An interwar Austro-Hungarian Navy would emphasize cruisers and torpedoes

How might Austro-Hungarian naval doctrine evolve if the empire and its navy survived into the Second World War?

Treaty limits and an exposed Adriatic position would likely drive the navy toward powerful cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo weapons, while its survival would make Italy a much less reliable German ally.

A surviving Austro-Hungarian Navy would first have to address its access to the sea and the possibility of an Italian threat across the Adriatic. If it faced restrictions similar to Germany's, the answer expects development to concentrate on large, powerful cruisers, destroyers and torpedoes. The diplomatic consequences would also change the naval problem. Italy would have failed to obtain territory it wanted and would still face an Austro-Hungarian rival nearby. In this scenario, that rivalry would make Italian support for Germany much less likely.