In April 1864 Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian stepped down as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and accepted the throne of Mexico from Louis Napoleon, becoming Maximilian I of Mexico. He traveled from Trieste to Veracruz aboard the SMS "Novara", escorted by the frigates (Austrian) and (French), and the Imperial yacht "Phantasie" led the warship procession from his palace at Schloß Miramar out to sea. When he was arrested and executed four years later, admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff was sent aboard the "Novara" to take Ferdinand Maximilian's body back to Austria.