SMS ''Warasdiner'' was a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

launched in 1913 as ''Lung Tuan'' (), intended for sale to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. She was taken over by the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

in 1914, renamed and rearmed. She served in

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 ...

with the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Following the war, the ship was ceded to Italy and scrapped.

Construction and design

In 1912,

placed an order for a single destroyer with the Austrian shipyard Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) of

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 provi ...

. The design of the destroyer, to be named ''Lung Tuan'', was based on that of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's , which had entered service between 1905 and 1911. Like the ''Huszár''s, ''Lung Tuan'' was to be powered by two triple expansion steam engines, fed by four

Yarrow boiler Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships. The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...

s, rated at , driving two shafts, although at , the ship was slightly faster than the ''Huszár'' class. The ship's hull was long at the waterline and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with 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 a draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was standard and deep load. The ship was to be armed with two 12-pounder and four 3-pounder guns, all supplied by

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and a ...

of Great Britain and two torpedo tubes. ''Lung Tuan'' was laid down in 1912 and launched in 1913. Although the ''Huszár'' class and therefore ''Lung Tuan'' were obsolete by 1913, the Chinese government ordered a further 12 destroyers from STT that year, partly due to the low price (£16,500 per ship).

Service

''Lung Tuan'' was virtually complete when Austria-Hungary

declared war A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national government, i ...

with

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on 28 July 1914, beginning the

First World War 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 ...

. ''Lung Tuan'' was seized by Austria-Hungary on 1 August and towed to

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where she was re-armed with Austrian weapons, receiving a gun outfit of two L/45

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guns and four 6.6 cm L/30 guns, together with four 45 cm torpedo tubes. Renamed ''Warasdiner'', the ship entered service with the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 10 September 1914. ''Warasdiner'' served for the remainder of the First World War. On 18–19 June 1915, the Austro-Hungarian Navy carried out a series of raids against towns on the Italian Adriatic coast, with ''Warasdiner'' shelling

Monopoli Monopoli (; Monopolitano: ) is a town and municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,24 ...

, south-east of

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

on 19 June. On 5 December 1915 ''Warasdiner'' was returning from another raid on the coast of Italy when she sank the , which had run aground off

Cattaro Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative ...

. On 2 August 1916 ''Warasdiner'' and sister ship were returning from bombarding the Italian city of

Molfetta Molfetta (; Molfettese: ) is a town located in the northern side of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect. History The earliest local signs of permanent habitation are at ...

when they encountered the French destroyers and and the Italian destroyers ''Ardito'' and ''Impavido''. The French and Italian destroyers set off in pursuit of the Austro-Hungarian ships, but broke off the chase as they neared the Austrian base of Cattaro (now

Kotor Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative c ...

), when the Austrian cruiser and two torpedo boats sortied in support of ''Warasdiner'' and ''Wildfang''. She was ceded to Italy in 1920 and scrapped.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warasdiner 1913 ships Ships built in Austria-Hungary Destroyers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Destroyer classes World War I destroyers of Austria-Hungary