SM Tb 16 (ex-Cobra) before 1920 | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Builders | Yarrow, Poplar, London |
Operators | Austro-Hungarian Navy |
Succeeded by | Kaiman class |
Completed | 4 |
Scrapped | 4 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Torpedo boat |
Displacement | 135 t (133 long tons) full load |
Length | 45.9 m (150 ft 7 in) wl |
Beam | 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) |
Draught | 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) |
Installed power | 1,800 ihp (1,300 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
Complement | 21 |
Armament |
|
The Cobra class [1] (also known as the Python class [2] ) was a class of four torpedo boats built by the British shipbuilder Yarrow for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the late 1890s. All four ships served through the First World War and were scrapped in 1919.
In 1895, the Austro-Hungarian Navy purchased one torpedo boat each from the British shipbuilder Yarrow and the German shipbuilder Schichau-Werke, two specialist builders of torpedo vessels. The two torpedo boats, which carried identical armament, were evaluated against each other. While there was little to choose between the seaworthiness of the two ships, the German-built ship, Natter, suffered vibration at high speed, while the Yarrow-built torpedo-boat, Viper, did not suffer such vibration and the Yarrow design was chosen for further development, with four more torpedo-boats ordered from Yarrow to a modified design. [2]
The new torpedo boats were 46.6 m (152 ft 11 in) long at the waterline and 45.9 m (150 ft 7 in) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) and a draught of 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in). [1] Two coal-fired Yarrow water-tube boilers fed a single three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine which drove a single propeller shaft. The machinery was rated at 1,800 indicated horsepower (1,300 kW ) giving a speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), although 2,000 ihp (1,500 kW) was generated during sea trials, when Python reached a speed of 24.34 knots (45.08 km/h; 28.01 mph). [1] [3]
The ships were armed by two 47-millimetre (1.9 in) L/33 Skoda guns and three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, (except Kigyo which was only fitted with two torpedo tubes), with two forward on the sides of the ship, where they could fire almost dead ahead, and one on the ships' centreline aft. The ships had a crew of 21. [1] [4]
The four ships were laid down at Yarrow's Poplar, London shipyard in 1897–1898 and completed in 1898–1900. [1] In 1910, all Austro-Hungarian torpedo-boats were redesignated, replacing their names by numbers, with the Cobra class becoming Tb 13 – Tb 16. [2]
On the outbreak of the First World War three of the torpedo-boats (Tb 13, Tb 15 and Tb 16) were based at Cattaro as part of the local defence forces, serving as escorts and minesweepers throughout the war, while Tb 14 was used as a salvage vessel for the naval air station at Pola (now Pula in Croatia, later transferring to Šibenik. All four ships survived the war, and were allocated to France and Britain under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1919 (with Tb 13, Tb 15 and Tb 16 going to France and Tb 14 going to Britain) and were scrapped in 1920. [2] [5]
The Erzherzog Karl class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built before World War I. All of the battleships of the Erzherzog Karl-class were built in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyards in Trieste. The first battleship, Erzherzog Karl was laid down in 1902. Construction on the remaining two battleships, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max and Erzherzog Friedrich continued up to 1905. Erzherzog Karl was commissioned in 1906, while Erzherzog Ferdinand Max and Erzherzog Friedrich were commissioned in 1907. The three Erzherzog Karl-class battleships were considered relatively modern by the time they were commissioned. However, small docking space and budget restraints resulted in the class being fairly compact. Nevertheless, they were well designed and properly protected. The Erzherzog Karl class were the last and largest pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austrian Navy. They were named after members of the Austrian Royal family.
SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia was an armored cruiser used by the imperial Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1895 to 1917; she was the first ship of that type built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The ship was a unique design, built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste; she was laid down in July 1891, launched in April 1893, and completed in November 1894. Armed with a main battery of two 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns and eight 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, the ship provided the basis for two subsequent armored cruiser designs for the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
SMS Panther was a torpedo cruiser (Torpedoschiff) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She and her sister ship, Leopard were part of a program to build up Austria-Hungary's fleet of torpedo craft in the 1880s. She was the lead ship of her class, and was built in Britain by Armstrong, from her keel laying in October 1884 to her completion in December 1885. She was armed with a battery of two 12 cm (4.7 in) guns and ten 47 mm (1.9 in) guns, along with four 356 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes.
SMS Leopard was a torpedo cruiser (Torpedoschiff) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She and her sister ship, SMS Panther, were part of a program to build up Austria-Hungary's fleet of torpedo craft in the 1880s. Both ships, the only members of the Panther class, were built in Britain at the Armstrong shipyard in Elswick. Leopard was laid down in January 1885, launched in September 1885, and completed in March 1886. She was armed with a battery of two 12 cm (4.7 in) guns and ten 47 mm (1.9 in) guns, along with four 356 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes.
SMS Boa was a torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Built as a unit of the Cobra class, she was typical of the seagoing torpedo boats acquired by Austria-Hungary between 1896 and 1914. In 1910 she was renamed Torpedoboot 15.
SMS Lussin was a torpedo cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, a modified version of the preceding Zara class. As envisaged by the Marinekommandant, Vice Admiral Friedrich von Pöck, Lussin would be the leader of a flotilla of torpedo boats, with the additional capability of carrying out scouting duties. The ship proved to be too slow and too lightly armed for either of these tasks, so she spent the majority of her career as a training ship for engine and boiler room personnel, along with occasional stints with the main fleet for training exercises. She took part in only one significant operation, an international blockade of Greece in 1886 to prevent the country from declaring war on the Ottoman Empire. In 1910–1913, Lussin was rebuilt as an admiralty yacht, and she spent World War I as a barracks ship for German U-boat crews based in Pola. After the war, she was ceded to Italy as a war prize, renamed Sorrento, and briefly saw service as a mother ship for MAS boats from 1924 to 1928, when she was discarded.
SMS Habsburg was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1899. The lead ship of the Habsburg class was launched on 9 September 1900. In 1903 and 1904, Habsburg and her sister ship Árpád conducted training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1906 and 1907, Habsburg was transferred to the III Battleship Division. One of her superstructure decks was removed to reduce weight and to modernize the vessel in 1910.
SMS Budapest was a Monarch-class coastal defense ship built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1890s. After their commissioning, Budapest and the two other Monarch-class ships made several training cruises in the Mediterranean Sea in the early 1900s. Budapest and her sisters formed the 1st Capital Ship Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy until they were replaced by the newly commissioned Habsburg-class pre-dreadnought battleships at the turn of the century. In 1906 the three Monarchs were placed in reserve and only recommissioned during the annual summer training exercises. After the start of World War I, Budapest was recommissioned and assigned to 5th Division together with her sisters.
The Huszár class was a class of destroyers built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy before the First World War. They were built to a design by the British shipbuilder Yarrow Shipbuilders, who built the first ship, with a further 11 ships being built in Austrian and Hungarian yards between 1905 and 1909. A replacement ship was built when the lead ship was lost in an accident in 1908, and another ship of similar design building for the Chinese navy was seized on the outbreak of the First World War. Two ships were lost during the war, a single ship serving with the Greek Navy following the end of the war, and the remainder being scrapped.
Vardar was a Sava-class river monitor built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy as SMS Bosna, but was renamed SMS Temes (II) before she went into service. During World War I, she was the flagship of the Danube Flotilla, and fought the Serbian Army, the Romanian Navy and Army, and the French Army. She reverted to the name Bosna in May 1917, after the original SMS Temes was raised and returned to service. After brief service with the Hungarian People's Republic at the end of the war, she was transferred to the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and renamed Vardar. She remained in service throughout the interwar period, although budget restrictions meant she was not always in full commission.
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SMS Viper was a torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Viper was built by the British shipbuilder Yarrow between 1895 and 1896 and formed the basis for the following Cobra-class torpedo boats. She was renamed Torpedoboot 17 in 1910 and served through the First World War as a patrol boat and minesweeper. She was scrapped in 1920.
SMS Natter was a torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Natter was built by the German shipbuilder Schichau-Werke between 1895 and 1896. She was renamed Torpedoboot 18 in 1910 and used for local coast defence during the First World War. She was scrapped in 1920.
The 110t class were a class of twelve coastal torpedo boats built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1909 and 1911. They were built by two shipbuilders, the Austrian Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino and the Hungarian Ganz & Danubius, with six ships built each. They served through the First World War, with one of the ships, Tb 11, defecting to Italy in 1917. After the end of the war, several of the class were used by the Italian Navy and the Italian Customs Service, with the last example scrapped in 1926.
SMS Kígyó was a torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (KuK). In 1910, she was renamed Torpedoboot 14.
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