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Anton Haus | |
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 Anton Haus in 1914 | |
| Born | (1851-06-13)13 June 1851 |
| Died | 8 February 1917(1917-02-08) (aged 65) |
| Allegiance |  Austria-Hungary |
| Branch |  Austro-Hungarian Navy |
| Years of service | 1869–1917 |
| Rank | Grand Admiral |
| Commands | Chef der Marinesektion (Commander of Navy) (February 1913-February 1917) |
| Battles / wars | First World War |
| Awards | Military Order of Maria Theresa Order of Leopold (Austria) Order of the Iron Crown (Austria) Order of Franz Joseph |
Anton Johann Haus (13 June 1851 – 8 February 1917) was an Austrian naval officer. Despite his German name, he was born to aSlovenian-speaking family in Tolmein (nowTolmin, Slovenia). Haus was fleet commander of theAustro-Hungarian Navy in World War I and was the Navy'sGrand Admiral from 1916 until his death.
Haus entered the Navy in 1869. He distinguished himself as an instructor at theImperial and Royal Naval Academy in Fiume (nowRijeka); a product of his academic study wasOceanography and Maritime Meteorology (1891). Returning to a seagoing command, Haus was commander of the corvetteSMS Donau during the multinational intervention in theBoxer Rebellion inChina in 1900/01. After the suppression of the insurrection Haus remained in Peking (nowBeijing) until 1902.
Promoted toVizeadmiral in 1907, Haus was Austro-Hungarian envoy to the secondHague Peace Conference from May to October of that year. AppointedFlotteninspekteur (Fleet Inspector) in 1912, Haus succeededRudolf Montecuccoli asMarinekommandant (Navy Commander) andChef der Marinesektion (Chief of the Naval Section of the War Ministry) on 24 February 1913.
Perhaps unaware of the gravity of the situation, Haus was notably absent during the July Crisis of 1914. At the crucial crown council of 7 July 1914, where drastic action againstSerbia was decided upon,Karl Kailer von Kaltenfels stood in for his chief. Upon the outbreak of war, Haus was namedFlottenkommandant (Fleet Commander). When Italy entered the war, Haus sent the battle fleet to bombardAncona and other Italian Adriatic ports on the night of 23/24 May 1915, but for the most part he left the active fighting to the light forces—fast cruisers, destroyers and submarines.
A shrewd naval strategist, Haus recognized that the real value of his battle fleet lay in maintaining its existence as afleet in being to counter the threat of the Allied powers. His strategy received severe German criticism, but he was strongly supported by his own high command, including theMarineinspekteur,Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria. Like his German counterpart,Alfred von Tirpitz, Haus favoredunrestricted submarine warfare.
In 1916 Haus became the only active-duty Austro-Hungarian naval officer (aside from members of the Imperial house) to be promoted toGrossadmiral (Grand Admiral). (His immediate successor,Maximilian Njegovan, was named aGrossadmiral in 1918, but on the retired list.)
Haus died of pneumonia in Pola (nowPula) on 2 February 1917 and was buried at the naval militarycemetery (k.u.k. Marinefriedhof).Emperor Karl I attended the funeral and later conferred upon him the posthumous honour ofCommander of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. With Pula under Italian sovereignty postwar, Haus's remains were transferred to Vienna in 1925.
Haus was succeeded asMarinekommandant andFlottenkommandant by Maximilian Njegovan and asChef der Marinesektion by Karl Kailer von Kaltenfels; Njegovan was appointed to the latter post in April 1917 after the death of Kaltenfels. The fleet that Haus had so scrupulously maintained as a 'fleet in being' was parcelled out among the victorious powers after 1918.
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| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Naval Fleet 1913–1917 | Succeeded by |
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