SMS Kaiser (1860)

SMS Kaiser

SMS Kaiser damaged after the naval battle of Lissa

Ship data flag  Austria-Hungary Ship type Ship of the line home port Pola , Austria-Hungary Owner kuk Kriegsmarine Shipyard Pola naval shipyard Launch October 4, 1858 Commissioning 1859

Ship dimensions and crew length 81 m ( Lüa ) width 17.6 m Draft Max. 7.40 m displacement 5194 ts   crew 904 men

Rigging and rigging Rigging Full ship rigging Number of masts 3 Speed under sail Max. 12.5 kn (23 km / h)

Machine system machine Steam engine Machine performance 2,000 PS (1,471 kW) Top speed 12.5 kn (23 km / h)

Armament 16 × 60 pounders 74 × 30 pounder 2 × 24 pounders

The SMS Kaiser was the last wooden ship of the line built by the Austrian Navy for the Austrian Empire or, from 1867, Austria-Hungary, and its only screw ship.

Construction / construction

The SMS Kaiser was a two-decker with 90 cannons (originally 16 60-pounders, 74 30-pounders, and 2 24-pounders), the design of which largely corresponded to that of the first British screw-line ship HMS Agamemnon . With an overall length of 81 meters, a width of 17.06 meters and a maximum draft of 7.40 meters, the displacement was 5194  ts .

The ship (like all wooden ships of the line) had three masts with full rigging. With the additional steam engine of 2000 HP, the ship reached a top speed of 12.5  knots . The crew was 904 men.

history

SMS Kaiser during the naval battle of Lissa . Monumental painting by Alexander Kircher ( Heeresgeschichtliches Museum , Vienna )

The emperor rams the Re di Portogallo

The SMS Kaiser was laid down on March 25, 1855 at the naval shipyard in Pola (today Pula ), it was launched on October 4, 1858 and was put into service in 1859. After initially serving as the flagship of the k. u. k. However, like all wooden ships of the line, it was technically outdated after just a few years by the iron armored ships built since 1860.

In the German-Danish War of 1864 for Schleswig and Holstein , the Emperor served under Kontreadmiral von Wüllerstorff-Urbair in the Austrian squadron, which after the naval battle at Heligoland from July 1864 and until the conclusion of peace on October 30, 1864, the sea traffic off the German North Sea coast secured against Danish attacks.

Two years later, the ship took part in the battle of Lissa on July 20, 1866 under Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff and the command of the ship's captain Anton von Petz , making it the only one of the approximately 100 screw ships built worldwide that was ever used in combat. It survived the battle with several Italian ironclads, including the Re di Portogallo .

From February 1869 to December 1873, the SMS Kaiser in the sea arsenal Pola was converted into an ironclad. While retaining the underwater hull and the machinery, the hull above the waterline was broken off and replaced by an iron structure with a ram bow and a main armament of ten 9 inch (230 mm) cannons in a casemate.

In 1902 the machinery and armament were expanded and the ship was renamed Bellona and used as the Hulk in Pola until 1918 .

The further whereabouts of the ship are unknown.

literature

• Christian Ortner : The sea war in the Adriatic 1866. In: Viribus Unitis. Annual report 2010 of the Army History Museum. ZDB ID 2114718-8 , pp. 100-124.
• Andrew Lambert : Battleships in Transition. The Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860. Conway Maritime Press, London 1984, ISBN 0-85177-315-X , p. 147.
• Roger Chesneau, Eugene M. Kolesnik (ed.): Warships of the world 1860 to 1905. Volume 3: France, Italy, Austria-Hungary and other navies. Bernard and Graefe, Koblenz 1985, ISBN 3-7637-5404-0 , p. 161.