The Austro-Hungarian Navy (Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine, shortened to k.u.k. Kriegsmarine) built a series of battleships between the early 1900s and 1917. To defend its Adriatic coast in wartime, Austria-Hungary had previously built a series of smaller ironclad warships, including coastal defense ships, and armored cruisers.[Note 1] The appointment of Admiral Hermann von Spaun to the post of State Secretary of the Navy in 1897 accelerated naval construction and under the command of Franz Joseph I of Austria, the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine began a program of naval expansion at the beginning of the 20th century. The navy immediately pushed for the construction of the three Habsburg-class battleships.
With the establishment of the Austrian Naval League in September 1904 and the appointment of Vice-Admiral Rudolf Montecuccoli to the post of Chief of the Naval Section of the War Ministry in October that same year, the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine began a program of naval expansion and modernization befitting a Great Power.[1] Montecuccoli immediately pursued the efforts championed by his predecessor and pushed to greatly expand and modernize the Austro-Hungarian Navy. By the Spring of 1905, Montecuccoli envisioned a modern Austro-Hungarian Navy of 12 battleships, four armoured cruisers, eight scout cruisers, 18 destroyers, 36 high seas torpedo craft, and six submarines.[2] Seven months after Montecuccoli's appointment, the last of three ships of the Erzherzog Karl class, all of which were pre-dreadnoughts, was launched at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Trieste.
Two years later, the first Radetzky-class battleships were laid down. These were the last pre-dreadnought battleships to be built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy and were soon succeeded by the Tegetthoff class being built within three more years. They were the country's only class of dreadnoughts.[3] Near the beginning of World War I, the navy started discussions on the construction of a second class of dreadnoughts named the Ersatz Monarch class to replace the old Monarchs. The plans were canceled in 1917, and no new battleships were built after that. Overall, within a period of 13 years, the Austro-Hungarian Navy had produced 13 battleships.[4]
All of the ships saw service in World War I, although the diversion of coal, which was scarce, to the newer Tegetthoff and Radetzky classes limited the service of the remaining battleships. Following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I, the empire was dismantled and all of the battleships were handed over to France, Great Britain, the United States, and Italy.[5][Note 2]
| Main guns | The number and type of the main battery guns |
|---|---|
| Displacement | Ship displacement at full combat load |
| Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed generated |
| Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate |
| Laid down | The date the keel began to be assembled |
| Launched | The date the ship was launched |
| Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned |
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