SMS ''Erzherzog Albrecht'' was an

ironclad warship An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1870s, the only member of her

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

. Her design was similar to the ironclad , but ''Erzherzog Albrecht'' was built to a smaller size; like ''Custoza'', she was an iron-hulled

casemate ship The central battery ship, also known as a centre battery ship in the United Kingdom and as a casemate ship in European continental navies, was a development of the (high-freeboard) broadside ironclad of the 1860s, given a substantial boost due t ...

armed with a battery of eight heavy guns. The ship was laid down in June 1870, was launched in April 1872, and was commissioned in June 1874. The ship's service career was limited; tight naval budgets precluded an active fleet policy in the 1870s, which did not markedly improve in the 1880s. Her first period of active service came in 1881 and 1882, when she helped suppress a revolt in

Cattaro Bay The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...

. In 1908, she was converted into a tender for the gunnery training school, having been renamed ''Feuerspeier''. In 1915, she became a

barracks ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for s ...

, and after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended in 1918, was ceded to Italy as a

war prize A prize of war is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

. She was renamed ''Buttafuoco'', served in the Italian Navy as a hulk through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

before being scrapped in 1950.

Design

In 1869, the Austro-Hungarian navy asked its foremost naval designer, Chief Engineer

Josef von Romako Josef Ritter von Romako (1828 – 5 June 1882) was an Austro-Hungarian naval architect in the 19th century. He was responsible for designing most of the ironclad warships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, from the first vessels of the in the earl ...

, who had designed all of the earlier ironclad vessels, to prepare designs for two new ironclads. The first became the larger ironclad , and the second became ''Erzherzog Albrecht'', built to a slightly smaller design owing to budgetary shortages. Romako incorporated the lessons of the Battle of Lissa of 1866, and decided the new ship should favor heavy armor and the capability of end-on fire to allow it to effectively attack with its

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

. This required compromises in the number of guns and the power of the ship's machinery; to make up for carrying fewer guns, Romako adopted the same

design adopted with the previous vessel, . Unlike the wooden-hulled ''Lissa'', however, ''Erzherzog Albrecht''s hull would be constructed with iron; along with ''Custoza'', they were the first iron-hulled ships of the Austro-Hungarian navy. Vice Admiral

Wilhelm von Tegetthoff Wilhelm von Tegetthoff (23 December 18277 April 1871) was an Austrian admiral. He commanded the fleet of the North Sea during the Second Schleswig War of 1864, and the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. He is often considered by some Austrian historia ...

, the victor of Lissa, approved Romako's proposals for ''Erzherzog Albrecht'' and ''Custoza'', allowing construction to begin.

General characteristics and machinery

''Erzherzog Albrecht'' was long at the waterline and

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

. She had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and an average

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . The ship displaced . According to ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships'', she was the second iron-built vessel to be built for the Austro-Hungarian fleet, but the historian R. F. Scheltema de Heere indicates she had a composite iron and wood hull. A small conning tower was built aft of the

foremast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ...

. She had a crew of 540 officers and enlisted men. Her propulsion system consisted of one single-expansion, horizontal, 2-cylinder steam engine that drove a single

screw propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

that was in diameter. The engine was manufactured by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, the same shipyard that built the ship. Steam was provided by seven

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s with twenty-six fireboxes, which were trunked into a single

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...

located

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...

. Her engine produced a top speed of from , though on speed trials conducted on 28 October 1874, she reached a speed of from . The ship had a storage capacity of of coal.

Armament and armor

''Erzherzog Albrecht'' was armed with a

main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...

of eight 22- caliber breech-loading guns manufactured by Krupp's Essen Works. These were mounted in a central, armored battery that had two stories, four guns apiece, which allowed four guns to fire ahead or on the

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

, and two guns astern. She also carried several smaller guns, including six 24-caliber guns and two 15-caliber guns, all manufactured by Krupp. Later in her career, several small guns were added, including five Hotchkiss revolver cannon, four 47 mm 35-caliber

quick-firing gun A quick-firing or rapid-firing gun is an artillery piece, typically a gun or howitzer, which has several characteristics which taken together mean the weapon can fire at a fast rate. Quick-firing was introduced worldwide in the 1880s and 1890s an ...

s, and a pair of machine guns. She was also fitted with four

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical 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 (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, with one in the bow, one on each broadside, and one in the stern. The ship's armored belt was composed of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

plate that was thick, and it was located at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

. The main battery casemate had of iron plating. The transverse bulkheads on either end of the casemate were thick.

Service history

The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

for ''Erzherzog Albrecht'' was laid down at the STT shipyard in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

on 1 June 1870. She was launched on 24 April 1872 and was completed in June 1874, less her armament, which was installed in the naval arsenal at

Pola Pola or POLA may refer to: People * House of Pola, an Italian noble family * Pola Alonso (1923–2004), Argentine actress * Pola Brändle (born 1980), German artist and photographer * Pola Gauguin (1883–1961), Danish painter * Pola Gojawiczyńsk ...

. Completion of the ship was delayed significantly by budgetary shortages, which slowed acquisition of armor plate from British manufacturers. Funding for the iron armor was approved in January 1871. ''Erzherzog Albrecht'' was finally completed in June 1874, and began

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s on 27 October. The ironclad fleet, including ''Erzherzog Albrecht'', was kept out of service in Pola, laid up in reserve; the only vessels to see significant service in the 1870s were several

screw frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for exa ...

s sent abroad. In fact, she did not see active service until 1881. Late that year, ''Erzherzog Albrecht'', the unarmored frigate , and several smaller vessels were sent to

to help suppress a revolt there. During the operations, which concluded in March 1882, the ships bombarded rebel positions in the area. The ship took part in fleet maneuvers in 1887, which included gunnery training. In June and July 1889, ''Erzherzog Albrecht'' served as the flagship during fleet training exercises, which also included the ironclads ''Custoza'', , , , and . The ship remained in service until 1908, when she was converted into a tender for the gunnery school. Renamed ''Feuerspeier'', she served in this capacity until October 1915, when during

she was repurposed for use as a

for German naval personnel operating

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

s in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. After the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

lost the war in November 1918, ''Erzherzog Albrecht'' was ceded to Italy as a

under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She was renamed ''Buttafuoco'' and served as a hulk in the Italian fleet; she survived

and was eventually broken up for scrap beginning in 1950.

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Erzherzog Albrecht 1872 ships Ironclad warships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy