Drache-class ironclad

Drache at anchor after her 1867 refit
Class overview
BuildersStabilimento Tecnico Triestino, Trieste
Operators Austria–Hungary
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byKaiser Max class
Built1861–1862
In commission1862–1883
Completed2
Scrapped2
General characteristics (as built)
TypeIronclad armored frigate
Displacement
  • Normal: 2,824 long tons (2,869 t)
  • Full load: 3,110 long tons (3,160 t)
Length70.1 m (230 ft)
Beam13.94 m (45 ft 9 in)
Draft6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Installed power
Propulsion1 Shaft, 1 Steam engine
Sail planBarque-rigged
Speed10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph)
Complement346
Armament
ArmorWaterline belt: 115 mm (4.5 in)

The Drache-class ironclads were a pair of wooden-hulled armored frigates built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1860s, the first ironclads built for Austria-Hungary. Ordered in response to a pair of Italian ironclads in 1860, Drache and Salamander were laid down in early 1861, launched later that year, and completed in 1862. They participated in the Austrian victory over the Italians in the Battle of Lissa, where Drache destroyed the coastal defense ship Palestro, one of two Italian ships sunk in the action. Both ships were withdrawn from front-line service in 1875. Drache's hull was in poor condition, so she was discarded and eventually broken up in 1883, and Salamander became a harbor guard ship. She was hulked in 1883 and converted into floating storage for naval mines before being scrapped in 1895–1896.