SMS Spalato

SMS Spalato early in her career
History
Austria-Hungary
NameSpalato
NamesakeSpalato
BuilderStabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Laid downSeptember 1878
Launched30 August 1879
CommissionedSeptember 1881
FateCeded to Italy and scrapped, 1920
General characteristics
Class and typeZara class
Displacement833 long tons (846 t)
Length62.71 m (205 ft 9 in)
Beam8.22 m (27 ft)
Draft4.1 m (13 ft 5 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed12.63 kn (23.39 km/h; 14.53 mph)
Crew
  • 13 officers
  • 135 enlisted men
Armament
ArmorDeck: 19 mm (0.75 in)

SMS Spalato was a torpedo cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the second member of the Zara class. She was laid down in September 1878, launched in August 1879, and commissioned in September 1881. Too slow to be used in her intended roles as a fleet scout and a flotilla leader, she was immediately taken ashore for several modifications to her propulsion system in an unsuccessful attempt to rectify the problem. As a result, she saw little active service, being used primarily for training purposes. She served in the artillery training school for most of the period between 1897 and 1914. During World War I, she served as a guard ship in Pola, and after the war was ceded to Italy as a war prize. She was broken up for scrap sometime thereafter.