SMS Zrinyi

Zrinyi

SMS Zrinyi 1918

Ship data flag  Austria-Hungary Yugoslavia United States Italy       other ship names USS Zrinyi Ship type Battleship class Radetzky class Shipyard Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino , Trieste Keel laying November 15, 1908 Launch April 12, 1910 Commissioning November 22, 1911 Whereabouts Wrecked in 1921

Ship dimensions and crew length 138.79 m ( Lüa ) width 24.57 m Draft Max. 8.08 m displacement 14,508 t (normal) 15,845 t (max)   crew 890 men

Machine system machine 12 Yarrow boilers with coal or oil firing. 2 4 cylinder triple expansion engines Machine performance 19,800 PSi Top speed 20.5 kn (38 km / h) propeller 2 screws

Armament 2 × 2 30.5 cm L / 45 cannons 4 × 2 24 cm L / 45 Škoda cannons 20 × 10 cm L / 50 Škoda K10 cannons 6 × 66 mm L / 45 Škoda K10 rapid fire cannon 2 × 66mm L / 18 landing cannon 4 × 47 mm L / 44 rapid fire cannon 1 × 47mm L / 33 rapid fire cannon 3 × torpedo tubes ∅ 45 cm

SMS Zrínyi was a battleship of the Radetzky class of Imperial and Royal Navy . In addition to the main artillery of four 30.5 cm guns, it had eight guns with an intermediate caliber of 24 cm. As the first ship of the Radetzky class, it could also be fueled with oil. It was named after the Croatian-Hungarian family Zrinyi .

history

The Zrínyi was on 15 November 1908 at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Trieste on down Kiel . The launch took place on April 12, 1910. The godmother was Marie Valerie of Austria . The shipyard was handed over on July 15, 1911 and the commissioning on November 22, 1911. The construction costs amounted to 38 million crowns . The ship was assigned to the 2nd battleship division and the home port was Pula .

In the Balkan Wars of 1913, the Zrínyi blocked the coast of Montenegro and the mouth of the Bojana as part of a naval intervention by several European countries to prevent Serbian troops from taking Scutari .

After Italy entered the First World War in 1915, it shelled the Italian and Montenegrin coasts. Transport facilities in Ancona and Senigallia were destroyed in order to delay the advance of Italian troops into the Alps. During the attack on Senigallia, it was bombed by the military airship Città di Ferrara . However, she was able to dodge the attacks. Most of the rest of the war the ship spent in the port of Pula.

After the end of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Navy handed over the ship as well as the sister ship Radetzky to the newly created state of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in order to prevent extradition to Italy. However, Italy occupied Pula and hoisted the Italian flag on the Zrinyi on November 9, 1918 . At the instigation of the United States , the battleship was initially relocated to Split .

The Croatian corvette captain Marian Polic transferred the Zrinyi . Obviously he was flying the Yugoslav flag. However, when an Italian fleet approached, it was exchanged for the American flag. On November 22, 1918, the battleship was commissioned in good condition as the USS Zrinyi in Spalato under Lieutenant EE Hazlett. On May 31, 1920, the ship was finally awarded to Italy as spoils of war. To avoid the Italian Navy in Yugoslavia having to take delivery of the ship, the USS Zrinyi was towed by the USS Chattanooga outside the three-mile zone and handed over on November 7, 1920 . It was brought to Venice , where it was scrapped in 1921.

literature

• Paul G. Halpern: A Naval History of World War I. United States Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Md., 1995, ISBN 1-55750-352-4
• Anthony Sokol: The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy. United States Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Md., 1968
• Russell Phillips: An Existing Navy: Austro-Hungarian Warships of the First World War. 2014
• Wilhelm M. Donko : USS Zrinyi - an Austro-Hungarian battleship with a special history in Köhler's Fleet Calendar 2018, pp. 138–142.

Web links

Commons : USS Zrinyi  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• SMS ZRÍNYI
• Austro-Hungarian battleships (PDF; 3.0 MB)