For the raid of 14 May 1917, Saida, Novara, and Helgoland were disguised to resemble destroyers and concentrated against a blockade that had to remain continuously on station. They passed the drifter line in darkness and attacked the patrol vessels, with Saida stopping to rescue nineteen survivors. During the withdrawal they encountered French destroyers, the Italian scout cruiser Carlo Mirabello, and the British cruisers Bristol and Dartmouth. Smoke helped them close from Dartmouth's six-inch-gun range to a distance better suited to their 100 mm weapons, but Novara was disabled and had to be towed while destroyers attempted torpedo attacks. Sankt Georg, destroyers, torpedo boats, and eventually the coastal-defense ship Budapest helped cover the withdrawal. The action shows both the tactical value of concentration and the cruisers' vulnerability once heavier Allied ships arrived.
Chapter · 35:31-39:34
The Novara class raids the Otranto Barrage in 1917
Horthy's three Novara-class cruisers penetrated the drifter line at night, then fought Allied cruisers and destroyers during a difficult withdrawal.