SMS Admiral Spaun

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SMS Admiral Spaun in Trieste in 1914
SMS Admiral Spaun in Trieste in 1914
Overview
Type Rapid cruiser
Shipyard

Naval Arsenal Pola

Keel laying May 30, 1908
Launch October 30, 1909
Namesake Hermann Freiherr von Spaun
Commissioning November 15, 1910
Whereabouts Scrapped in Italy in 1920
Technical specifications
displacement

Construction: 3383.85 t
Maximum: 3943.89 t

length

Waterline : 129.65 m
over all: 130.6 m

width

12.79 m

Draft

4.58 - 5.3 m

crew

327 men

drive
speed

27 kn

Armament
  • Guns:
    7 × 10 cm L / 50 K / 10 cannons from Škoda
    from 1916 onwards:
    7 cm L / 50 flak
  • Torpedo tubes :
    2 × 45 cm
    above water from March 1915:
    8 × 45 cm above water in 4 double sets
  • Capacity for 60 sea ​​mines
Armor

Belt: 60 mm
Deck: 20 mm
Shields: 40 mm
Navigating bridge: 50 mm

SMS Admiral Spaun was a rapid cruiser ( small cruiser ) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy .

She was the lead ship and the only unit in this class.

Building history

When it was recognized in the Austro-Hungarian Navy that the new type of warfare made it indispensable to allow fast turbine cruisers to reconnaissance with destroyers in front of the battle fleet, planning began in mid-1906 for the construction of the first turbine cruiser, which was also known internationally as a fleet cruiser . The general shipbuilding engineer Siegfried Popper from Prague made the draft, who in turn was based on foreign models.

The sea arsenal in Pola, in which the keel was stretched on May 30, 1908, received the construction contract. On October 30, 1909 took place Launched on 15 November 1910, the entry into service.

Two high-pressure, two low-pressure and two marching turbines (on the inner shafts ) were provided for the drive . The ship was provided with light belt armor. The main armament, consisting only of 10 cm guns, turned out to be a serious shortcoming that was not eliminated despite all the conversion plans. The four ships of the Admiral Spaun class and the reinforced Admiral Spaun or Helgoland class were the most modern cruisers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy when the war broke out. In the narrow area of ​​the Adriatic they were predestined for the tactics of slamming and disappearing, which is why they carried the brunt of the attacks in this type of naval warfare. In naval battles with the enemy armed with 15 cm guns, however, the artillery was clearly inferior, which is why in 1917 considerations were made to set the main artillery to 2 × 15 cm L / 50 and 4 × 10 cm L / 40 or 6 × 12 cm L / 45 upgrade. However, these considerations were not implemented; only flak and fogging systems were installed.

Calls

  • 1911: Fleet demonstration in the Levant
  • 1912: Fleet demonstration in the Levant
  • August 7, 1914: Set sail with the entire fleet to escort the German warships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau to Pola. The mission was canceled, the kuk squadre turned around at Cape Blanca .
  • May 23, 1915: Advance to the Italian east coast as a unit. Bombardment of Termoli and Campomarino
  • June 17, 1915: Bombardment of land targets at the mouth of the Tagliamento with SMS Novara and security vehicles
  • June 27, 1915: With the Novara bombardment of the Ancona - Pesaro railway line
  • December 19, 1917: Bombardment of Cortellazzo with battleships
  • June 9, 1918: Ready in the Bay of Cattaro . The planned attack with SMS Saida and three torpedo boats on the Otranto barrier was canceled due to the sinking of the battleship Szent István .
  • November 1918 in Pola, there taken over by Italy.

Whereabouts

The Admiral Spaun was transferred to Venice on March 25, 1919. It was there until the end of January 1920, when it was awarded to Great Britain by an Allied naval delegation . The British then sold the ship to Italy and scrapped it there.

Technical specifications

Main artillery: weight gun barrel - 1940 kg, weight breech block - 80 kg

Naming

The ship was named after the Admiral Hermann Freiherr von Spaun , who acted as commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy from December 1897 to May 1904. This naming was unusual because ship names of people who were still alive were reserved for members of the imperial family.

annotation

For the sake of authenticity, the place names are given in the spelling of the Imperial and Royal Navy. The links refer to today's conditions.

literature

  • Erwin S. Sieche: The cruisers of the k. and k. Navy (= naval arsenal with international naval news and naval overview 27). Podzun-Pallas et al., Wölfersheim-Berstadt et al. 1994, ISBN 3-7909-0506-2 .
  • Robert Gardiner, Roger Chesneau, Eugene Kolesnik (eds.): Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, London 1979, ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .

Web links

Commons : SMS Admiral Spaun  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files