SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand

SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand
SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand on gunnery trials in 1908
History
Austria-Hungary
NameSMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand
NamesakeArchduke Franz Ferdinand
OwnerAustro-Hungarian Navy
BuilderStabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Laid down12 September 1907
Launched8 September 1908
Commissioned5 June 1910
FateCeded to Italy
Italy
Decommissioned1926
FateScrapped 1926
General characteristics [1][2][3]
Class and typeRadetzky-class battleship
Displacement
  • 14,508 long tons (14,741 t) standard
  • 15,845.5 long tons (16,100 t) full load
Length137.5 m (451 ft 1 in)
Beam24.6 m (80 ft 9 in)
Draft8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)
Installed power19,800 ihp (14,765 kW)
Propulsion
Speed20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Range4,000 nmi (7,408 km; 4,603 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement890
Armament
Armor

SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand[a] was an Austro-Hungarian Radetzky-class pre-dreadnought battleship commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 5 June 1910.[b] She was named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The first ship of her class to be built, she preceded Radetzky by more than six months. Her armament included four 30.5 cm (12 in) guns in two twin turrets, and eight 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in four twin turrets.

She participated in an international naval protest of the Balkan Wars in 1913, during which she helped enforce a blockade of Montenegro. She was also one of the first ships to deploy seaplanes for military use. During World War I, she saw limited service in the 2nd Division of the 1st Battle Squadron, including mobilization to assist the escape of the German ships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau and the bombardment of Ancona in 1915. At the end of the war, she was ceded to Italy as a war prize and was eventually scrapped in 1926.

  1. ^ Sieche, p. 332.
  2. ^ Sokol, p. 151.
  3. ^ Ireland, p. 12.


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