 Kaiser Franz Joseph I at anchor
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class |
| Builders |
|
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Zenta-class |
| Cost | 5,360,000 florins or 10,720,000 crowns (entire class)[a] |
| Built | 1888–1890 |
| In commission | 1890–1917 |
| Planned | 3 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Cancelled | 1 |
| Lost | 2 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Protected cruiser[f] |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 14.75–14.8 m (48 ft 5 in – 48 ft 7 in)[e] |
| Draught | 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 19.65–20.00 knots (36.39–37.04 km/h; 22.61–23.02 mph) |
| Range | 3,200 nautical miles (5,900 km; 3,700 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 367 or 427-444[d] |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| General characteristics (after modernization) | |
| Armament |
|
The Kaiser Franz Joseph I class (sometimes called the Kaiser Franz Josef I class[1]) was a class of two protected cruisers built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Named for Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I, the class comprised SMS Kaiser Franz Joseph I and SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth. Construction took place throughout the late 1880s, with both ships being laid down in 1888. Kaiser Franz Joseph I was built by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Trieste, while Kaiserin Elisabeth was built at the Pola Navy Yard in Pola. The Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class ships were the first protected cruisers constructed by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.[f] Kaiser Franz Joseph I was the first ship of the class to be commissioned into the fleet in July 1890. She was followed by Kaiserin Elisabeth in November 1892.
Constructed in response to the Italian cruisers Giovanni Bausan and Etna, the design of the Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class was heavily influenced by the Jeune École (Young School) naval strategy. The cruisers were intended to serve as the "battleship of the future" by Commander-in-Chief of the Navy (German: Marinekommandant) Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck, the ships were heavily criticized by officers and sailors alike in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, who labeled the ships, "Sterneck's sardine–boxes". Changes in technology and strategic thinking around the world rendered the design of the Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class ships obsolete shortly after they were commissioned. Nevertheless, the ships remained an important component of Austro-Hungarian naval policy, which continued to emphasize the Jeune École doctrine and the importance of coastal defense and overseas missions to show the flag around the world. Both Kaiser Franz Joseph I and Kaiserin Elisabeth participated in several overseas voyages during their careers, with the former conducting a tour of East Asia between 1892 and 1893, the first such voyage by a steel-hulled ship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Archduke Franz Ferdinand accompanied Kaiserin Elisabeth for most of this voyage. Kaiserin Elisabeth saw action during the Boxer Rebellion, and thereafter the two ships of the Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class would alternate tours of duty in the Far East until the start of World War I.
At the outbreak of the war, Kaiserin Elisabeth was stationed in China and participated in the defense of the German-held Kiautschou Bay concession against Japan and the United Kingdom. Some of her guns were removed during the Siege of Tsingtau for use as a shoreline battery. She was scuttled by her crew in November 1914 shortly before the surrender of the port of to Anglo-Japanese forces. Kaiser Franz Joseph I was a member of the Fifth Battle Division at the onset of war and was stationed at the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro as a guard-ship. Obsolete by the start of the war, Kaiser Franz Joseph I saw little action during most of the conflict, and rarely left the Bocche di Cattaro. In late 1914, she participated in the shelling of Franco-Montenegrin artillery batteries located on the slopes of Mount Lovćen, which overshadowed the Bocche. In January 1916, when the Austria-Hungary began an invasion of Montenegro, Kaiser Franz Joseph I assisted in again silencing the Montenegrin batteries on Mount Lovćen in support of the Austro-Hungarian Army, which seized the mountain and subsequently captured the Montenegrin capital of Cetinje, knocking the country out of the war.
In 1917, Kaiser Franz Joseph I was decommissioned, disarmed, and converted into a headquarters ship for the Austro-Hungarian base at Cattaro. She remained in this capacity through the rest of the war. 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. She was ceded to France as a war reparation after the war, but sank during a gale off Kumbor in October 1919.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Greger 1976, p. 27.