SMS Zrínyi
 The SMS Zrinyi after being handed over to the United States
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | SMS Zrínyi |
| Namesake | House of Zrinski |
| Builder | Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino |
| Laid down | 15 November 1908 |
| Launched | 12 April 1910 |
| Completed | July 1911 |
| Commissioned | 22 November 1911 |
| Decommissioned | 22 November 1919 |
| History | |
 | |
| Name | USS Zrinyi |
| Commissioned | 22 November 1919 |
| Decommissioned | 7 November 1920 |
| Fate | Turned over to Italy, ultimately scrapped |
| General characteristics [1][2] | |
| Class and type | Radetzky-class battleship |
| Displacement | 14,500 long tons (14,700 t) |
| Length | 139 m (456 ft) |
| Beam | 25 m (82 ft) |
| Draught | 8.1 m (26 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 2 shaft vertical triple expansion steam engines 12 Yarrow-type coal fired boilers 20,000 hp |
| Speed | 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) |
| Range | list error: <br /> list (help) 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) 1,350 tons coal |
| Complement | 880-890 officers and men |
| Armament | list 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 |
| Armour | list 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 Zrínyi was a Radetzky-class pre-dreadnought battleship (Schlachtschiff) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (K.u.K. Kriegsmarine), named for the Zrinski, a noble Croatian family, subject of the Hungarian Crown.[3] She was later briefly designated USS Zrínyi of the United States Navy following World War I. Zrinyi and her sisters, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and Radetzky, were the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
Her keel was laid down on 15 November 1908, at the Stabilimento Tecnico of Trieste. She was launched on 12 April 1910, and completed in July 1911.
During World War I, Zrinyi saw action in the Adriatic sea. She served with the Second Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's battleships and took part in the bombardment of Senigallia as well as the bombardment of the key seaport of Ancona, Italy, on 24 May 1915. However, Allied control of the Strait of Otranto meant that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was, for all intents and purposes, effectively bottled up in the Adriatic. Nonetheless, the presence of the Zrinyi and other battleships tied down a substantial force of Allied ships.
Construction
Zrinyi was built at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino dockyard in Triest, the same place where her sisterships were built earlier. She was launched from the slipway on 12 April 1910.[4] The teak used on the Zrinyi's deck was the only material Austria-Hungary had to purchase abroad to build the ship.[5] Zrinyi was completed by 15 July 1911, when she was commissioned into the fleet.[4] She was the last ship of the class to be completed; Radetzky followed eight months earlier on 15 January 1911, and Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand exactly six months before that, on 10 June.[4]
Zrinyi 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. Zrinyi 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).[2] Zrinyi was the first warship in the Austro-Hungarian navy to use oil to supplement the coal fired boilers.[5] 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).[4]
The ship's primary armament consisted of four 30.5 cm (12 in) 45-caliber guns in two twin gun turrets.[2] This was augmented by a heavy secondary battery of eight 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in four wing turrets.[2] The tertiary battery consisted of twenty 10 cm L/50 guns in casemated 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.[2] Three 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes were also carried, two on the beams and one in the stern.[4]
Service history
Pre-war
In 1912, Zrinyi took part in a training cruise with the recently commissioned dreadnoughts Tegetthoff and Viribus Unitis in the eastern Mediterranean, which included a stop at Malta. Zrinyi and her sisterships were assigned to the 2nd Division of the 1st Battle Squadron, alongside the Tegetthoff ships in the 1st Division.[1]
World War I
During World War I, Zrínyi served with the Second Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's battleships. Along with her sisterships Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and Radetzky, and the remainder of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Zrinyi was mobilized on the eve of World War I to support the flight of SMS Goeben and Breslau. The two German ships were attempting to break out of Messina, in then neutral Italy, and evade the British navy, and make their way to Turkey. The flotilla had advanced as far south as Brindisi in south eastern Italy when news of the successful breakout reached Vienna. The battleships were then recalled to port before they saw any action.[6]
On 24 May 1915, Zrinyi and her sister ships bombarded the Italian coast, mainly the important naval base at Ancona. This occurred several days after the entrance of Italy into the war on the side of the Triple Entente.[7] The Italian fleet was completely unprepared for hostilities, and by the time Italian ships arrived on the scene, the Austro-Hungarians were safely back in Pola (Pula) where they would remain until the conclusion of the war.[8][9]
The fleet was constrained by the Otranto Barrage organized by the Allies. The line of smaller vessels backed by capital ships kept the Adriatic separated from the Mediterranean.
Postwar fate
After the Habsburg Empire collapsed in 1918, the Austrians wanted to turn the fleet over to the newly-created State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (later to become the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in order to prevent the Italians from getting their hands on the ships.[7] However, the victorious Allies refused to acknowledge the conversations between the Austrians and the south Slavs and, in due course, reallocated the ships.[7]. The ship had been boarded with a scratch Yugoslav crew on November 10, 1918, one day before the Armistice, and had left Pola (Pula) with her sistership, Radetszky. They were soon spotted by heavy Italian ships, so the two battleships hoisted American flags and sailed south along the Adriatic coast to Castelli Bay near Spalato (also known as Split). They appealed for American naval forces to meet them and accept their surrender, which a squadron of USN submarine chasers in the area did.[9] Zrínyi had apparently been turned over to the fledgling south Slav state, as it was a Croat naval officer, Korvettenkapitän Marijan Polić, who turned over the ship as a prize of war to representatives of the United States Navy on the afternoon of 22 November 1919 at Spalato (Split) in Dalmatia.[7] Simultaneously she was commissioned as USS Zrínyi and Lieutenant E.E. Hazlett, USN, assumed command.[7] The initial American complement consisted of four officers and 174 enlisted men — the latter entirely composed of United States Navy Reserve Force personnel.[7] Zrínyi remained at anchor at Spalato for nearly a year while the negotiations that would determine her ultimate fate dragged on.[7] Only once did she apparently turn her engines over, and that occurred during a severe gale that struck Spalato on 9 February 1920.[7]
On the morning of 7 November 1920, Zrínyi was decommissioned.[7] USS Chattanooga took her in tow and, assisted by Brooks and Hovey, pulled the battleship to Papaja, Italy.[7] Under the terms of the treaties of Versailles and St. Germain, Zrínyi was ultimately turned over to the Italian government at Venice. Zrínyi was later broken up for scrap. [7]
References
- Notes
- ^ a b Gardiner and Gray, p. 332
- ^ a b c d e Ireland, p. 12
- ^ Frucht p. 339
- ^ a b c d e Gardiner & Gray, p. 333
- ^ a b Sondhaus, p. 211
- ^ Haplern p. 54
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Zrinyi". USN Historical Center. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ Miller, p. 396
- ^ a b Hore, Peter (2006). Battleships of World War I. London: Southwater Books. ISBN 978-1-84476-377-1.
- Bibliography
- Frucht, Richard C (2005). Eastern Europe: an introduction to the people, lands, and culture. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-800-0, 1-57607-801-9.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1922. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870219073.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. ISBN 9781557530349.
- Ireland, Bernard (1996). Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-470997-7.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.