoland " had fired 1052 shells from her 10 cm guns . Heyssler received the Order of Leopold with crossed swords in recognition of his leadership during the battle . " Helgoland " and six destroyers attempted to duplicate the success of the earlier raid on 18 – 19 October , but they were spotted by Italian aircraft and turned back in the face of substantial Allied reinforcements alerted by the aircraft . She was caught under the guns of several mutinous armored cruiser s during the Gulf of Kotor Mutiny in February 1918 , but managed to escape without damage . The ship was tasked to participate in a major attack on the Allied ships defending the Strait of Otranto on 11 June , but it was called off after the dreadnought was sunk by an Italian motor torpedo boat en route to the rendezvous for the operation . Following the Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria - Hungary on 3 November , the entire Austro - Hungarian fleet was transferred to the newly formed Yugoslavia . Italian service . Italy received " Helgoland " from Austria - Hungary on 19 September 1920 as part of the Treaty of Saint - Germain - en - Laye that ended the country ' s participation in World War I . Renamed " Brindisi " and anchored at Bizerte , Tunisia , when the transfer was made , the ship was rated as an " esploratore " ( scout cruiser ) by Italy , and reached La Spezia on 26 October where she was assigned to the Scouting Group ( " Gruppo Esploratori " ) . The ship was modified to suit the Italians at La Spezia from 6 April to 16 June 1921 before she entered service . She became the flagship of Rear Admiral Massimiliano Lovatelli , commander of the Light Squadron , upon recommissioning . " Brindisi " sailed for Istanbul on 3 July , visiting a number of ports in Italy , Greece , and Turkey en route . She relieved the armored cruiser as flagship of the Eastern Squadron upon her arrival on 16 July . The ship was replaced as flagship on 6 October and remained assigned to the Eastern Squadron until she returned to Italy on 7 January 1924 . " Brindisi " hosted King Victor Emmanuel III aboard during the ceremonies that transferred Fiume to Italian control in accordance with the Treaty of Rome in February – March 1924 . The ship was then transferred to Libya where she spent the next year . " Brindisi " returned to Italy the following year and was briefly assigned to the Scout Squadron on 1 April 1926 before she was placed in reserve on 26 July . The ship was reactivated on 1 June 1927 when she was assigned as the flagship of the 1st Destroyer Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Enrico Cuturi . Six months later , she was relieved as flagship and was transferred to the Special Squadron where she became flagship of Rear Admiral Antonio Foschini on 6 June 1928 . In May – June 1929 , " Brindisi " made a cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean where she visited ports in Greece and the Dodecanese Islands . Rear Admiral Salvatore Denti relieved Foschini on 15 October and the ship was disarmed on 26 November . She was used as a depot ship at Ancona , Pula , and Trieste until she was stricken from the Navy List on 11 March 1937 .