| Austro-Hungarian "Impr. Tegetthoff" Class |
| - Dreadnought - |
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Battleships |
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| The A.-H. nalval instalment authorized in May 1914 four new dreadnoughts to replace the Monarch-class, therefore often dubbed as "Ersatz-Monarch" class. In the approved budget estimates the ships were named 'Battleship VIII - XI', according to the dual status of the Habsburg-monarchy two of them were to be built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (situated in the Austrian part) and two at Ganz & Co - Danubius (situated at Fiume [Rijeka] in the Hungarian part of the coast). | ||||
| To guarantee joint ammunition supply with the German ally, the calibre of the heavy guns was fixed with 350 mm as in the German battlecruisers of the Mackensen class. Because of the outbreak of WWI the laying down was postponed and never took place. All names published in the open literature are pure speculation, but as the foregoing classes were named after famous military leaders most probably next in line to be used were Laudon (representing Austria) and Hunyadi (representing Hungaria). | ||||
| The design was prepared by Austrian chief naval architect Franz Pitzinger, and started with a first study of December 1911 for a 22000-t-battleship with 305 mm (12") guns and a competitive 23400-t-design with 345 mm (13.5") guns. Until the approval of the final design of July 1914 another 12 designs were prepared. To evaluate the layout of the armour protection, for the first time in the history of A.-H. battleship construction a hole middle section was constructed ('Sprengobjekt'). All test reports were withdrawn from the archives in 1919/20 by a fact finding team of unknown nationality (US?, Japanese?) looking for technical informations. | ||||
| While the contracts to the two yards were never signed, the Skoda works, leading gun manufacturer of the Habsburg-monarchy had received her contract for the first batch of ten 350 mm guns. For more details see the link below. | ||||
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| Technical Data | ||
| Built: Displacement: Dimensions: Propulsion: Max. Speed: Range: Fuel: Crew: |
scheduled 1914-1919 24,500 / - ts 173.50 × 28.50 × 8.36 m 31,000 SHP; 15 Yarrow WT boilers (9 coal + 6 oil); 4 turbines 21 kts 5,000 nm / 10 kts 1,425 t coal + 1,035 t oil ? |
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| Tactical Data | ||
| Main: Secondary: QF: Armour: Torpedoes: Searchlights: |
10×350 cal 45 [2×3, 2×2] 14×150 cal 50 [15x1] 20×90 cal 45 (incl. 12 AA) ? 6x530 (1 bow, 4 beam, 1 stern) 6x1,100 mm |
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