 SMS Wien circa 1898
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Monarch class |
| Operators |  Austro-Hungarian Navy |
| Preceded by | SMS Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie |
| Succeeded by | Habsburg-class battleship |
| Built | 1893–1896 |
| In commission | 1895–1920 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Coastal defense ship |
| Displacement | 5,878 tonnes (5,785 long tons) |
| Length | 99.22 m (325.5 ft) |
| Beam | 17 m (55 ft 9 in) |
| Draught | 6.6 m (22 ft) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range | 2,200 nmi (4,100 km) |
| Complement | 469 |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
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The Monarch class was a class of three coastal defense ships built by Austria-Hungary at the end of the 19th century. The Monarchs were the first ships of their type to utilize turrets. The class comprised three ships: SMS Monarch, SMS Wien, and SMS Budapest, each armed with four 240 mm (9 in) L/40 guns in two turrets and capable of 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) at full speed. Budapest was fitted with slightly more modern and powerful engines, giving her a top speed of 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph).
Monarch was launched on 9 May 1895, Wien on 7 July 1895, and Budapest just over a year later on 24 July 1896. The ships saw very little service during World War I in the V Division of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. Budapest and Wien took part in the bombardment of Italian positions along the Adriatic coast in 1915 and 1917, but the three battleships went largely inactive for the remainder of war.
In 1917, Wien was struck by Italian torpedoes and sank in her home port of Trieste. The remaining two ships were ceded to Great Britain following the end of the war and were scrapped between 1920 and 1922.