SMS Tegetthoff (1878)

Tegetthoff in her original configuration
History
Austria-Hungary
Name:	SMS Tegetthoff
Namesake:	Wilhelm von Tegetthoff
Builder:	Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, Trieste
Laid down:	1 April 1876
Launched:	18 October 1878
Completed:	5 August 1882
Renamed:	Mars, 1912
Reclassified:	Harbor guard ship, 1906
Struck:	1906
Fate:	Broken up in Italy, 1920
General characteristics
Type:	Central-battery ironclad
Displacement:	7,390 t (7,273 long tons)
Length:	92.4 m (303 ft 2 in)
Beam:	19.1 m (62 ft 8 in)
Draught:	7.6 m (24 ft 11 in)
Installed power:	6,706 ihp (5,001 kW) 8 Scotch marine boilers
Propulsion:	1 shaft, 1 Vertical compound steam engine
Speed:	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Range:	3,300 nmi (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	525
Armament:	6 × 280 mm (11.0 in) Krupp breech-loading guns 6 × 89 mm (3.5 in) guns 2 × 70 mm (2.8 in) guns 9 × 47 mm (1.9 in) guns
Armor:	Waterline belt: 230–356 mm (9–14 in) Battery: 127–305 mm (5–12 in) Bulkheads: 254–300 mm (10.0–11.8 in) Decks: 76 mm (3 in) Conning tower: 178 mm (7.0 in)

SMS Tegetthoff was an ironclad warship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She was built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste, between April 1876 and October 1881. She was armed with a main battery of six 28 cm (11 in) guns mounted in a central-battery. The ship had a limited career, and did not see action. In 1897, she was reduced to a guard ship in Pola, and in 1912 she was renamed Mars. She served as a training ship after 1917, and after the end of World War I, she was surrendered as a war prize to Italy, which sold her for scrapping in 1920.

Tegetthoff was a central battery ship designed by Chief Engineer Josef von Romako. The ship's namesake, Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, victor of the Battle of Lissa, had proposed building four new ironclads. These were to be completed by 1878, but poor economic conditions in the early 1870s forced the Austro-Hungarian government to cut back the naval budget. Admiral Friedrich von Pöck, who succeeded Tegetthoff as the head of naval administration, had attempted to secure funding for two new ships, to be named Tegetthoff and Erzherzog Karl from 1871. Pöck finally succeeded in convincing parliament to allocate funds for the first ship in 1875. He continued to try to convince the parliament to build a sister ship for Tegetthoff until 1880, without success. Austro-Hungarian industry was incapable of supporting the construction of the ship, and significant components had to be ordered from foreign manufacturers, including guns from Germany and armor plating from Britain.

Tegetthoff was 89.39 meters (293.3 ft) long at the waterline and 92.46 m (303.3 ft) long overall. She had a beam of 21.78 m (71.5 ft) and a draft of 7.57 m (24.8 ft) and she displaced 7,431 t (7,314 long tons; 8,191 short tons).Tegetthoff was the first ship in the Austrian Navy to be built with an all-steel hull, which allowed for a considerable savings in weight. The ship's crew numbered 525 officers and men, though after her reconstruction in the mid-1890s, this number was increased to between 568 and 575. The main armored belt and the casemate for the main battery guns were protected with 356 mm (14.0 in) thick armor plate, and the end bulkheads of the armored citadel were 254 to 305 mm (10.0 to 12.0 in) thick. The conning tower had sides that were 127 to 178 mm (5.0 to 7.0 in) thick.