SMS Saida was a Novara-class scout cruiser built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the early 1910s. The ship was armed with a main battery of nine 10 cm (3.9 in) guns, and six twin 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes were added in 1917. She was built by the Cantiere Navale Triestino shipyard from 1911 to 1914, entering service days after the outbreak of World War I. She spent the war as a flotilla leader, conducting raids and patrols in the narrow waters of the Adriatic Sea.

The Novara class was a class of three scout cruisers built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Named for the Battle of Novara, the class comprised SMS Saida, SMS Helgoland, and SMS Novara. Construction started on the ships shortly before World War I; Saida and Helgoland were both laid down in 1911, Novara followed in 1912. Two of the three warships were built in the Ganz-Danubius shipyard in Fiume; Saida was built in the Cantiere Navale Triestino shipyard in Monfalcone. The Novara-class ships hold the distinction for being the last cruisers constructed by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.