first scout cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Admiral Spaun was authorized when Austria-Hungary was engaged in a naval arms race with its nominal ally, Italy. Italy's Regia Marina was considered the most-important naval power in the region which Austria-Hungary measured itself against, often unfavourably. The disparity between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian navies had existed for decades; in the late 1880s Italy boasted the third-largest fleet in the world, behind the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. While that disparity had been somewhat equalized with the Imperial Russian Navy and the German Imperial Navy surpassing the Italian Navy in 1893 and in 1894, by 1904 the balance began to shift towards Italy's favour once more. Indeed, by 1904 the size of the Italian Regia Marina was by tonnage was over twice that of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and while the two nations had relatively even numbers of battleships, Italy had over twice as many cruisers. Montecuccoli's plan Admiral Spaun first conceived on paper in early 1905 when Montecuccoli drafted his first proposal for a modern Austrian fleet as part of his plan to construct a navy large enough to contest the Adriatic Sea. This initial plan consisted of 12 battleships, four armoured cruisers, eight scout cruisers, 18 destroyers, 36 high seas torpedo craft, and six submarines. While specifics had yet to be drawn up, the four cruisers in Montecuccoli's plan would ultimately become Admiral Spaun and the three ships of the Novara class. Due to a political crisis within the Hungarian government, a vote on Montecuccoli's proposed program was delayed for most of 1905. It would not be until the end of the year before the Austrian and Hungarian Delegations for Common Affairs approved Montecuccoli's program. Under the terms of the budget agreement, 121,000,000 Krone was set aside for warship construction over a period of three years, with the installments for this special credit being retroactively pushed back to 1904. The budget lacked funding for the three other cruisers Montecuccoli wished to construct, but included funding for the three s, six destroyers, and Admiral Spaun. Design Designed for scouting missions, Admiral Spaun was based on the premise that the theater of operations she would operate in would be largely confined to the Adriatic Sea. She was intended to act as a fast moving scout cruiser capable of conducting hit-and-run missions while also threatening communications and convoy routes. Montecuccoli believed that should