The Ersatz (Replacement) Triglav class consisted of four destroyers built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War. Completed late in the war, they saw little action; three ships were seized by Italy and one by France as war reparations in 1920.
The loss of two Tátra-class destroyers in the 1st Battle of Durazzo in 1915 caused the Austro-Hungarian Navy to begin construction of four improved versions of the Tátras the following year named Triglav, Lika, Dukla and Uzsok.
The Ersatz Triglav-class ships were slightly longer than the Tátras with an overall length of 85.28 meters (279ft 9in), a beam of 7.8 meters (25ft 7in), and a maximum draft of 3.2 meters (10ft 6in). They displaced880 metric tons (870 long tons) at normal load and 1,050 metric tons (1,030 long tons) at deep load.[1] The ships had a complement of 114 officers and enlisted men.[2]
The destroyers were powered by two AEG-Curtiss steam turbine sets, each driving a single 2.52-meter (8ft 3in) propeller using steam provided by six Yarrow boilers. Four of the boilers were oil-fired while the remaining pair used coal, although oil was sprayed onto the coal to increase power. The turbines, designed to produce 20,650 shaft horsepower (15,400kW), were intended to give the ships a speed of 32.6 knots (60.4km/h; 37.5mph). Dukla was the fastest ship of the class at 33.8 knots (62.6km/h; 38.9mph). The ships carried 142.7 metric tons (140 long tons) of oil and 108 metric tons (106 long tons) of coal which gave them a range of 500 nautical miles (930km; 580mi) at full speed.[2][3]
The main armament of the Ersatz Triglav-class destroyers consisted of two 50-caliberŠkoda Works10-centimeter (3.9in) K11 guns, one each fore and aft of the superstructure in single mounts. Their secondary armament consisted of four 45-caliber 66-millimeter (2.6in) K09 TAG (German: Torpedoboot-Abwehr Geschütz (anti-torpedo boat guns)). Two additional guns were placed on anti-aircraft mountings. They were also equipped with four 450-millimeter (17.7in)torpedo tubes in two twin rotating mountings aft of the funnels. Two spare torpedoes were stored on the main deck.[3]
After the war, three vessels—Triglav, Lika, and Uzsok—were ceded to Italy and one, Dukla, to France. The last vessels were scrapped in 1939.
Bilzer, Franz F. (1990). Die Torpedoschiffe und Zerstörer der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine 1867–1918[Torpedo Boats and Destroyers of the Imperial and Royal Navy 1867–1918] (in German). Graz: H. Weishaupt. ISBN3-9003-1066-1.
Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent (2016). "The Naval War in the Adriatic, Part 2: 1917–1918". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2016. London: Conway. pp.62–75. ISBN978-1-84486-326-6.
Dodson, Aidan & Cant, Serena (2020). Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after Two World Wars. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-5267-4198-1.
Freivogel, Zvonimir (2021). Austro-Hungarian Destroyers in World War One. Zagreb: Despot Infinitus. ISBN978-953-366-051-6.
Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-84832-100-7.
Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN0-7110-0623-7.
Halpern, Paul G. (2004). The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in World War I. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN0-253-34379-8.
Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-352-4.
Noppen, Ryan K. (2016). Austro-Hungarian Cruisers and Destroyers 1914-18. New Vanguard. Vol.241. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN978-1-4728-1470-8.
O'Hara, Vincent P. & Heinz, Leonard R. (2017). Clash of Fleets: Naval Battles of the Great War, 1914-18. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1-68247-008-4.
Roberts, John (1980). "Italy". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp.280–317. ISBN0-8317-0303-2.
Sieche, Erwin (1985a). "Austria-Hungary". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp.326–347. ISBN0-85177-245-5.
Sieche, Erwin (1996). Torpedoschiffe und Zerstörer der K. u. K. Marine[Torpedo Boats and Destroyers of the Imperial and Royal Navy]. Marine-Arsenal (in German). Vol.34. Wölfersheim-Berstadt, Germany: Pozdun-Pallas-Verlag. ISBN3-7909-0546-1.
Sieche, Erwin F. (1985b). "Zeittafel der Vorgange rund um die Auflosung und Ubergabe der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine 1918–1923". Marine—Gestern, Heute (in German). 12 (1): 129–141.
Sokol, Anthony (1968). The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. OCLC462208412.
Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918: Navalism, Industrial Development, and the Politics of Dualism. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. ISBN978-1-55753-034-9.
Vego, Milan (1982). "The Yugoslav Navy 1918–1941". Warship International. XIX (4): 342–361. ISSN0043-0374.
The Tátra class consisted of six destroyers built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy shortly before the First World War.
SMS Warasdiner was a destroyer launched in 1913 as Lung Tuan, intended for sale to China. She was taken over by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1914, renamed and rearmed. She served in World War I with the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Following the war, the ship was ceded to Italy and scrapped.
Renaudin was one of six Bisson-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the early 1910s. Completed in 1913, the ship was assigned to the 1st Naval Army in the Mediterranean Sea. During the First World War, she escorted the battle fleet during the Battle of Antivari in August 1914 and escorted multiple convoys to Montenegro for the rest of the year. Renaudin helped to sink a crippled Austro-Hungarian destroyer during the 1st Battle of Durazzo in late 1915 and protected the evacuation of the Royal Serbian Army from Durazzo, Albania, in February 1916. The ship was sunk by an Austro-Hungarian submarine the following month with the loss of 50 crewmen.
The Panther class was a group of two torpedo cruisers, Panther and Leopard, built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1880s. The ships' primary armament was their four torpedo tubes, though they also carried a battery of medium and light-caliber guns. The ships were ordered in an effort to strengthen the defensive capabilities of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, during a period where funding for more expensive ironclad warships could not be secured from parliament. Since Austro-Hungarian naval designers did not have sufficient experience designing vessels of the type, the navy ordered the ships from the British Armstrong shipyard; work took from late 1884 to early 1886. After arriving in Austria-Hungary in 1886, the two ships served in a variety of roles. These included active duty with the main fleet in home waters, overseas training cruises, and showing the flag abroad. During World War I, the cruisers were mobilized for coastal defense duties, but saw no major action, apart from Panther shelling Montenegrin forces in 1916. After the war, both vessels were surrendered to Britain as war prizes and were broken up for scrap in 1920.
T7 was a sea-going torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally 96 F, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1915–1916, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy escort, patrol, and minesweeping tasks, and anti-submarine operations. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 96.
T5 was a sea-going torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally 87 F, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1914–1915, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, anti-submarine operations and shore bombardment missions. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 87. She was part of the escort force for the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Szent István during the action that resulted in the sinking of that ship by Italian torpedo boats in June 1918, and rescued many of her crew.
T6 was a sea-going torpedo boat that was operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally 93 F, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1915–1916, she was armed with two Škoda 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes and could carry 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy, escort, patrol and minesweeping tasks, as well as anti-submarine operations. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 93.
T2 was a seagoing torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1923 and 1939. Originally 77 T, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1914, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy, patrol, escort, minesweeping and minelaying tasks, anti-submarine operations, and shore bombardment missions. In 1917, the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 77. The vessel was in the Bocche di Cattaro during the short-lived mutiny by Austro-Hungarian sailors in early February 1918; members of her crew raised the red flag but undertook no other mutinous actions. 77 was part of the escort force for the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Szent István during the action that resulted in the sinking of that ship by Italian torpedo boats in June 1918.
T4 was a seagoing torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1932. Originally 79 T, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1914, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, anti-submarine operations and shore bombardment missions. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 79. Underway during the short-lived mutiny by Austro-Hungarian sailors in early February 1918, her captain realised the danger and put her crew ashore. She was part of the escort force for the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Szent István during the action that resulted in the sinking of that ship by Italian torpedo boats in June 1918.
The Ersatz Zenta class was a class of three planned light cruisers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy designed in the mid-1910s as part of a naval expansion program passed during a period of rising tensions in Europe. Several designs were proposed, including options for a so-called "yacht cruiser" that was to have been used by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The design that was ultimately selected called for ships that were capable of speeds of at least 30 knots, with an armament of fourteen 12-centimeter (4.7 in) guns and a thin armored belt that was 20 millimeters (0.79 in) thick.
SMS Lika was one of six Tátra-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine shortly before the First World War. Completed in August 1914, she helped to sink an Italian destroyer during the action off Vieste in May 1915 after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Two months later the ship participated in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture a small island in the Central Adriatic Sea from the Italians. In November and early December Lika was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania. The ship was sunk in Durazzo harbor during the early stages of the 1st Battle of Durazzo in late December after striking several mines.
SMS Triglav was one of six Tátra-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine shortly before the First World War. Completed in August 1914, the ship participated in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture a small island in the Central Adriatic Sea from the Italians in July 1915. In November and early December Triglav was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania. She was crippled by a mine during the 1st Battle of Durazzo in late December, but was taken in tow. The ship had to be abandoned when the Austro-Hungarian ships were spotted on the return voyage and she was sunk by French destroyers.
SMS Orjen was one of six Tátra-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine shortly before the First World War. Completed in 1914, she helped to sink an Italian destroyer during the action off Vieste in May 1915 after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Two months later the ship participated in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture a small island in the central Adriatic Sea from the Italians. In November and early December Orjen was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania, although she did not participate in the First Battle of Durazzo in late December. Orjen participated in several raids on the Otranto Barrage in 1916–1917 with limited success. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Pola. She mostly served as a training ship or in Italian North Africa when she was not in reserve from 1924 to 1928. Renamed Zenson in 1931, the ship was scrapped in 1937.
SMS Csepel was one of six Tátra-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine shortly before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she helped to sink an Italian destroyer during the action off Vieste in May 1915 after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Two months later the ship participated in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture a small island in the central Adriatic Sea from the Italians. In November and early December Csepel was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania. She was hit one time during the First Battle of Durazzo in late December. Her stern was blown off by a French submarine in early 1916 and her repairs were not completed until early 1917.
SMS Balaton was one of six Tátra-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine shortly before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she did not participate in the attacks on the Italian mainland after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915. Two months later the ship bombarded a small island in the Central Adriatic Sea during an unsuccessful attempt to recapture it from the Italians. In November and early December Balaton was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania. She played a minor role in the 1st Battle of Durazzo in late December. Balaton participated in several unsuccessful raids on the Otranto Barrage in 1917, although she sank an ammunition ship during the Battle of the Strait of Otranto. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Zenson. The Regia Marina used her for spare parts; she was discarded in 1923 and subsequently scrapped.
SMS Tátra was the lead ship of her class of six destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine shortly before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she helped to sink an Italian destroyer during the action off Vieste in May 1915 after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Two months later the ship participated in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture a small island in the Central Adriatic Sea from the Italians. In November and early December Tátra was one of the ships conducting raids off the Albanian coast to interdict the supply lines between Italy and Albania. During the early stages of the 1st Battle of Durazzo in late December, the ship was tasked to tow her one of her sister ships that had been crippled by a mine. She was forced to abandon her sister when the Austro-Hungarians were spotted by a strong force of Allied ships and had to evade their pursuit. Tátra participated in several unsuccessful raids on the Otranto Barrage in 1917. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Fasana. The Regia Marina used her for spare parts; she was discarded in 1923 and subsequently scrapped.
SMS Triglav was one of four Ersatz Triglav-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine during the First World War. Completed in 1917, she participated in several unsuccessful raids on the Otranto Barrage later that year. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Grado. The Regia Marina kept her in service until 1937 and the ship was subsequently scrapped.
SMS Lika was one of four Ersatz Triglav-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine during the First World War. Completed in 1917, she participated in several unsuccessful raids on the Otranto Barrage later that year. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Cortellazzo. The Regia Marina kept her in service until 1939 and the ship was subsequently scrapped.
SMS Uzsok was one of four Ersatz Triglav-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine during the First World War. Completed in 1918, she participated an unsuccessful raid on the Otranto Barrage later that year. She was transferred to Italy in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Monfalcone. The Regia Marina kept her in service until 1939 and the ship was subsequently scrapped.
SMS Dukla was one of four Ersatz Triglav-class destroyers built for the kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine during the First World War. Completed in 1917, she participated in several unsuccessful raids on the Otranto Barrage before the end of the war the following year. She was transferred to France in 1920 in accordance with the peace treaties ending the war and renamed Matelot Leblanc. The French Navy kept her in service until 1936 and the ship was subsequently scrapped.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
