Erzherzog Ferdinand Max-class ironclad
Erzherzog Ferdinand Max in the 1880s
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| Class overview | |
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| Operators: |
 Austro-Hungarian Navy
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| Preceded by: | Kaiser Max class |
| Succeeded by: | SMS Lissa |
| Built: | 1863–1866 |
| In commission: | 1866–1898 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Scrapped: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5,130 metric tons (5,050 long tons; 5,650 short tons) |
| Length: | 83.75 meters (274.8 ft) oa |
| Beam: | 15.96 m (52.4 ft) |
| Draft: | 7.14 m (23.4 ft) |
| Installed power: | 2,925 indicated horsepower (2,181 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 1 single-expansion steam engine |
| Speed: | 12.54 knots (23.22 km/h; 14.43 mph) |
| Crew: | 511 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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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.
Hastily finished after the war started, both ships saw action at the Battle of Lissa in July. There, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff; in the course of the melee, the ship rammed and sank the Italian ironclad Re d'Italia, which proved to be the decisive action in the battle. After the war, both ships were and did not see much significant activity for the remainder of their careers owing to reduced naval funding in what had become the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The ships were converted for secondary duties in 1886, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max and Habsburg became a tender and a guard ship, respectively. Habsburg was sold for scrap in 1898, but Erzherzog Ferdinand Max lingered on until 1916, when she joined her sister in the breaker's yard.
Following the launch of the French Gloire, the first ironclad warship, the Austrian Navy began a major ironclad construction program under the direction of Archduke Ferdinand Max, the Marinekommandant (naval commander) and brother of Kaiser Franz Josef I. In 1861, the first five ships—two Drache and three Kaiser Max-class ironclads—were laid down. All of these ships were designed by the Director of Naval Construction Josef von Romako, who also prepared the design for what became the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max class, named for the Marinekommandant. These two ships were significantly larger than the Drache and Kaiser Max-class vessels, and were originally intended to carry thirty-two 48-pounder muzzle-loading guns, though during the construction process the Navy decided to opt for a battery of new breech-loading guns manufactured by Krupp. The outbreak of the Seven Weeks' War in 1866 forced the Navy to hastily complete them with only sixteen of the original 48-pounders.
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Wikipedia