Changes in technology and strategic thinking through the adoption of Alfred Thayer Mahan's "decisive battle" doctrine which stressed the construction of powerful battleships as the primary capital ship of navies around the world rendered the design of the Kaiser Franz Joseph I obsolete shortly after her commissioning.

Nevertheless, she and her sister ship Kaiserin Elisabeth remained an important component of Austro-Hungarian naval policy, which continued to emphasize coastal defense and overseas missions to show the flag around the world.

Due to her age and obsolete design, Kaiser Franz Joseph I saw little action during most of the conflict, though she did participate in shelling Franco-Montenegrin artillery batteries located on the slopes of Mount Lovćen in late 1914, which overshadowed the Bocche di Cattaro.

When Austria-Hungary was facing defeat in October 1918, the Austrian government transferred its navy to the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in order to avoid having to hand the ship over to the Allies.

Following the Armistice of Villa Giusti in November 1918, an Allied fleet sailed into Cattaro and seized the former Austro-Hungarian ships stationed in the Bocche, including Kaiser Franz Joseph I.

On 13 November 1883, Emperor Franz Joseph I promoted Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck to the office of vice admiral, and named him Marinekommandant of the Austro-Hungarian Navy as well as Chief of the Naval Section of the War Ministry (German: Chef der Marinesektion).

[5] His strong support for Jeune École was rooted in a belief that the strategy appeared to fit existing Austro-Hungarian naval policy, which stressed coastal defense and limited power projection beyond the Adriatic Sea.

Tests conducted by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the early and mid 1880s led Sterneck to believe that torpedo boat attacks against a fleet of battleships, a central component of Jeune École, would have to be supported by larger ships such as cruisers.

[6] Under the Navy's 1881 plan which was passed by his predecessor, Friedrich von Pöck, Sterneck proposed the construction of a class of cruisers to the Austrian and Hungarian Delegations for Common Affairs as "replacements" for the Austro-Hungarian ironclads Lissa and Kaiser.

[12] Intended as a counter to the growing strength of the Italian Regia Marina, Kaiser Franz Joseph I was designed to lead a torpedo flotilla into battle against a larger fleet of battleships.

Sterneck envisioned a hypothetical engagement with the Italian Regia Marina devolving into a chaotic melee similar to the Battle of Lissa, with Kaiser Franz Joseph I and her sister ship leading torpedo divisions against their opponents.

Her two large guns were also chosen in order to give credence to Sterneck's plan for Kaiser Franz Joseph I to help replace heavily armored ironclads and battleships as the primary capital ship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

[b] These engines were powered by four cylindrical double-ended boilers, which gave Kaiser Franz Joseph I a top speed of 19.65 knots (36.39 km/h; 22.61 mph) while conducting sea trials.

[17][d] These heavy guns were intended to help the cruiser open fire on heavier battleships from a distance while supporting torpedo boat attacks on an enemy warship or fleet.

The fiber was intended to seal up any holes in the ship from artillery rounds by swelling up upon contact with seawater, while the impacting shell itself would be slowed down by the surrounding coal, which would also serve to contain any explosions.

While under the command of Rear Admiral Johann von Hinke, she visited Gibraltar and Cowes in the United Kingdom, where Queen Victoria reviewed the Austro-Hungarian fleet.

Kaiserin Elisabeth would be the first Austro-Hungarian ship stationed in China following the end of the Boxer Rebellion, while Kaiser Franz Joseph I conducted training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea throughout 1903 and 1904.

[29] That same year, she and her sister ship were re-classified as 2nd class cruisers and rotated duties once more, with the Kaiser Franz Joseph I being sent back to China and Kaiserin Elisabeth being transferred to Austria-Hungary to serve as a training vessel.

While relations between Austria-Hungary and Italy had improved greatly in the two years following the 1912 renewal of the Triple Alliance,[33] increased Austro-Hungarian naval spending, political disputes over influence in Albania, and Italian concerns over the potential annexation of land in the Kingdom of Montenegro caused the relationship between the two allies to falter in the months leading up to the war.

[36][37] At the start of the war, Kaiser Franz Joseph I was assigned to the Fifth Battle Division, alongside the three Monarch-class coastal defense ships, and the cruiser Panther at the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro.

[38] After the loss of the cruiser Zenta at the Battle of Antivari, Austro-Hungarian Marinekommandant Anton Haus blamed Barry for failing to intercept the French forces and relieved him of command in October 1914, replacing him with Rear Admiral Alexander Hansa.

[39] Kaiser Franz Joseph I served as a harbor defense ship for most of the remainder of the war,[12] though she did see action against Montenegrin batteries atop Mount Lovćen, which overshadowed the Bocche di Cattaro, where she was stationed.

[40] Meanwhile, Kaiser Franz Joseph I's sister ship, Kaiserin Elisabeth would be the second Austro-Hungarian warship to be sunk during the war, having been trapped in China at the outbreak of hostilities.

[48] The following day, many of the mutinous ships abandoned the effort and rejoined loyalist forces in the inner harbor after shore batteries loyal to the Austro-Hungarian government opened fire on the rebel-held Kronprinz Erzherzog Rudolf.

Liechtenstein tore down the red flag before ordering his ship to escape into the inner harbor; they were joined by the other scout cruisers and most of the torpedo boats, followed by several of the other larger vessels.

Thus Emperor Karl I's government in Vienna asked the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs for help maintaining the fleet and keeping order among the navy.

[54] Emperor Karl I, still attempting to save the Empire from collapse, agreed to the transfer, provided that the other "nations" which made up Austria-Hungary would be able to claim their fair share of the value of the fleet at a later time.

The transfer to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs began on the morning of 31 October, with Horthy meeting representatives from the South Slav nationalities aboard his flagship, Viribus Unitis in Pola.

[57] Control over the battleship, and the head of the newly-established navy for the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, fell to Captain Janko Vuković, who was raised to the rank of admiral and took over Horthy's old responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet.

At a conference at Corfu, the Allied Powers agreed the transfer of Austria-Hungary's Navy to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs could not be accepted, despite sympathy from the United Kingdom.