Monarch class battleship
Encyclopedia

The Monarch class was a class of battleships, although resembling coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...

s, built by Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 at the end of the 19th century. The
Monarchs were the first ships of their type to utilize turrets. The class comprised three ships: , , and , each armed with two 240 mm (9 in) L/40 guns in two turrets and capable of 15.5 knots (8.4 m/s) at full speed. The Budapest was fitted with slightly more modern and powerful engines, giving her a top speed of 17.5 kn (21.3 mph; 34.3 km/h).

Monarch was launched on 9 May 1895, Wien on 7 July 1895, and Budapest just over a year later on 24 July 1896. The ships saw very little service during World War I in the V Division of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. Budapest and Wien took part in the bombardment of Italian positions along the Adriatic coast in 1915 and 1917, but the three battleships went largely inactive for the remainder of war.

In 1917,
Wien was struck by Italian torpedoes and sank in her home port of Trieste. The remaining two ships were ceded to Great Britain following the end of the war and were scrapped between 1920 and 1922.

Construction

In the 1890s the Austro-Hungarian Navy
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....

 consisted of two obsolescent battleships, the
Rudolph and the Stephanie. By 1893, sufficient funds were available to build three replacement ships, but the Hungarian and Austrian parliaments authorized only the construction of a smaller class of coastal defense battleships, given that Austria-Hungary believed that the role of her navy was solely revolved around coastal defense. The three new ships—the SMS Budapest, SMS Wien, and SMS Monarch—weighed about 5600 tonnes (5,512 LT), half the size of the battleships of other navies. The Budapest was fitted with more powerful engines than her sister ships, giving her a higher top speed. SMS Budapest and SMS Wien were built in the Stabilimento Tecnico Trietino yards in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...

, and the SMS
Monarch was constructed at the Naval Arsenal in Pola
Pola
Pola may refer to:In places:*Pola, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in south Poland*Pola, Oriental Mindoro, a municipality in the Philippines*Pola de Allande, a town and a parish in Allande, a municipality within the province of Asturias, in northern Spain...

.

The first ship of the class, the
Wien was laid down on 16 February 1893. She was launched on 7 July 1895, about a month after the Monarch. Despite this, the Wien was the first ship of the new class to be commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy, on 13 May 1897. The second ship of the class, the Monarch, was laid down on 31 July 1893, launched on 9 May 1895, and was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 11 May 1898. The Budapest was the third and final ship of the class. She was laid down on the same day as the Wien, on 16 February 1893, and launched from the Naval Arsenal in Pola on 24 July 1896. She was commissioned on 12 May 1898, a day after the Monarch.

Design

Armament and armor

The members of the
Monarch class displaced 5878 tonnes (5,785 LT). Their armament consisted of four 240 mm (9 in) L/40 guns with two guns in each of the two turrets, six 150 mm (6 in) L/40 guns, 10 47 mm (1.9 in) L/44 guns, four 47 mm (1.9 in) L/33 guns, one 8 mm (0.31496062992126 in) MG gun, and four torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...

s.

Ships of the
Monarch class were fitted with Harvey armour throughout. Their belt armor was 270 mm (10.6 in) thick except for the turrets, which had 203 mm (8 in). The conning tower was protected by armor 220 mm (8.7 in) thick, and the deck by 64 mm (2.5 in); the redoubt and casemates had 76 mm (3 in) of armor.

Propulsion and crew

Monarch class ships normally carried 300 tons of coal, but could hold up to 500 tons. The Budapest was fitted with 12 coal-fired Belleville boilers without economizers, giving an output of 9180 hp. The Wien and the Monarch had coal-fired cylindrical boilers and vertical triple expansion engines with an output of 8500 hp. The Wien and the Monarch had a maximum speed of 15.5 kn (18.9 mph; 30.4 km/h), compared to the Budapests top speed of 17.5 kn (21.3 mph; 34.3 km/h). Each ship was manned by 26 officers and 397 crewmen, a total of 423 personnel per ship.

Peace time

Upon being commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the three ships of the Monarch class were used for a variety of purposes. All three ships of the Monarch class partook in a cruise around the Adriatic and Aegean in 1899, to display the Austro-Hungarian flag in foreign waters. The Monarch class formed the I Battleship Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The battleship Wien participated in the Diamond Jubilee
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...

 of the crowning of Queen Victoria in 1897, as well as the international blockade off Crete during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897
Greco-Turkish War (1897)
The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known as the Black '97 in Greece, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause was the question over the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek majority long desired union...

. However, less than five years after their completion, the Monarch class battleships were rendered obsolete by the newly commissioned Habsburg class
Habsburg class battleship
The Habsburg class was a group of pre-dreadnought battleships built by Austria-Hungary at the turn of the 20th century. They were the first sea-going battleship built by Austria-Hungary since the center-battery ship Tegetthoff in 1876. The class was composed of three ships: , , and...

. The newly completed Habsburg
SMS Habsburg
SMS Habsburg was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Austro-Hungarian navy in 1899. The lead ship of the , she was launched on 9 September 1900. In 1903 and 1904, Habsburg and her sister ship Árpád conducted training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1906 and 1907, Habsburg was...

conducted a training cruise with the three Monarch class battleships in January 1903; they were joined by the Árpád
SMS Árpád
SMS Árpád was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the early 20th century. She was launched on 11 September 1901 as the second of three battleships. Along with her sisterships, she participated at the bombardment of Ancona during World War I...

the following year. During the 1904 training exercises, the three Habsburg class battleships engaged the three Monarchs in simulated combat; the maneuver marked the first time two homogeneous squadrons consisting of modern battleships operated in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The three Habsburg class ships took over the position of the I Division while the Monarchs formed the newly created II Division. With other new classes of pre-dreadnoughts being built such as the Erzherzog Karl class
Erzherzog Karl class battleship
The Erzherzog Karl class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built before World War I. All of the battleships of the Erzherzog Karl-class were built in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyards in Trieste. The first battleship, was laid down in 1902....

, and later the Radetzky class
Radetzky class battleship
The Radetzky class were a group of three semi-dreadnought battleships built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1907 and 1910. All ships were built by the STT shipyard in Trieste. They were the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarians, and the penultimate class of any type of...

, the Monarchs were demoted even further, and ended up in the V Battleship Division. They were serving as coastal defense ships by the beginning of World War I.

World War I

At the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, the three ships of the Monarch class were serving as the V Battleship Division, deployed as coastal defense ships. They also served as training ships, and were used to bombard coastal positions during the early years of the war. In August 1914, the Budapest was transferred from Pola
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...

 to Cattaro to shell Mount Lovcen
Mount Lovcen
Lovćen is a mountain and national park in southwestern Montenegro.The Mount Lovćen rises from the borders of the Adriatic basin closing the long ang twisting bays of Boka Kotorska and making the hinterland to the coastal town of Kotor...

. On 9 August 1914 the Monarch shelled the French radio station at Budva
Budva
Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality...

. She also bombarded the Montenegrin radio station off Bar on 17 August and another station off Volovica Point on 19 August where she attacked the local radio station and barracks. Following these operations, the Monarch served as a harbor defense ship. On 28–29 December 1915 the Budapest supported the cruisers and destroyers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy that were to raid Durazzo, but the detachment returned to port without having opened fire on the enemy. On 9 January 1916, the Budapest again bombarded the fortifications on Mount Lovcen, and helped to capture the enemy-held mountain. In late 1917 the Budapest and Wien were sent to Trieste, and participated in shelling Italian troops in the Gulf of Trieste
Gulf of Trieste
The Gulf of Trieste is a shallow bay of the Adriatic Sea, in the extreme northern part of the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Gulf of Venice and is shared by Italy, Slovenia and Croatia...

. On 10 December 1917, two Italian torpedo boats managed to penetrate the port of Trieste undetected, and fired torpedoes at the battleships Budapest and Wien. The torpedo fired at the Budapest missed, but the Wien was hit twice and sank in less than five minutes in the shallow water of the Trieste harbor. Forty-six men serving on the Wien were killed in the attack. The Budapest was subsequently given the task that the Monarch had been performing for over three years, and was demoted to a floating barrack for German U-boat crews. In June 1918 the Budapest was renovated and had a 380 mm (15 in) L/17 howitzer installed in her bow to use for coastal bombardment, but she never saw action with the new gun in place. At the end of the war in 1918, the remaining Monarch class battleships, the Budapest and the Monarch, were handed over to Great Britain as war reparations
War reparations
War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...

. In 1920 the two ships were sold for scrap to Italy, and were broken up between 1920 and 1922.
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