SMS Wien
Encyclopedia
SMS Wien ("His Majesty's ship Vienna") was a pre-dreadnought battleship and coastal defense ship of the Monarch class
that was constructed by the Austro-Hungarian Navy
at the end of the 19th century. The Wien was laid down in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
shipyards in Trieste on the same day as her sister ship Budapest, 16 February 1893. She was named after the city of Vienna, the Austrian capital, and was launched on 7 July 1895, the second battleship of the Monarch class. Despite being launched about two months after her sister ship the Monarch, the Wien was the first ship of the Monarch class to be commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy, on 13 May 1897.
After her commissioning, the Wien took part in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee
of Queen Victoria, as well as an international blockade off Crete during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897
. In 1899, the Wien, along with her sister ships the Monarch and the Budapest, cruised around the Adriatic and Aegean sea
s in a display of the Austro-Hungarian flag around the Mediterranean Sea
. The Wien, along with her sister ships, formed the I Battleship Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy until they were replaced by the newly commissioned Habsburg class
at the turn of the century. Thereafter, the Wien and her sister ships were given increasingly diminished roles in the Austro-Hungarian Navy with the successive commissioning of the Erzherzog Karl class
and later the Radetzky class
. By the beginning of World War I the Wien was in the V Battleship Division, serving as a coastal defense ship.
During the war the Wien initially served as a training ship and a floating battery. In late 1917, the Wien and her sister the Budapest were sent to Trieste and participated in shelling Italian troops in the Gulf of Trieste
as well as bombarding other enemy positions in the northern Adriatic. On the night of 9–10 December 1917, while the Wien and the Budapest were at anchor in Trieste, two Italian torpedo boats managed to penetrate the harbor defenses undetected and fired several torpedoes at the two ships. The Budapest was not hit, but the Wien was struck by two torpedoes and sank in less than five minutes, killing 46 of of the 469 men on board. The Wien was the only ship of the Monarch class to be sunk during the war.
shipyard in Trieste, on 16 February 1893. After just over two years of construction, the Wien was launched on 7 July 1895. She was later the first battleship of the Monarch class to be commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy, on 13 May 1897, almost a full year before the next ship, the Monarch, was commissioned.
s. The Wien normally carried 300 tons of coal, but her hull could hold up to 500 tons. Her propulsion system consisted of coal-fired cylindrical boilers and vertical triple expansion engines with an output of 8500 hp. The Wiens maximum speed was 15.5 kn (18.9 mph; 30.4 km/h). She was manned by 26 officers and 397 crewmen, a total of 423 personnel.
s in a display of the Austro-Hungarian flag in 1899. The Wien and her sister ships were replaced as the I Battleship Division by the newly commissioned Habsburg class
in 1900. With the building of the Erzherzog Karl class
and later the Radetzky class battleships
, the Wien was given increasingly diminished roles in the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
Despite the Wiens increasing obsolescence, she and her sister ships continued to conduct training exercises with the other more modern battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In January 1903, the Wien, accompanied by the newly completed Habsburg
and the other ships of the Monarch class, conducted a training cruise in the Mediterranean. The Wien also took part in the 1904 cruise of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas as well as training exercises in which the three Habsburg class battleships engaged the Wien and her sisters in simulated combat. Those maneuvers marked the first time two homogeneous squadrons consisting of modern battleships operated in the Austro-Hungarian navy.
and bombarded other enemy positions in the northern Adriatic Sea. On 16 November 1917, the Wien was hit seven times by shells from Italian positions while engaging the enemy in the upper Adriatic, but suffered only minor damage. On 9 December 1917, the Wien docked at Muggia
in Trieste and prepared for a shore bombardment. On the night of 9–10 December 1917, two Italian torpedo boats managed to penetrate the port of Trieste undetected, and fired torpedoes at the Wien and the Budapest. 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 on board were killed in the attack. The Wien was the only ship of the Monarch class to be sunk during the war, the Austro-Hungarian Navy's biggest loss in the Adriatic campaign since the sinking of the 2300 t (2,263.7 LT) by the French fleet in 1914.
Monarch class battleship
The Monarch class was a class of battleships, although resembling coastal defence ships, built by Austria-Hungary 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 L/40 guns in two...
that was constructed by 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....
at the end of the 19th century. The Wien was laid down in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino was a private shipbuilding company based in Trieste from the mid-19th to early 20th century, and the most important naval shipbuilding firm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire....
shipyards in Trieste on the same day as her sister ship Budapest, 16 February 1893. She was named after the city of Vienna, the Austrian capital, and was launched on 7 July 1895, the second battleship of the Monarch class. Despite being launched about two months after her sister ship the Monarch, the Wien was the first ship of the Monarch class to be commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy, on 13 May 1897.
After her commissioning, the Wien took part in the 1897 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 Queen Victoria, as well as an 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...
. In 1899, the Wien, along with her sister ships the Monarch and the Budapest, cruised around the Adriatic and Aegean sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
s in a display of the Austro-Hungarian flag around the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. The Wien, along with her sister ships, formed the I Battleship Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy until they were replaced 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...
at the turn of the century. Thereafter, the Wien and her sister ships were given increasingly diminished roles in the Austro-Hungarian Navy with the successive commissioning of 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...
. By the beginning of World War I the Wien was in the V Battleship Division, serving as a coastal defense ship.
During the war the Wien initially served as a training ship and a floating battery. In late 1917, the Wien and her sister the Budapest 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...
as well as bombarding other enemy positions in the northern Adriatic. On the night of 9–10 December 1917, while the Wien and the Budapest were at anchor in Trieste, two Italian torpedo boats managed to penetrate the harbor defenses undetected and fired several torpedoes at the two ships. The Budapest was not hit, but the Wien was struck by two torpedoes and sank in less than five minutes, killing 46 of of the 469 men on board. The Wien was the only ship of the Monarch class to be sunk during the war.
Construction
The Wien was the first (along with the Budapest) ship of the Monarch class to be laid down in the Stabilimento Tecnico TriestinoStabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino was a private shipbuilding company based in Trieste from the mid-19th to early 20th century, and the most important naval shipbuilding firm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire....
shipyard in Trieste, on 16 February 1893. After just over two years of construction, the Wien was launched on 7 July 1895. She was later the first battleship of the Monarch class to be commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy, on 13 May 1897, almost a full year before the next ship, the Monarch, was commissioned.
Design
At only 5878 tonnes (5,785 LT) total displacement, the Wien was half the size of the battleships of other major navies at the time. The Wien and her sisters were initially to be much larger, but the Hungarian and Austrian parliaments only approved the construction of a smaller class of coastal defense vessels, because Austria-Hungary believed that the role of her navy was solely to defend her coast. The armament of the Wien 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, ten 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 tubeTorpedo 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. The Wien normally carried 300 tons of coal, but her hull could hold up to 500 tons. Her propulsion system consisted of coal-fired cylindrical boilers and vertical triple expansion engines with an output of 8500 hp. The Wiens maximum speed was 15.5 kn (18.9 mph; 30.4 km/h). She was manned by 26 officers and 397 crewmen, a total of 423 personnel.
Peace time
Once she was put into service, the Wien, along with her sister ships, formed the I Battleship Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. As the first ship of the Monarch class to be commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Wien participated in the Diamond Jubilee of the crowning of Queen Victoria in 1897. Later that year, the Wien formed part of an international blockade off Crete during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Following the commissioning of her sisters the Monarch and the Budapest in 1898, the three ships cruised around the Adriatic and Aegean seaAegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
s in a display of the Austro-Hungarian flag in 1899. The Wien and her sister ships were replaced as the I Battleship Division 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...
in 1900. With the building of 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 battleships
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 Wien was given increasingly diminished roles in the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
Despite the Wiens increasing obsolescence, she and her sister ships continued to conduct training exercises with the other more modern battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In January 1903, the Wien, accompanied by 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...
and the other ships of the Monarch class, conducted a training cruise in the Mediterranean. The Wien also took part in the 1904 cruise of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas as well as training exercises in which the three Habsburg class battleships engaged the Wien and her sisters in simulated combat. Those maneuvers marked the first time two homogeneous squadrons consisting of modern battleships operated in the Austro-Hungarian navy.
World War I
By the beginning of World War I the Wien was located in the V Battleship Division, serving as a coastal defense ship. The Wien served as a training ship and a floating battery for most of the war. In late 1917, the Wien saw her first taste of real action when she and her sister ship the Budapest shelled Italian positions in the Gulf of TriesteGulf 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...
and bombarded other enemy positions in the northern Adriatic Sea. On 16 November 1917, the Wien was hit seven times by shells from Italian positions while engaging the enemy in the upper Adriatic, but suffered only minor damage. On 9 December 1917, the Wien docked at Muggia
Muggia
Muggia is a small Italian comune in the extreme south-east of Trieste lying on the border with Slovenia.Muggia is the last and only flap of Istria still in Italian territory, after the dissolution of the Free Territory of Trieste in 1954....
in Trieste and prepared for a shore bombardment. On the night of 9–10 December 1917, two Italian torpedo boats managed to penetrate the port of Trieste undetected, and fired torpedoes at the Wien and the Budapest. 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 on board were killed in the attack. The Wien was the only ship of the Monarch class to be sunk during the war, the Austro-Hungarian Navy's biggest loss in the Adriatic campaign since the sinking of the 2300 t (2,263.7 LT) by the French fleet in 1914.