Torpedo boats and submarines had useful roles, yet destroyers remained a neglected part of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. Their smaller crews offered fewer opportunities than cruisers and battleships to build connections across the empire's national groups. Officers and non-commissioned officers faced high professional standards, including the requirement to speak multiple languages. Those demands could produce capable personnel without providing the ships needed to use their skills fully. Building good destroyers in very small numbers left the navy short of the assets its crews could operate.
Notable Point · 42:32-43:30
Capable multilingual crews still needed more destroyers
The navy demanded skilled multilingual officers and NCOs, while destroyers struggled for investment because they offered less nation-building value than larger ships.