| Austro-Hungarian "Ersatz Zenta" Type |
| - Scout Cruisers - |
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Cruisers |
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| In May 1914 the A.-H. navy got authorised not only four new
super-dreadnoughts of the Ersatz Monarch
type, but also three more scout cruisers (K, L, M) to reinforce the cruiser flotilla and to replace
the obsolete 3rd class Zenta-class
cruisers. Preparatory works had been started earlier, and a prize winning competition held in November 1913 had placed the designs of naval architect Johann Fiala on first place, judging his design Ib as best suiting the briefing.  |
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| In the next stage Fiala was ordered to rework his design, especially including a better belt armour of 20 mm. In May 1914 Fiala asked the three major turbine manufacturers of the monarchy - the S.T.T., Breitfeld, Danek & Co., Prague and Ganz & Comp., Budapest - for new bids for a 40,000 SHP propulsion set. After the outbreak of WWI the A.-H. navy stopped all new ship construction and did not occupy the special credit authorised 8 weeks before. On 3 February 1915 naval authorities decided to 'freeze' the money ' and postpone capital ship construction 'until the end of the war'. As long as Fiala acted as technical supervisor of cruiser construction at S.T.T. he still pushed forward his project. Even in December 1915 Ganz & Comp., Budapest, offered him a turbine design for a two-shaft-propulsion system composed of Curtis-AEG-Ganz-Danubius turbines designed for 40,000 SHP/30 kts. | ||||
| End of December Fiala received orders to rework his design drastically, boosting the armament to 2x190mm in a twin turret and 6 to 8 150mm cal 50 and 2 to 4 90 mm AA guns. Times and the strategic framework had changed had changed drastically, so all his further wartime design work remained idle desk top toying. | ||||
On special request of the heir to the throne, archduke Franz Ferdinand, one of the trio
was to be designed as a 'yacht cruiser' allowing accommodation of his person and his
imperial suite.  |
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| Technical Data | ||
| Built: Displacement: Dimensions: Propulsion: Max. Speed: Range: Crew: |
never realized 4,950 / 5,611 ts 151.2 × 13.7 × 4.97 m 38,000 SHP; 16 boilers; 2 AEG turbines; 2 shafts 30.1 kts - 400 |
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| Tactical Data | ||
| Main: QF: Armour: Torpedoes: Searchlights: |
14x120 cal 45 Skoda K 13 [14x1] ? x70 cal 50; 1x8 machine gun 60 - 20 - 40 - 50 6x553 [3x2] 2(?)x600 |
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