 After the breakout , the Austro @-@ Hungarian navy saw very little action , spending much of its time in its base at Pola ( now Pula , Croatia ) . The navy 's general inactivity was partly caused by a lack of coal , which became a problem as the war progressed , and partly by a fear of mines in the Adriatic ( which also kept the Italian navy in port for most of the war ) . They did , however , leave Pula to bombard Ancona in May 1915 . On 23 May 1915 , four hours after the Italian declaration of war reached the main Austro @-@ Hungarian naval base at Pola , the members of the Tegetthoff class and the rest of the fleet departed to bombard the Italian coast . The Austro @-@ Hungarian ships bombarded the important naval base at Ancona , and later the coast of Montenegro , without opposition ; by the time Italian ships arrived on the scene , the Austro @-@ Hungarians were safely back in Pola . 
