 Viribus Unitis, the lead ship of the Tegetthoff-class battleships, in 1912
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tegetthoff-class battleship |
| Builders | |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | Radetzky class |
| Succeeded by | Ersatz Monarch class |
| Cost | 60,600,000 Krone per ship[2] |
| Built | 1910–1914 |
| In commission | 1912–1918 |
| Completed | 4 |
| Lost | 2 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 152 m (498 ft 8 in) |
| Beam | 27.90 m (91 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 8.70 m (28 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 steam turbine sets[c] |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)[d] |
| Range | 4,200 nmi (7,800 km; 4,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 1,087[3] |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | |
The Tegetthoff class (also called the Viribus Unitis class[4][5][6]) was a class of four dreadnought battleships built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Named for Austrian Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, the class was composed of SMS Viribus Unitis, SMS Tegetthoff, SMS Prinz Eugen, and SMS Szent István. Construction started on the ships shortly before World War I; Viribus Unitis and Tegetthoff were both laid down in 1910, Prinz Eugen and Szent István followed in 1912.[7] Three of the four warships were built in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste; Szent István was built in the Ganz-Danubius shipyard in Fiume, so that both parts of the Dual Monarchy would participate in the construction of the ships.[8][2] The Tegetthoff-class ships hold the distinction for being the first and only dreadnought battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.[9] The SMS Szent István had a different more modern propulsion system than her sister ships.
Viribus Unitis and Tegetthoff were commissioned into the fleet in December 1912 and July 1913, respectively. Prinz Eugen followed in July 1914.[8] The smaller shipyards in Fiume resulted in a slower construction which was further delayed by the outbreak of the war, with Szent István commissioned into the fleet in December 1915.[3] This was too late for her to take part in the Bombardment of Ancona in which the remaining ships in the class saw action immediately following Italy's declaration of war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915.[10][11]
All of the Tegetthoffs were members of the 1st Battleship Division at the beginning of the war and were stationed out of the naval base at Pola.[12] Following the Bombardment of Ancona and the commissioning of Szent István, the four ships saw little combat due to the Otranto Barrage which prohibited the Austro-Hungarian Navy from leaving the Adriatic Sea.[11] In June 1918, in an attempt to earn safer passage for German and Austro-Hungarian U-boats through the Strait of Otranto, the Austro-Hungarian Navy attempted to break the Barrage with a major attack on the strait, but it was abandoned after Szent István was sunk by the Italian motor torpedo boat MAS-15 on the morning of 10 June.[13]
After the sinking of Szent István, the remaining three ships of the class returned to port in Pola where they remained for the rest of the war. When Austria-Hungary was facing defeat in the war in October 1918, the Austrian government decided to transfer Viribus Unitis to the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in order to avoid having to hand the ship over to the Allied Powers. Renamed Jugoslavija, the ship was destroyed by an Italian mine in the Raid on Pola a day later.[1] Following the Armistice of Villa Giusti in November 1918, Prinz Eugen was ceded to France where she was sunk as a target ship in 1922, while Tegetthoff was handed over to Italy and scrapped between 1924 and 1925.[8] The wreck of Viribus Unitis was salvaged from Pola harbor and broken up between 1920 and 1930.[14]
- ^ a b Sokol 1968, p. 139.
- ^ a b Sieche 1991, p. 116.
- ^ a b Sieche 1991, p. 133.
- ^ Sokol 1968, p. 69.
- ^ Koburger 2001, p. 29.
- ^ Prasky 1978, p. 105.
- ^ Sokol 1968, pp. 150–151.
- ^ a b c Sieche 1985, p. 334.
- ^ Sokol 1968, p. 116.
- ^ Sokol 1968, pp. 105–107.
- ^ a b Halpern 1995, p. 54.
- ^ Greger 1976, p. 11.
- ^ Sokol 1968, pp. 133–134.
- ^ Prasky 1978, p. 107.
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