 Illustration of Kaiser Max c. 1866
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Austrian Empire | |
| Name | Kaiser Max |
| Builder | Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino |
| Laid down | October 1861 |
| Launched | 14 May 1862 |
| Commissioned | 1863 |
| Fate | Scrapped, December 1873 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Kaiser Max class |
| Displacement | 3,588 long tons (3,646 t) |
| Length | 70.78 m (232 ft 3 in) pp |
| Beam | 10 m (32 ft 10 in) |
| Draft | 6.32 m (20 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power | 1,926 indicated horsepower (1,436 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 11.4 knots (21.1 km/h; 13.1 mph) |
| Range | 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Crew | 386 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | Belt: 110 mm (4.3 in) |
SMS Kaiser Max was the lead ship of the Kaiser Max class of armored frigates built for the Austrian Navy in the 1860s. Her keel was laid in October 1861 at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard; she was launched in May 1862, and was completed in 1863. She carried her main battery—composed of sixteen 48-pounder guns and fifteen 24-pounders—in a traditional broadside arrangement, protected by an armored belt that was 110 mm (4.3 in) thick.
Kaiser Max saw action at the Battle of Lissa in July 1866. She engaged the Italian coastal defense ship Palestro, which later exploded and sank after sustaining heavy Austrian fire. Kaiser Max emerged from the battle largely unscathed, save for minor damage to her funnel and rigging inflicted by the armored frigate Re d'Italia. After the war, Kaiser Max was modernized slightly in 1867 to correct her poor seakeeping and improve her armament, but she was nevertheless rapidly outpaced by naval developments in the 1860s and 1870s. Obsolescent by 1873, Kaiser Max was officially "rebuilt", though in actuality she was broken up for scrap, with only her armor plate, parts of her machinery, and other miscellaneous parts being reused in the new Kaiser Max.