SMS Habsburg

SMS Habsburg

A member of the Habsburg class
History
Austria–Hungary
Name:	Habsburg
Namesake:	Habsburg
Builder:	STT
Laid down:	13 March 1899
Launched:	9 September 1900
Completed:	31 December 1902
Fate:	Scrapped, 1921
General characteristics
Class and type:	Habsburg-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	8,232 long tons (8,364 t) 8,823 long tons (8,965 t) full load
Length:	375 ft 10 in (114.6 m)
Beam:	65 ft (19.8 m)
Draft:	24 ft 6 in (7.5 m)
Installed power:	15,063 ihp (11,232 kW)
Propulsion:	2 shafts, 4-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines, 16 Belleville boilers
Speed:	19.62 knots (36.34 km/h; 22.58 mph)
Range:	6670km(3600nm) at 10 knots
Complement:	638
Armament:	3 × 24 cm (9.4 in)/40 cal. Krupp C97 guns 12 × 15 cm (5.9 in)/40 cal. Krupp C96 guns 10 × 6.6-centimeter (2.6 in)/45 cal Skoda guns 6 × 4.7-centimeter (1.9 in)/44 cal Skoda QF guns 2 × 4.7-cm/33 cal Skoda QF guns 2 × 45-centimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Waterline belt: 180–220 mm (7.1–8.7 in) Deck: 40 mm (1.6 in) Turrets & Casemates: 210–280 mm (8.3–11.0 in) Conning tower: 150 mm (5.9 in)

SMS Habsburg  was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1899. The lead ship of the Habsburg class, she 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.

For most of World War I, Habsburg remained in her home port of Pula, in present-day Croatia except for two engagements. In 1914, she was part of the Austro-Hungarian flotilla sent to protect the escape of the German ships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau from the British-held Mediterranean; she advanced as far as Brindisi before being recalled to her home port. Her sole combat engagement occurred in late May 1915, when she participated in the bombardment of the Italian port city of Ancona. After the war, Habsburg was awarded to the British as a war prize. She was scrapped in 1921.

Habsburg was the first of three battleships of her class. Her hull was laid down on 13 March 1899 at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste. Following a year and a half of construction, she was launched on 9 September 1900. After the completion of final fitting-out work, Habsburg was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian fleet on 31 December 1902.

Like all ships of her class, Habsburg was 113.11 m (371 ft) long at the waterline and was 114.55 m (375 ft 10 in) in overall length. She had a beam of 19.8 m (65 ft) and a draft of 7.5 m (24 ft 6 in). The ship displaced 8,364 metric tons (8,232 long tons). Habsburg had a crew of 638 officers and enlisted men.