SMS Tiger (1887)

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the former Tiger as SMS Lacroma, 1906
the former Tiger as SMS Lacroma , 1906
Overview
Type Torpedo cruiser

from 1906 yacht

units Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino , Trieste
Keel laying October 5, 1886
Launch June 26, 1887
Commissioning March 14, 1888
Whereabouts 1920 demolition in Italy
Technical specifications
displacement

1657 ts, max. 1730 ts

length

76.02 m above all

width

10.55 m

Draft

4.3 m

crew

188 men

drive

4 double-ended cylinder boilers ,
2 compound machines ,
2 shafts, 6,200 PSi

speed

18 kn

Armament

4 × 120 mm L / 35 cannons
6 × 47 mm L / 44 cannons
4 × 47 mm revolver cannons
4 × 350 mm torpedo tubes

Armament from 1906

4 × 47 mm L / 44 cannons
2 × 47 mm revolver cannons

Armor
deck


12 to 50 mm

similar

SMS Panther , SMS Leopard

The SMS Tiger of the Austro-Hungarian Navy was an improved replica of the torpedo cruiser SMS Panther and SMS Leopard . The SMS Tiger , built domestically in Trieste , was initially referred to as a torpedo pile-driving cruiser , was slightly larger than the two ships delivered from Great Britain and had more powerful armament. In 1906 she was converted into the Admiralty's yacht and renamed SMS Lacroma after an island near Dubrovnik . In 1920 the SMS Lacroma delivered to the Allies was canceled in Italy .

Building history

On September 8, 1884, the then commander of the kuk Kriegsmarine ( naval commander ), Vice-Admiral Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck, called for the construction of so-called torpedo ships in a memorandum. These should be able to attack enemy capital ships with torpedoes, as well as to take over armed reconnaissance and patrols. Like other contemporary naval theorists, Sterneck considered the use of three weapons possible: the ram, the torpedo and the artillery. He therefore envisaged the ramming thrust and torpedo for the tigers as a possibility of attacking larger ships. The Tiger received a reinforced bow and was slightly flatter than its foreign-built predecessor.

The SMS Tiger was built at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in San Rocco , Trieste, where it was launched on June 28, 1887. The steel hulled ship had a displacement of 1,657 ts, was 76.02 m long, up to 10.55 m wide and had a draft of 4.3 m. Two standing 2-cylinder compound machines with 6,200 PSi with four double-ended cylinder tanks served as drive, which gave the Tiger only a speed of 18.6  knots . The planned top speed of over 19 knots was only achieved by the Panther after the subsequent modifications, the Leopard and Tiger did not achieve it.

The armament of the Tiger initially consisted of four 12 cm L / 35 cannons from Krupp on the side of the hull in so-called swallow nests , six 4.7 cm L / 44 rapid-fire cannons from Skoda , four 4.7 cm Hotchkiss - Revolver cannons and four individual 35 cm torpedo tubes (one tube each in the bow, in the stern, port and starboard).

Mission history

Like the Panther and Leopard , the Tiger was initially used as a division leader for torpedo boats. On July 24, 1890, she left Trieste with the "Summer Squadron" under Rear Admiral Johann Edler von Hinke on the first trip of an Austro-Hungarian Navy to the North and Baltic Seas. In addition to the Tiger, the association also included the two tower ships SMS  Kronprinz Rudolf , SMS  Kronprinzessin Stephanie and the torpedo ramming cruiser SMS  Kaiser Franz Joseph I. All three ships had not been in service for a month when they took off.
The journey led via Gibraltar , Portsmouth , Copenhagen and - without Crown Prince Rudolf - to the Swedish naval port of Karlskrona (August 24). The Tiger had also paid a visit to the Dutch naval port of Den Helder on the way north . A wave damage to Crown Prince Rudolf required a longer stay in the shipyard in Kiel , so that the association, in order to remain closed, stayed longer in German waters. The return march of the four Austrian ships from Kiel around Skagen to Cherbourg , Lisbon and Palermo began on September 29 , before all four ships returned to Trieste on October 20, 1890.
In March 1897, the Tiger secured the transport of Austrian troops (II./IR 87.678 men) on the chartered steamer Electra to Crete in order to enforce independence against Greece and Turkey. The flagship of the Austro-Hungarian Association off Crete at that time was the Empress and Queen Maria Theresa , in addition to whom the Crown Princess Stephanie , the Schichau destroyer Satellite , the torpedo cruiser Sebenico and the Schichau torpedo boats Sperber , Elster and Kiebitz were already in use . In addition to these units, eleven other ships and boats were used off Crete. Of the 70 ships of the international association, Austria-Hungary provided up to 16 ships at the same time, the third largest contingent after the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina in front of Russia and France. Germany had only sent the SMS Empress Augusta . The Tiger stayed off Crete until April 5, 1898. The Schichau destroyer Magnet was the last ships to stay in the Sudabucht until April 16, and the flagship Vienna with the Tiger's half-sister , the Leopard , until April 30, 1898 .

The admiralty yacht Lacroma

1905-06, the Tiger was converted into an Admiralty yacht and its armament was reduced to four 4.7 cm Skoda cannons and two 4.7 cm Hotchkiss revolver cannons. The swallow nests on the side of the hull for the 12 cm cannons have been removed. The SMS Tiger , now classified as a yacht, was renamed SMS Lacroma in 1906 , after the Italian name of the island of Lokrum near Dubrovnik.

The Lacroma was completely disarmed in 1915 and handed over to the new Yugoslav Navy in 1919 , which delivered it to Italy in 1920, where the former SMS Tiger was canceled.

literature

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