Austria-Hungary's U-boat fleet was largely obsolete at the outbreak of World War I, and, over the first two years of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Navy focused its efforts on building a U-boat fleet for local defense within the Adriatic.
To that end, the Austro-Hungarian Navy purchased plans for the Germaniawerft Project 835 design on 11 July 1915 in order to build under license in Austria-Hungary.