SMS Kaiser was a 92-gun wooden ship of the line of the Austrian Navy, the last vessel of the type, and the only screw-driven example, to be built by the Austrians. She was built by the naval shipyard in Pola; she was laid down in March 1855, was launched in October 1858, and was completed the following year. The ship took part in the Second Schleswig War of 1864, but saw no action during her deployment to the North Sea. Kaiser did see action during the Seven Weeks' War two years later, during which she took part in the Battle of Lissa as the flagship of Anton von Petz, commander of the Austrian 2nd Division. Kaiser engaged several Italian ironclads simultaneously, rammed one—Re di Portogallo—and damaged another—Affondatore—with gunfire. In doing so, she became the only wooden ship of the line to engage an ironclad warship in battle.
In 1869, the Austro-Hungarians decided to rebuild Kaiser into an ironclad casemate ship; the work lasted until 1873, and was delayed significantly by budget shortfalls, which slowed the acquisition of armor plate from British firms. By this time, however, casemate ships were being superseded by turret ships, and as a result, Kaiser spent the years 1875–1902 in reserve. She was nevertheless modernized periodically throughout the 1870s and 1880s in attempts to improve her performance. In 1901–1902, she was renamed Bellona and had her armament and engines removed so she could be used as a barracks ship in Pola, a role she filled through World War I. Italy seized the ship as a war prize after the end of the conflict, but her ultimate fate is unknown.
Design
Starting in the early 1850s, the Austrian Empire, faced with a strengthening Kingdom of Sardinia—which unified most of the Italian peninsula in a decade—began to modernize its navy with new steam-driven warships. ArchdukeFerdinand Maximilian oversaw the program, which began with the screw frigateRadetzky laid down in Britain in 1852. Two years later, Ferdinand decided a steam ship of the line should be built next; he originally intended the new ship would be built as a copy of the British 91-gun ship of the line HMSAgamemnon, the plans for which the Royal Navy provided to Austria in exchange for the country remaining neutral during the Crimean War of 1853–1856. The excellent performance of the French ship Algésiras during the war prompted the Austrians to modify the Agamemnon design to incorporate features of the French vessel, including a greater size and more powerful machinery. A second vessel of a slightly larger design, to have been named Österreich and armed with 101 guns, was cancelled in 1859 before she was laid down.[1]
The Kaiser was designed by Swedish naval engineer Axel Ljungstedt, who was active in Austria between 1850 and 1856.[2] Figures for the ship's original characteristics are unclear. According to the contemporary historian Wilhelm von Rüstow, Kaiser was 74 meters (242ft) long, with a displacement of 5,337 long tons (5,423t).[3] But the modern naval historian Andrew Lambert states her length was 74.02 metres (242ft 10in) on 5,194 long tons (5,277t). He also provides a beam of 16.21 metres (53ft 2in).[4] Her crew numbered some 900officers and men, which included a contingent of naval infantry. She was armed with a battery of ninety-two guns, consisting of sixteen 60-pounder guns, seventy-four 30-pounder smoothbores, and two 24-pounder breech loaders.[3] The ship was powered by a two-cylinder horizontal steam engine, which drove a single screw propeller that was 5.75m (18.9ft) in diameter. Steam was provided by six coal-fired boilers with twenty-six fireboxes. The engine, which was manufactured by Maudslay, Sons and Field, was rated at 800nominal horsepower. A three-mastedship rig supplemented the steam engine.[5][6][7]
Service history
The keel of Kaiser was laid down on 25 March 1855 at the naval shipyard in Pola;[5] the ship was launched on 4 October 1858, and commissioned into the Austrian Navy in 1859. She began sea trials on 6 December that year, with the first trip under her own power taking place from Muggia to Pola.[8] In February 1864, the Austrian Empire joined Prussia in the Second Schleswig War against Denmark. Kaiser was sent with the new armored frigateDon Juan d'Austria and two smaller vessels under Vice Admiral Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair to reinforce a smaller force consisting of the screw frigates Schwarzenberg and Radetzky under then-Captain Wilhelm von Tegetthoff. After the two groups combined in Den Helder, the Netherlands, they proceeded to Cuxhaven on 27 June, arriving three days later. The now outnumbered Danish fleet remained in port for the rest of the war and did not seek battle with the Austro-Prussian squadron. Instead, the Austrian and Prussian naval forces supported operations to capture the islands off the western Danish coast.[9] During the campaign, Kaiser was commanded by Friedrich von Pöck.[10]
In June 1866, Italy declared war on Austria, as part of the Third Italian War of Independence, which was fought concurrently with the Austro-Prussian War.[11] Tegetthoff, by now promoted to rear admiral and given command of the entire fleet, brought the Austrian fleet to Ancona on 27 June, in an attempt to draw out the Italians, but the Italian commander, Admiral Carlo Pellion di Persano, refused to engage Tegetthoff.[12] At the time, Kaiser served as the flagship of the 2nd Division of the Austrian fleet, under the command of Anton Petz. On 16 July, Persano took the Italian fleet, with twelve ironclads, out of Ancona, bound for the island of Lissa, where they arrived on the 18th. With them, they brought troop transports carrying 3,000 soldiers.[13] Persano then spent the next two days bombarding the Austrian defenses of the island and unsuccessfully attempting to force a landing. Tegetthoff received a series of telegrams between 17 and 19 July notifying him of the Italian attack, which he initially believed to be a feint to draw the Austrian fleet away from its main bases at Pola and Venice. By the morning of the 19th, however, he was convinced that Lissa was in fact the Italian objective, and so he requested permission to attack.[14]
As Tegetthoff's fleet arrived off Lissa on the morning of 20 July, Persano's fleet was arrayed for another landing attempt. The latter's ships were divided into three groups, with only the first two able to concentrate in time to meet the Austrians. Tegetthoff had arranged his ironclad ships into a wedge-shaped formation, with the wooden warships of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions following behind in the same formation. Kaiser led the 2nd Division at the center of the line. While he was forming up his ships, Persano transferred from his flagship, Re d'Italia, to the turret shipAffondatore. This created a gap in the Italian line, and Tegetthoff seized the opportunity to divide the Italian fleet and create a melee. He made a pass through the gap, but failed to ram any of the Italian ships, forcing him to turn around and make another attempt. In the meantime, Petz took Kaiser and his division further south, hoping to attack the Italian wooden ships that had not joined the action. Instead, the rear of the Italian ironclad line turned to block Petz from Tegetthoff and attacked Kaiser. Petz in turn reoriented his division to attack the Italian ironclads, leading the charge with Kaiser.[15]
The ironclads Castelfidardo, Varese, and Principe di Carignano circled around Kaiser, trading broadsides with her. In the ensuing melee, the Austrian and Italian vessels repeatedly attempted to ram each other. Persano arrived in Affondatore and unsuccessfully tried to ram Kaiser, but missed and struck only a glancing blow. Shortly thereafter, Kaiser rammed the ironclad Re di Portogallo in an attempt to protect the Austrian unarmored ships Erzherzog Friedrich and Kaiserin Elizabeth. Kaiser also struck a glancing blow, however, and inflicted little damage. Re di Portogallo fired her light guns into the ship in response, starting a fire, and killing or wounding a number of Austrian gunners before Kaiser could break free. Affondatore then made a second, unsuccessful attempt to ram Kaiser. Though she missed with her ram, Affondatore did score a hit with one of her guns, badly damaging Kaiser, killing or wounding twenty of her crew. In return, Kaiser's gunners fired their guns into Affondatore's deck, badly holing it and starting a fire, while riflemen in her fighting tops shot at Italian sailors.[16] In addition, a shot from Kaiser struck one of Affondatore's turrets, jamming it for the remainder of the battle.[17]Kaiser had lost her foremast and funnel in the collision with Re di Portogallo, and Petz ordered his damaged ship to put into port at Lissa.[18]
By this time, the Austrian ironclads disengaged from the melee to protect their wooden ships; Re d'Italia had been rammed and sunk and the coastal defense shipPalestro was burning badly, soon to be destroyed by a magazine explosion. Persano made an attempt to follow them with Affondatore, but he broke off the attempt when only one of his other ironclads followed him. His crews were badly demoralized by the loss of Re d'Italia and Palestro, and his ships were low on ammunition and coal. The Italian fleet began to withdraw, followed by the Austrians; as night began to fall, the opposing fleets disengaged completely, heading for Ancona and Pola, respectively. In the course of the battle, Kaiser's crew had suffered twenty-four killed and thirty-seven wounded.[19]Kaiser was and is the only ship of the line to have engaged ironclad warships in battle.[20]
Conversion and later career
Kaiser after her reconstruction into a casemate ship
After returning to Pola, Tegetthoff kept his fleet in the northern Adriatic, where it patrolled against a possible Italian attack. The Italian ships never came, and on 12 August, the two countries signed the Armistice of Cormons; this ended the fighting and led to the Treaty of Vienna. Though Austria had defeated Italy at Lissa and on land at the Battle of Custoza, the Austrian army was decisively defeated by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz. As a result, Austria, which became Austria-Hungary in the Ausgleich of 1867, was forced to cede the city of Venice to Italy. In the immediate aftermath of the war, the bulk of the Austrian fleet was decommissioned and disarmed.[21]
Chronic budgetary problems confronted the navy of the new Austro-Hungarian Empire; Tegetthoff had great difficulty securing funding for new ships to modernize the fleet. In 1868, he attempted to start a new building program, but the government refused to budget for new warships. Parliament did include funds to modernize Kaiser, however.[22] On 2 February 1869, Kaiser was taken into drydock and her hull was examined. Found to be in good condition, the ship was rebuilt into an ironclad casemate ship. Old wood planking below the waterline was replaced, but the hull was completely rebuilt with iron above the waterline. Her bow was replaced with a more pronounced ram and she received a new stern as well. This increased her length to 77.75m (255.1ft) at the waterline and increased her beam to 17.76m (58.3ft). Her draft remained similar, at 7.37m (24.2ft), though her displacement increased to 5,720 long tons (5,810t). Superheaters were added to her original boilers to provide more power,[5][7] and her engines were rated to produce a speed of 13 knots (24km/h; 15mph) from 3,130ihp (2,330kW),[23] though in service she was only capable of reaching 11.55 knots (21.39km/h; 13.29mph) from 2,786ihp (2,078kW).[5][7] At a cruising speed of 10 knots (19km/h; 12mph), she could steam for 1,519 nautical miles (2,813km; 1,748mi).[23]
The ship was rearmed with a battery of ten 9in (230mm) 23-pounder muzzle-loading guns manufactured by Armstrong in a central, two-story casemate. These were supported by a secondary battery of six 8-pounder Rifled Muzzle Loaders. An armored belt was installed on the waterline; in the central citadel that protected the machinery spaces, the belt was 152mm (6in) thick. On either end of the ship, the belt was reduced to 102mm (4in). Iron plating 127mm (5in) thick protected the casemate. Kaiser was re-launched in 1871,[5] but further budgetary problems, particularly payments for the armor plate and iron fittings that were purchased from Britain, delayed completion of the conversion.[24] Work was finally completed in December 1873.[5] She began sea trials on 21 December.[7] By this time, the ship had become obsolescent; the same year, Italy laid down the two Duilio-class ironclads, very powerful turret ships twice the size of Kaiser and that carried 450mm (17.7in) guns.[25]
Line drawing of Kaiser after her reconstruction
On 11 February 1874, Kaiser joined the active squadron of the fleet, and became the flagship of Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck the following day. The ship then sailed to Trieste, before departing on 14 February for Spain. While on the way, she stopped in Gravosa for six days due to bad weather. From there, she sailed to Messina, Italy, where she received a warm welcome from the local authorities. From there, she passed through the Strait of Bonifacio before arriving in Barcelona, Spain, on 4 March. She was joined there by the screw corvetteFrundsberg, and the two ships then sailed on to Cartagena. Kaiser then departed from Frundsberg and visited a number of ports, including Cadiz, Malaga, Valencia, Gibraltar, and Tanger in Alawi Morocco. While in Gibraltar, Kaiser met the screw corvette Fasana, and the two ships returned to Barcelona, were they joined Frundsberg and the gunboatDalmat. The four ships conducted shooting practice together while in the area. During this period, on 16 March, Kaiser encountered the Italian screw corvette Principessa Clotilde, the captain of which invited Kaiser to join the Italians for a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel II. Kaiser had a similar encounter on 4 July with the United States' sloopJuniata, for a celebration marking the United States' declaration of independence.[26]
The ship did not see further active service. She remained laid up from 1875,[27] spending the first four months of 1876 in the II Reserve, followed by repairs and modifications for the rest of the year. During this period, naval engineers attempted to improve the ship's performance. In 1876, her original screw was replaced with a larger propeller that was 7.62m (25ft) in diameter. During speed tests conducted on 7 December, the ship reached 12.72 knots (23.56km/h; 14.64mph), more than a knot increase in speed. She was immediately returned to the II Reserve. In 1880, the ship had her rigging reduced and received new boilers.[28] A new secondary battery that consisted of six 9cm (3.5in) 24-caliber (cal.) breech-loading guns, two 7cm (2.8in) 15-cal. guns, four 47mm (1.9in) 33-cal. quick-firing guns, three 47mm Hotchkiss revolver cannon, and four 25mm (0.98in)machine guns was installed in 1882. In 1885, three 35cm (14in)torpedo tubes were added, one in the bow and one on each broadside.[5]
A commission examined the ship in 1893 and recommended that the ship was "not suitable for commissioning". The government began negotiations with Venezuela in 1895 to sell Kaiser, but the discussion came to nothing.[29] In 1897, she was stricken from the list of active battleships.[30] The ship was disarmed in 1901, and the following year had her engines removed so she could be used as a barracks ship in Pola. She was formally stricken from the naval register on 4 January 1902, was renamed Bellona, and added to the list of hulks. She served as a barracks ship through World War I. From 1910 to 1917 the staff of the II Reserve was housed aboard the ship, and in 1918 the naval training school staff was brought aboard as well. After the war the ship was seized by Italy as a war prize; her ultimate fate is unknown.[5][31][32]
The Battle of Lissa took place on 20 July 1866 in the Adriatic Sea near the Dalmatian island of Vis and was a significant victory for an Austrian Empire force over a numerically superior Italian force. It was the first major sea battle between ironclads and one of the last to involve deliberate ramming. The Italian navy fired roughly 1450 shots during the engagement but failed to sink any Austrian ship and lost two ironclads.
Affondatore was an armoured ram of the Regia Marina, built in the 1860s by Harrison, Millwall, London. Construction commenced in 1863; the ship, despite being incomplete, was brought to Italy during the Third Italian War of Independence. Affondatore, which translates as "Sinker", was initially designed to rely on her ram as her only weapon, but during construction she was also equipped with two 300-pounder guns.
SMS Salamander was a Drache-class armored frigate built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1860s; she was laid down in February 1861, launched in August that year, and completed in May 1862, six months before her sister Drache. She was a broadside ironclad, mounting a battery of twenty-eight guns in gun ports along the length the hull. During the Second Schleswig War in 1864, Salamander remained in the Adriatic to protect Austria from a possible Danish attack that did not materialize. Two years later, during the Seven Weeks' War, she participated in the Austrian victory over a superior Italian fleet in the Battle of Lissa in July 1866. Immediately after the war, she was modernized with a battery of more powerful guns. Little used thereafter owing to reduced naval budgets, she was stricken from the Navy List in 1883 and hulked for use as a mine storage ship before being broken up in 1895–1896.
Regina Maria Pia was the lead ship of the Regina Maria Pia class of ironclad warships built in French shipyards for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1860s. She and her three sister ships were broadside ironclads, mounting a battery of four 203 mm (8 in) and twenty-two 164 mm (6.5 in) guns on the broadside. Regina Maria Pia was laid down in July 1862, was launched in April 1863, and was completed in April 1864.
San Martino was a Regina Maria Pia-class ironclad warship, the second member of her class. She was built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1860s; like her three sister ships, she was built in France. San Martino was laid down in July 1862, was launched in September 1863, and was completed in November 1864. The ships were broadside ironclads, mounting a battery of four 203 mm (8 in) and twenty-two 164 mm (6.5 in) guns on the broadside.
Castelfidardo was the third of four Regina Maria Pia-class ironclad warships built in French shipyards for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1860s. Castelfidardo was laid down in July 1862, was launched in August 1863, and was completed in May 1864. She and her three sister ships were broadside ironclads, mounting a battery of four 203 mm (8 in) and twenty-two 164 mm (6.5 in) guns on the broadside.
Ancona was an ironclad warship, the last member of the Regina Maria Pia class built in French shipyards for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1860s. Ancona was laid down in August 1862, was launched in October 1864, and completed in April 1866. She and her three sister ships were broadside ironclads, mounting a battery of four 203 mm (8 in) and twenty-two 164 mm (6.5 in) guns on the broadside.
Re di Portogallo was an ironclad warship built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1860s, the second and final member of the Re d'Italia class. She was laid down at the William H. Webb Shipyard in New York in December 1861, was launched in August 1863, and was completed a year later in August 1864; the two Re d'Italia-class ships were the only Italian ironclads built in the United States. The ships were broadside ironclads, armed with a battery of six 72-pounder guns and thirty-two 164 mm (6.5 in) guns.
Principe di Carignano was the lead ship of the Principe di Carignano class of ironclad warships built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1860s. She was the first ironclad built in Italy; her keel was laid January 1861, her hull was launched in September 1863, and she was completed in June 1865. Principe di Carignano was a broadside ironclad armed with a battery of ten 203 mm (8 in) guns and twelve 164 mm (6.5 in) guns.
Terribile was the first ironclad warship to be built for the Italian Regia Marina, and the second member of the Formidabile class. Terribile and her sister, Formidabile, were both built in France. A broadside ironclad, she was laid down in June 1860, launched in February 1861, and was completed in September that year. She was the first Italian ironclad to enter service and was equipped with four 203 mm (8 in) and sixteen 164 mm (6.5 in) guns.
Formidabile was the lead ship of the Formidabile-class ironclad warships, the first ships of that type to be built for the newly formed Italian Regia Marina. Formidabile and her sister, Terribile, were both built in France; Formidabile was laid down in December 1860, was launched in October 1861, and was completed in May 1862. She was a broadside ironclad, equipped with four 203 mm (8 in) and sixteen 164 mm (6.5 in) guns.
SMS Erzherzog Albrecht was an ironclad warship built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1870s, the only member of her class. Her design was similar to the ironclad Custoza, but Erzherzog Albrecht was built to a smaller size; like Custoza, she was an iron-hulled casemate ship armed with a battery of eight heavy guns. The ship was laid down in June 1870, was launched in April 1872, and was commissioned in June 1874. The ship's service career was limited; tight naval budgets precluded an active fleet policy in the 1870s, which did not markedly improve in the 1880s. Her first period of active service came in 1881 and 1882, when she helped suppress a revolt in Cattaro Bay. In 1908, she was converted into a tender for the gunnery training school, having been renamed Feuerspeier. In 1915, she became a barracks ship, and after World War I ended in 1918, was ceded to Italy as a war prize. She was renamed Buttafuoco, served in the Italian Navy as a hulk through World War II before being scrapped in 1950.
The Erzherzog Ferdinand Max class consisted of a pair of ironclad warships—Erzherzog Ferdinand Max and Habsburg—built for the Austrian Navy in the 1860s. They were the last broadside armored frigates to be built for the Austrian Empire, and the last vessels completed to see action against the Italians at the Battle of Lissa in 1866. Intended to have been armed with new breech-loading Krupp guns, the outbreak of the Seven Weeks' War prevented the delivery of the guns, forcing the Austrian Navy to arm the ships with a battery of sixteen older 48-pounder muzzle-loading guns.
SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max was the lead ship of the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max class of broadside ironclads built for the Austrian Navy in the 1860s. She was built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, with her keel laying in October 1863, launching in May 1865, and commissioning in June 1866 at the outbreak of the Third Italian War of Independence and the Austro-Prussian War, fought concurrently. The ship was armed with a main battery of sixteen 48-pounder guns, though the rifled guns originally intended, which had been ordered from Prussia, had to be replaced with old smoothbore guns until after the conflicts ended.
SMS Habsburg was the second and final member of the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max class of broadside ironclads built for the Austrian Navy in the 1860s. She was built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino; her keel was laid down in June 1863, she was launched in June 1865, and commissioning in June 1866 at the outbreak of the Third Italian War of Independence and the Austro-Prussian War, fought concurrently. The ship was armed with a main battery of sixteen 48-pounder guns, though the rifled guns originally intended, which had been ordered from Prussia, had to be replaced with old smoothbore guns until after the conflicts ended.
SMS Kaiser Max was the lead ship of the Kaiser Max class of armored frigates built for the Austrian Navy in the 1860s. Her keel was laid in October 1861 at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard; she was launched in March 1862, and was completed in 1863. She carried her main battery—composed of sixteen 48-pounder guns and fifteen 24-pounders—in a traditional broadside arrangement, protected by an armored belt that was 110 mm (4.3 in) thick.
SMS Prinz Eugen was the second member of the Kaiser Max class built for the Austrian Navy in the 1860s. Her keel was laid in October 1861 at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard; she was launched in June 1862, and was completed in March 1863. She carried her main battery—composed of sixteen 48-pounder guns and fifteen 24-pounders—in a traditional broadside arrangement, protected by an armored belt that was 110 mm (4.3 in) thick.
SMS Don Juan d'Austria was the third member of the Kaiser Max class built for the Austrian Navy in the 1860s. Her keel was laid in October 1861 at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard; she was launched in July 1862, and was completed in 1863. She carried her main battery—composed of sixteen 48-pounder guns and fifteen 24-pounders—in a traditional broadside arrangement, protected by an armored belt that was 110 mm (4.3 in) thick.
A naval arms race between the Austrian Empire and Italy began in the 1860s when both ordered a series of ironclad warships, steam-propelled vessels protected by iron or steel armor plates and far more powerful than all-wood ships of the line. These ships were constructed to establish control over the Adriatic Sea in the event of a conflict between the two countries.
References
Aichelburg, Wladimir (1987). Maximilian, Erzherzog von Österreich, Kaiser von Mexiko in zeitgenössischen Photographien[Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, Emperor of Mexico in Contemporary Photographs]. Vienna: Orac. ISBN978-3-7015-0100-7.
Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro (1998). Ironclads at War: The Origin and Development of the Armored Warship, 1854–1891. Pennsylvania: Da Capo Press. ISBN978-0-938289-58-6.
Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN978-0-7110-0623-2.
Paine, Lincoln (2000). Warships of the World to 1900. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN978-0-395-98414-7.
Pawlik, Georg (2003). Des Kaisers Schwimmende Festungen: die Kasemattschiffe Österreich-Ungarns[The Kaiser's Floating Fortresses: The Casemate Ships of Austria-Hungary]. Vienna: Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag. ISBN978-3-7083-0045-0.
Scheltema de Heere, R. F. (1973). Fisher, Edward C. (ed.). "Austro-Hungarian Battleships". Warship International. Toledo: Naval Records Club, Inc. X (1): 11–97. ISSN0043-0374.
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