Radetzky-class battleship
SMS Radetzky
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Radetzky class |
Builders | Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino |
Operators | Austro-Hungarian Navy |
Preceded by | Erzherzog Karl class |
Succeeded by | Tegetthoff class |
In commission | 1908–18 |
Completed | 3 |
Retired | 3 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Pre-dreadnought battleship |
Displacement |
|
Length | 137.5 m (451 ft 1 in) |
Beam | 24.6 m (80 ft 9 in) |
Draft | 8.1 m (26 ft 7 in) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 2 shaft vertical triple expansion steam engines |
Speed | 20.5 knots (23.6 mph; 38.0 km/h) |
Range |
|
Complement | 890 |
Armament |
|
Armor |
The Radetzky class was a group of three
Commissioned only a few years before the outbreak of World War I, the ships had limited service careers. All three of the battleships conducted training cruises in the Mediterranean Sea in 1912. In 1913, they took part in an international naval demonstration in the Ionian Sea that protested the Balkan Wars. After Italy declared war on Austro-Hungary and the other Central Powers in 1915, the three Radetzky-class ships bombarded coastal targets in the Adriatic Sea. After 1915, their participation in the war became minimal. All three ships were handed over to Italy after the end of the war, and broken up for scrap between 1920 and 1926.
Development
Design work for a new class of battleships started about two weeks after the launching of Erzherzog Friedrich, an Erzherzog Karl-class battleship, which took place on 30 April 1904. By the end of July 1905, the Austrian Commander in Chief of the Navy, Admiral Monteccuccoli, laid out his vision for an expanded Austro-Hungarian fleet. This included twelve battleships, four armored cruisers, eight scout cruisers, eighteen destroyers, thirty-six large torpedo boats, and six submarines. A navy design board evaluated five designs for the new battleship type between 25 and 29 September 1905.[1]
The first task which needed to be accomplished before construction on any new ships could begin was securing the necessary funding. While naval spending was growing rapidly after 1905, particularly a result of the patronage of Archduke
By the time design work began on the Radetzky class, a number of foreign navies had moved to adopt very heavy secondary battery guns, usually calibers in the range of 8 to 10 in (203 to 254 mm), and this trend influenced the Austro-Hungarian design staff.[8] Ships of these types were sometimes called "semi-dreadnoughts".[9] The first design was armed with four 28 cm (11 in) guns in two twin turrets, four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in single turrets, and eight 19 cm (7.5 in) guns in casemates. The second design retained the 28 and 24 cm guns as in the first version, though altered the tertiary guns to twelve 10 cm (3.9 in) guns. The third design, representative of the new dreadnought type of battleship that was being contemplated in other navies, featured eight 28 cm guns in four twin turrets, one fore, one aft, and two wing turrets. The heavy secondary guns were dispensed with altogether, and the light-caliber guns were increased to sixteen 10 cm guns. The fourth design was a variation on the third type; the eight 28 cm guns were replaced by six 30.5 cm (12 in) guns, in two twin turrets and two single turrets. The 10 cm guns remained the same. The final design mounted four 30.5 cm guns in two twin turrets, eight 19 cm guns in four wing turrets, and twelve 10 cm guns in casemates.[10] The leader of the design staff, Siegfried Popper, advocated the construction of an "all-big-gun" ship.[11] However, Austro-Hungarian dock facilities at the time limited displacement to 16,000 long tons (16,260 t); the two "dreadnought" type designs were too heavy.[10]
Popper eventually relented, after admitting that the larger dreadnought type design would also warrant the construction of a new floating dry dock, which would significantly increase the cost of the project. The design board selected the fifth design, though during refinement of the design, the secondary guns were increased in caliber from 19 cm to 24 cm. The 30.5 cm gun was chosen because the breech of the new 28 cm was unreliable. The resulting design was the last
Underwater protection was also emphasized.
Design
General characteristics
The Radetzky-class ships were 137.5 m (451 ft 1 in)
Armament
The Radetzky-class ships, as noted above, carried a
The ships carried a heavy secondary battery of eight 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in four twin turrets. The turrets were mounted amidships, two on either side. These guns had nearly half the penetration power of the larger 30.5 cm guns, and approximately 25% shorter range. The secondary armament was augmented by twenty 10 cm L/50 guns in single mounts.[10] These guns fired 26.2 kg (58 lb) shells at a rate of between 8 and 10 rounds per minute. The shells were fired at a muzzle velocity of 880 m/s (2,900 ft/s) and could hit targets out to 11,000 m (12,000 yd). Radetzky and her sisters also carried several smaller caliber guns, including two 66 mm (2.6 in) L/18 landing guns, four 47 mm (1.9 in) L/44 and one 47 mm L/33 quick-firing guns. After refits in 1916–1917, each ship had four Škoda 7 cm K16 anti-aircraft guns installed.[12] Three 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes were also carried, two on the beams and one in the stern.[10]
Armor
The ships had an
The main battery turrets were heavily armored. Their sides and face were 250 mm (9.8 in) thick, while their roofs were 60 mm (2.4 in) thick. The turrets for the secondary 24 cm guns had slightly less armor, with 200 mm (7.9 in) thick sides and 50 mm (2 in) thick roofs. The casemates that mounted the 10 cm guns were protected with 120 mm (4.7 in) worth of armor plating. The armored conning tower had 250 mm-thick sides and a 100 mm-thick roof.[10]
Ships
Ship | Namesake | Builder[10] | Laid down
|
Launched | Completed | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand | Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria | Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, Trieste | 12 September 1907 | 30 September 1908 | 5 June 1910 | Transferred to Italy, September 1919 |
Radetzky | Field marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz | 26 November 1907 | 3 July 1909 | 15 January 1911 | ||
Zrínyi | Zrínyi család
|
20 January 1909 | 12 April 1910 | 15 September 1911 |
Service careers
Pre-war
The three Radetzky-class battleships were assigned to the 2nd Division of the 1st Battle Squadron, alongside the
World War I
The assistance of the Austro-Hungarian fleet was called upon by the German Mediterranean Division, which consisted of the battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau.[14] The German ships were attempting to break out of Messina, where they had been coaling prior to the outbreak of war—British ships had begun to assemble off Messina in an attempt to trap the Germans. By this time, the Austro-Hungarians had not yet fully mobilized their fleet, though the three Radetzkys and three Tegetthoffs, along with several cruisers and smaller craft, were available. The Austro-Hungarian high command, wary of instigating war with Great Britain, ordered the fleet to avoid the British ships, and to only openly support the Germans while they were in Austro-Hungarian waters. On 7 August, when the Germans broke out of Messina, the Austro-Hungarian fleet, including the Radetzky-class battleships, sailed as far south as Brindisi, before returning to port.[15]
In October 1914, the French army established artillery batteries on
By October 1918, Austria prepared to transfer her entire fleet to the
Footnotes
- ^ Sieche, pp. 330, 332.
- ^ Sokol, pp. 69, 158.
- ^ Scheltema de Heere, p. 62.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 175.
- ^ Hore, p. 123.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 176.
- ^ Sondhaus, pp. 179–180.
- ^ Scheltema de Heere, p. 70.
- ^ Halpern, p. 14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sieche, p. 332.
- ^ a b c d e f Hore, p. 84.
- ^ Friedman.
- ^ Vego, p. 152.
- ^ Halpern, p. 53.
- ^ Halpern, p. 54.
- ^ Halpern, p. 60.
- ^ a b c DANFS Zrínyi.
References
- ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 57447525.
- Hore, Peter (2006). Battleships of World War I. London: Southwater Books. OCLC 77797289.
- Sieche, Erwin (1985). "Austria-Hungary". In Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
- Scheltema de Heere, R. F. (1973). Fisher, Edward C. (ed.). "Austro-Hungarian Battleships". Warship International. X (1). Toledo: Naval Records Club, Inc.: 11–97. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Sokol, Anthony (1968). The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. OCLC 462208412.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867-1918: Navalism, Industrial Development, and the Politics of Dualism. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. ISBN 1-55753-034-3.
- Vego, Milan N. (1996). Austro-Hungarian Naval Policy, 1904–14. London: Frank Cass Publishers. OCLC 560641850.
- "Zrínyi". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
External links
- 30.5 cm/45 (12") & K10 Škoda, at NavWeaps site (accessed 2016-09-01)