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{{Short description|Ironclad warship class of the Austro-Hungarian Navy}}
{{good article}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=SMS Drache NH 87016.jpg
|Ship caption=''Drache'' at anchor after her 1867 refit
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
| Builders = [[Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino]], [[Trieste]]
| Operators = [[File:Austria-Hungary-flag-1869-1914-naval-1786-1869-merchant.svg|20px]] Austria–Hungary
| Class before = None
| Class after  = {{sclass|Kaiser Max|ironclad|4||1862}}
| Built range = 1861–1862
| In commission range = 1862–1883
| Total ships completed = 2
| Total ships scrapped = 2
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(as built)
|Ship type= [[Ironclad warship|Ironclad]] [[armored frigate]]
|Ship displacement=
*Normal: {{convert|2824|LT|t}} 
*Full load: {{convert|3110|LT|t}}
|Ship length= {{convert|70.1|m|abbr=on|0}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|13.94|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|6.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=1 Shaft, 1 [[Marine steam engine|Steam engine]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|10.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship sail plan= [[Barque]]-rigged
|Ship complement=346
|Ship power=*{{convert|2060|ihp|lk=in|abbr=on}}
*4 [[Boiler]]s
|Ship armament=
*'''1862''':
*10 × 48-pounder [[smoothbore]] guns
*18 × 24-pounder [[Muzzle-loading rifle|rifled, muzzle-loading guns]]
*'''1867''':
*10 × [[RML 7 inch gun|RML {{convert|7|in|adj=on|0}}]] guns
*2 × RML {{convert|2|in|adj=on|0}} guns 
|Ship armor=[[Belt armor|Waterline belt]]: {{convert|115|mm|in|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''''Drache''-class ironclads''' were a pair of wooden-hulled [[armored frigate]]s built for the [[Austro-Hungarian Navy]] in the 1860s, the first ironclads built for [[Austria-Hungary]]. Ordered in response to a pair of Italian ironclads in 1860, {{SMS|Drache|1861|2}} and {{SMS|Salamander|1861|2}} were laid down in early 1861, launched later that year, and completed in 1862. They participated in the Austrian victory over the Italians in the [[Battle of Lissa (1866)|Battle of Lissa]], where ''Drache'' destroyed the [[coastal defense ship]] {{ship|Italian coastal defense ship|Palestro||2}}, one of two Italian ships sunk in the action. Both ships were withdrawn from front-line service in 1875. ''Drache''{{'}}s hull was in poor condition, so she was discarded and eventually [[ship breaking|broken up]] in 1883, and ''Salamander'' became a harbor [[guard ship]]. She was [[hulk (ship)|hulked]] in 1883 and converted into floating storage for [[naval mine]]s before being scrapped in 1895–1896.

==Design==
The launch of the French {{ship|French ironclad|Gloire||2}}, the world's first [[ironclad warship]], started a naval arms race between the major European powers. The [[Austrian Navy]] began a major ironclad construction program under the direction of [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Archduke Ferdinand Max]], the ''Marinekommandant'' (naval commander) and brother of Kaiser [[Franz Josef I]], the emperor of Austria. This program was in response to a similar naval expansion in the recently-united [[Kingdom of Italy]] across the [[Adriatic Sea]], and marked the beginning of Austria's participation in the [[Austro-Italian ironclad arms race]].<ref>Sondhaus p. 209</ref> {{SMS|Drache|1861|2}} and {{SMS|Salamander|1861|2}} were ordered in response to the two {{sclass|Formidabile|ironclad}}s that Italy had bought from France in 1860.<ref>Pawlik, p. 6</ref><ref>Sondhaus, pp. 6–7</ref><ref name=s8>Silverstone, p. 17</ref> The design work was done by the Austrian Director of Naval Construction, [[Josef von Romako]], who would go on to design all of the Austrian ironclads through to {{SMS|Tegetthoff|1878|2}} in the late 1870s.<ref>Gardiner, pp. 267–270</ref> The ships were rated as third-class armored frigates.<ref name=G267/>

===Characteristics===
[[File:SMS Drache NH 87015.jpg|thumb|left|''Drache'' in her original configuration, c. 1866]]
The ships of the ''Drache'' class were {{convert|62.78|m|sp=us|0}} [[length between perpendiculars|long between perpendiculars]] and had an [[length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|70.1|m|sp=us|0}}. Their [[beam (nautical)|beam]] measured {{convert|13.94|m|ftin|sp=us}} and they had a [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|6.3|to|6.8|m|ftin|sp=us}}. They [[displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|2824|LT|t}} at normal load, and {{convert|3110|LT|t}} at [[deep load]]. Their [[hull (watercraft)|hulls]] were of wooden construction with iron armor plates [[rivet]]ed over top. The ships had a complement of 346 officers and crewmen.<ref name=s8/><ref name=G267>Gardiner, p. 267</ref>

The ships had a horizontal 2-cylinder [[Marine steam engine|steam engine]] that drove their single propeller using steam provided by four coal-fired [[boiler]]s that exhausted through one [[funnel (ship)|funnel]]. The engine produced a total of {{convert|1842|to|2060|ihp|lk=in}} which gave the ships a speed of {{convert|10.5|to|11|kn|lk=in}}. For long-distance travel, the ''Drache''s were fitted with three [[mast (sailing)|masts]] and [[barque]] rigged. Between 1869 and 1872, both ships had their rigging increased with a larger sail area.<ref name=s8/><ref name=G267/>

The frigates were [[broadside ironclad]]s, and were armed with ten 48-pounder [[smoothbore]] guns and eighteen 24-pounder [[Muzzle-loading rifle|rifled, muzzle-loading]] (RML) guns. These guns were mounted in [[gun port]]s along the length of the hull. In 1867, these guns were removed, and ten [[Armstrong-Whitworth|Armstrong]] [[RML 7 inch gun|RML {{convert|7|in|adj=on|0}}]] guns and two [[bronze]] RML {{convert|2|in|adj=on|0}} guns were installed in their place. They were equipped with [[naval ram|ram]] bows. The ''Drache''-class ironclads had a [[waterline]] [[Belt armor|belt]] of [[wrought iron]] that was {{convert|115|mm|1|sp=us}} thick.<ref name=G267/>

==Ships==
{|class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!Ship
!Builder<ref name=G267/>
!Laid down<ref name=s56>Silverstone, pp. 26, 31</ref>
!Launched<ref name=G267/>
!Completed<ref name=s56/>
|-
|{{SMS|Drache|1861|6}}
|rowspan=2|[[Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino]], [[Trieste]]
|align=center|18 February 1861
|align=center|9 September 1861
|align=center|November 1862
|-
|{{SMS|Salamander|1861|6}}
|align=center|February 1861
|align=center|22 August 1861
|align=center|May 1862
|}

==Service==
[[File:SMS Salamander NH 87453.jpg|thumb|''Salamander'' before her 1867 refit]]

Two years after the ships entered service, Austria joined [[Prussia]] in the [[Second Schleswig War]] against Denmark. ''Drache'' and ''Salamander'' were kept in the Adriatic to defend against a possible Danish attack, which failed to materialize.<ref>Greene & Massignani, p. 210</ref> In 1866, Austria's erstwhile ally Prussia signed an alliance with Italy directed against Austria, beginning the [[Seven Weeks' War]]. The Austrian fleet was commanded by Rear Admiral [[Wilhelm von Tegetthoff]], who attacked the Italian fleet as it attempted to capture the island of [[Vis (island)|Lissa]] in the central Adriatic. In the ensuring [[Battle of Lissa (1866)|Battle of Lissa]], both ships were heavily engaged, with ''Drache'' inflicting fatal damage to the [[coastal defense ship]] {{ship|Italian coastal defense ship|Palestro||2}}, setting her on fire and ultimately destroying her. ''Drache'' did not escape unscathed, however, as she was hit by Italian shells numerous times; she lost her main mast, was temporarily set on fire, and her commander was killed.<ref>Wilson, pp. 235–243</ref> ''Salamander'' engaged the leading ships of the Italian line, though neither side inflicted serious damage on the other.<ref>Hale, p. 245</ref> Nevertheless, the loss of ''Palestro'' and the ironclad {{ship|Italian ironclad|Re d'Italia||2}} led the demoralized Italian fleet to disengage and retreat to their base at [[Ancona]].<ref>Wilson, p. 241</ref>

Both ships were modernized twice after the war, receiving new guns in 1867,<ref>Sondhaus, p. 10</ref> and again at the end of the decade when their rigging was increased. They saw little use thereafter, however. Badly rotted by 1875, ''Drache'' was stricken from the [[naval register]] on 13 June that year and eventually [[ship breaking|broken up]] for scrap in 1883.<ref name=G267/> ''Salamander'' lingered on in service as a [[guard ship]] from 1875<ref>Dislère, p. 11</ref> until 18 March 1883, when she too was stricken from the register and converted into a [[naval mine|mine]] storage [[hulk (ship)|hulk]]. She served in this capacity until 1895 when she was sold for scrap and dismantled over the following year.<ref name=G267/><ref>Silverstone, p. 31</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|20em}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Dislère|first=Paul|title=Die Panzerschiffe der neuesten Zeit|url=https://archive.org/details/diepanzerschiff00dislgoog|location=Pola|publisher=Druck und Commissionsverlag von Carl Gerold's Sohn|year=1877|oclc=25770827}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Gardiner|editor-first=Robert|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|year=1979|location=London|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|isbn=0-85177-133-5| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Greene|first1=Jack|last2=Massignani|first2=Alessandro|title=Ironclads at War: The Origin and Development of the Armored Warship, 1854–1891|year=1998|location=Pennsylvania|publisher=Da Capo Press|name-list-style=amp|isbn=0-938289-58-6}}
* {{Cite book|last=Hale|first=John Richard|title=Famous Sea Fights From Salamis to Tsu-shima|year=1911|location=Boston|publisher=Little, Brown, & Company|oclc=747738440}}
* {{cite book|last=Pawlik|first=Georg|title=Des Kaisers Schwimmende Festungen: die Kasemattschiffe Österreich-Ungarns|trans-title=The Kaiser's Floating Fortresses: The Casemate Ships of Austria-Hungary|year=2003|publisher=Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag|location=Vienna|isbn=978-3-7083-0045-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}
* {{Cite book| last=Sondhaus| first=Lawrence| title=The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918| year=1994| location=West Lafayette| publisher=Purdue University Press| isbn=978-1-55753-034-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Herbert Wrigley |author-link=Herbert Wrigley Wilson|title=Ironclads in Action: A Sketch of Naval Warfare from 1855 to 1895|url=https://archive.org/details/ironcladsinacti00wilsgoog|year=1896|publisher=S. Low, Marston and Company|location=London|oclc=1111061}}

{{Drache class ironclads}}
{{Austro-Hungarian ironclads}}

[[Category:Drache-class ironclads| ]]