Pre-Dreadnought Battleships: Habsburg Class

[Brian James]

Habsburg Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Babenberg pictured in 1914.Babenberg was the last of three Battleships of her Class. Her keel was laid down on January 19th 1901 at Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino Shipyards in Trieste,Italy,following about a year and a half of construction, she was launched on October 4th 1902.

[designeraccd]

The last class of Austro-Hungarian pre-dreadnoughts were similar in layout to others that were actually completed after the DREADNOUGHT was.

The ZRINYI was one of 3 units in the RADETZKY class. As was typical of this type, they carried 4-30.5cm (12") and 8-24cm guns. Rhey had 2 4 cylinder triple expansion engines, and could reach slightly over 20 knots. DFO

[ivorthediver]

Certainly good at laying a smoke screen Dennis , but non the less a capable looking vessel

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Radetzky pictured on the ways on launch day at Stabilimento Tecnico Shipyards at Trieste on July 30th 1909...Commissioned into the fleet on January 15th 1911. She conducted training cruises in the Mediterranean before the outbreak of World War I in mid-1914. During the war, Radetzky operated largely as part of a fleet in being alongside the rest of the Austro-Hungarian Navy; in doing so, the ships tied down considerable naval forces from the Triple Entente. Radetzky did participate in some offensive operations, primarily shore bombardments in the Adriatic Sea against French, Montenegrin, and Italian targets...Towards the end of 1918, with the war going against the Austrians, Radetzky was being prepared to be transferred to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On November 10th 1918 — six days after the Austrian armistice — Yugoslav navy officers sailed the Battleship out of Pola and surrendered it to a squadron of American Submarine Chasers. Under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the transfer was not recognized; instead, Radetzky was given to Italy and broken up for scrap in 1920/21.