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SMS Radetzky (1909)

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A black and white ship positioned 45 degrees to the left of the viewer, bow first
SMS Radetzky at rest in the water.
History
Austro-Hungarian Navy Ensign
NameSMS Radetzky
NamesakeJoseph Radetzky von Radetz
BuilderStabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Laid down26 November 1907
Launched3 July 1909
Commissioned15 January 1911
History
NameUSS Radetzky
FateTurned over to Italy, ultimately scrapped from 1920 to 1921
General characteristics
Class and typeRadetzky-class battleship
Displacement14,500 long tons (14,700 t)
Length139 m (456 ft)
Beam25 m (82 ft)
Draught8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)
Propulsionlist error: <br /> list (help)
2 shaft vertical triple expansion steam engines
12 Yarrow-type coal fired boilers
20,000 hp
Speed20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Rangelist error: <br /> list (help)
4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
1,350 tons coal
Complement880-890 officers and men
Armamentlist error: <br /> list (help)
• 4 × 30 cm (12 in) guns
• 8 × 24 cm (9.4 in) guns
• 20 × 10 cm (3.9 in) rapid-fire cannons
• 6 × 11–pounders
• 3 × 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armourlist error: <br /> list (help)
• Belt: 230 mm (9.1 in)
• Deck: 48 mm (1.9 in)
• Bulkhead: 54 mm (2.1 in)
• Main turrets: 250 mm (9.8 in)
• Secondary turrets: 200 mm (7.9 in)
• Casemates: 120 mm (4.7 in)
• Conning tower: 250 mm (9.8 in)

SMS Radetzky was the lead ship of the three Radetzky class of pre-dreadnought battleships (Schlachtschiff) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (K.u.K. Kriegsmarine), named for the 19th century Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. Radetzky and her sisters, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and Zrinyi, were the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy—they were followed by the larger and significantly more powerful Tegetthoff class dreadnoughts.

Radetzky was built at the Stabilimento Tecnico in Trieste and commissioned into the fleet on 15 January 1911. The ship conducted training cruises in the Mediterranean Sea before the outbreak of World War I in mid-1914. During the war, Radetzky operated largely as a fleet in being alongside her two sisters and the four Tegetthoffs; 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. With the war going against the Austrians by the end of 1918, Radetzky was prepared to be transferred to Yugoslavia. On November 10, 1918—just one day before the end of the war—Yugoslav navy officers sailed the old battleship out of Pola and eventually surrendered to a squadron of American submarine chasers. In the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the transfer was not recognized; instead, Radetzky was given to Italy and broken up for scrap.

Construction

Radetzky was the second ship of the class to be laid down, which was done on 26 November 1907, at the Stabilimento Tecnico of Trieste. Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand was the first, on 12 September 1907, while Zrinyi followed much later, on 20 January 1909; both ships were also laid down at the Stabilimento Tecnico. Radetzly was launched on 3 July 1909, and commissioned on 15 January 1911.[1]

Radetzky was 138.8 m (455 ft 4 in) long, and had a beam of 24.6 m (80 ft 8 in) and a draft of 8.1 m (26 ft 9 in). She displaced 14,508 long tons (14,741 t) normally, and up to 15,845.5 long tons (16,099.8 t) with a full combat load. The ship was powered by two-shaft four-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines rated at 19,800 indicated horsepower and a top speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph). She had a maximum range of 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph).[1]

The ship's primary armament consisted of four 30.5 cm (12 in) 45-caliber guns in two twin gun turrets. This was augmented by a heavy secondary battery of eight 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in four wing turrets. The tertiary battery consisted of twenty 10 cm L/50 guns in casemate single mounts, two 66 mm (2.6 in) landing guns, four 47 mm (1.85 in) L/44 and one 47 mm L/33 quick-firing guns. Three 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes were also carried, two on the beams and one in the stern.[1]

Service history

Pre-war

One of Radetzky's first duties was to attend the British Coronation Review for King George V in Spithead in June 1911. Following her return to the Austro-Hungarian fleet, she conducted several training cruises in the eastern Mediterranean with her two sisters in 1912. Later that year, Radetzky and her sisters, under the command of Vice Admiral Maximilian Njegovan,[2] took part in an international fleet demonstration in the Ionian Sea to protest the Balkan Wars.[3] Among the ships from other navies were the British pre-dreadnought HMS King Edward VII, the Italian pre-dreadnought Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, the French armored cruiser Edgar Quinet, and the German light cruiser SMS Breslau.[2] The combined flotilla, under the command of British Admiral Cecil Burney, proceeded to blockade the Montenegrin coast to prevent Serbian reinforcements from supporting the siege at Scutari.[4]

During the operation, the first seaplanes to be used in combat were operated from Radetzky and her two sisters.[5] This proved unsatisfactory, however, because the ships lacked cranes with which to lift the planes onto the deck, as well as the fact that the deck was too small to accommodate the aircraft. As a result of the pressure from the international blockade, Serbia withdrew its army from Scutari, which was then occupied by a joint Allied ground force.[5] By 1913, the new dreadnoughts of the Tegetthoff class were coming into active service, and so Radetzky and her sisters were shifted to the 2nd Division of the 1st Battle Squadron.[1]

World War I

At the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914, the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and Breslau were coaling in Messina; British warships had begun to assemble outside the port in an attempt to trap the German ships. The German navy called upon its Austro-Hungarian allies to come to their aid; the Austro-Hungarian high command was initially hesitant, as they wished to avoid initiating hostilities with the British.[6] However, when the Germans made clear they only wanted the Austro-Hungarian fleet to steam only as far as Brindisi, the high command relented and sent the portion of the fleet that had by that time been mobilized, which included Radetzky, on the operation. The fleet sailed to the designated latitude, under strict orders to only actively assist the German ships while they were in Austro-Hungarian waters. After the German ships successfully broke out into the Mediterranean, the Austro-Hungarian fleet returned to port.[7]

In October 1914, the French army established artillery batteries on Mount Lovčen to support the Army of Montenegro against the Austrian army at Cattaro. By the time they were operational, on 15 October, the Austro-Hungarians were ready with the pre-dreadnoughts of the Monarch class. However, their 24 cm guns were insufficient to dislodge the French artillery batteries, and so Radetzky was sent to assist them. On 21 October, the ship arrived, and the gunfire from her 30.5 cm guns forced the French to abandon the position.[8] On May 24, 1915 Radetzky and her sister ships bombarded the Italian coast, including the important naval base at Ancona, following the entrance of Italy into the war on the side of the Triple Entente.[9] During the bombardment, Radetzky destroyed a bridge over the Potenza river. The Italian fleet was completely unprepared for hostilities, and by the time Italian forces arrived on the scene, the Austro-Hungarians were safely back in Pola.[10]

By October 1918, Austria prepared to transfer her entire fleet to Yugoslavia in order to keep it out of Italian hands. On November 10, 1918, one day before the armistice, Yugoslav officers with scratch crews sailed Radetzky and Zrinyi out of Pola.[3][9] Once outside Pola, the ships spotted heavy units of the Italian fleet; the two battleships hoisted American flags and sailed south to escape. A squadron of USN submarine chasers operating off the city of Spalato accepted the surrender of Radetzky and Zrinyi.[3] However, under the subsequent peace treaty, the Allied powers ignored the transfer of the Austro-Hungarian ships to the Yugoslav navy; instead, the ships were to be ceded to Italy.[9] Radetzky was broken up in Italy between 1920–1921.[1]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e Gardiner and Gray, p. 333
  2. ^ a b Vego, p. 151
  3. ^ a b c Hore, p. 84
  4. ^ Vego, pp. 151–152
  5. ^ a b Vego, p. 152
  6. ^ Halpern, p. 53
  7. ^ Halpern, p. 54
  8. ^ Halpern, p. 60
  9. ^ a b c "Zrinyi". USN Historical Center. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  10. ^ Miller, p. 396

References

  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1922. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870219073.
  • Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557503524.
  • Hore, Peter (2006). Battleships of World War I. London: Southwater Books. ISBN 978-1-84476-377-1.
  • Miller, Francis Trevelyan (1916). The Story of the Great War. P.F. Collier & Son.
  • Vego, Milan N. (1996). Austro-Hungarian naval policy, 1904-14. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780714642093.
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