SMS Wien: Difference between revisions

| Ship class ={{sclass-|Monarch|coastal defense ship}}

'''[[Seiner Majestät Schiff|SMS]] ''Wien''''' {{efn|name=SMS}} ("His Majesty's Ship Vienna") was one of three {{sclass-|Monarch|coastal defense ship}}s built for the [[Austro-Hungarian Navy]] in the 1890s. After her commissioning, the ship participated in an international [[International Squadron (Cretan intervention, 1897–1898)|international blockade]] of [[Crete]] during the [[Greco-Turkish War (1897)|Greco-Turkish War of 1897]]. ''Wien'' and the two other ''Monarch''-class ships made several training cruises in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in the early 1900s. They formed the 1st Capital Ship Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy until they were replaced by the newly commissioned {{sclass-|Habsburg|battleship|0}} [[predreadnought battleship]]s at the turn of the century. In 1906 the three Monarchs were placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] and only recommissioned for annual summer training exercises. After the start of [[World War I]], ''Wien'' was recommissioned and assigned to 5th Division together with her sisters.

The armament of the ''Monarch'' class consisted of [[24 cm SK L/40|four {{convert|240|mm|in|1|sp=us|adj=on}}]] [[Krupp]] K/94 guns mounted in two twin-[[gun turret]]s, one each fore and aft of the [[superstructure]]. The ships carried 80 rounds for each gun. Their [[Battleship secondary armament|secondary armament]] was six [[15 cm SK L/40 naval gun|{{convert|150|mm|in|sp=us|adj=on}}]] [[Škoda Works|Škoda guns]] located in [[casemate]]s in the superstructure. Defense against [[torpedo boat]]s was provided by ten [[quick-firing gun|quick-firing (QF)]] [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss#Austro-Hungarian service|{{convert|47|mm|in|sp=us|abbr=on}}]] Škoda guns and four 47-millimeter QF [[Hotchkiss gun]]s. The ships also mounted two {{convert|450|mm|in|0|adj=on|sp=us}} [[torpedo tube]]s, one on each [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]]. Each torpedo tube was provided with two [[torpedo]]es.{{sfn|Noppen|pp=6, 8}} AfterIn 1917 refits onea [[Škoda 7 cm K10|Škoda 7 cm K16]] [[anti-aircraft gun]] was installed.<ref>{{Cite booksfn|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/786178793|title=Naval weapons of World War One|last=Friedman|firstp=Norman|date=2011-01-01|publisher=Seaforth|isbn=1848321007|oclc=786178793294}}</ref><ref>{{Cite websfn|url=http://www.navypedia.org/ships/austrohungary/ah_bb_monarch.htmSieche|titlep=MONARCH coast defence ships (1898) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)|last=|first=|date=|website=www.navypedia.org|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2017-03-03250}}</ref>

The ''Monarch''-class ships were ordered in May 1892{{sfn|Sieche|p=227}} with ''Budapest'' and ''Wien'' to be built at the [[Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino]] shipyard in [[Trieste]]. Both ships were [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 16 February 1893, the first ships in the class to be laid down.{{sfn|Chesneau & Kolesnik|p=272}} ''Wien'' was launched on 7 July 1895 by Countess Kielmannsegg, wife of the Governor of [[Lower Austria]], and commissioned on 13 May 1897.{{sfn|Sieche|p=234}}

After her commissioning, ''Wien'' took part in [[Queen Victoria]]'s [[Diamond Jubilee]] [[Fleet review (Commonwealth realms)#Queen Victoria|International Fleet Review]] at [[Spithead]] on 26 June 1897, as well as an [[International Squadron (Cretan intervention, 1897–1898)|international blockade]] of Crete during the [[Greco-Turkish War of 1897]]. She was back at [[Pula|Pola]] on 16 April 1898. ''Wien'' and her sisters formed the Navy's 1st Capital Ship Division (''{{lang|de|I. Schwere Division''Divisio}}) in 1899 and the division made a training cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean where they made port visits in Greece, Lebanon, Turkey and [[Malta]] later that year. In early 1902 they made another training cruise to the Western Mediterranean with port visits in Algeria, Spain, France, Italy, [[Corfu]], and [[Albania]]. The ship was fitted with a [[Siemens]]-Braun radio early the following year. The ships of the division were inspected by [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]], the heir to the throne, in March 1903 at [[Gruž|Gravosa]]. Shortly afterwards, ''Wien'', ''Budapest'', the battleship {{SMS|Habsburg||2}} and the [[destroyer]] {{SMS|Magnet||2}} made a cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean. ''Wien'' served as [[flagship]] of the division until she was posted at [[Salonica]], Greecein the Ottoman Empire on 13 May to support Austro-Hungarian interests there after several terrorist acts against Austro-Hungarian citizens. She returned to Pola on 10 June and resumed her assignment as flagship. In 1904, the ''Monarch''-class ships formed the 2nd Capital Ship Division{{sfn|Sieche|pp=234, 240, 245}} and they took part in the 1904 cruise of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas as well as training exercises in which the three {{sclass-|Habsburg|battleship|2}}s engaged the ''Budapest'' 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.{{sfn|Sondhaus|p=158}} In 1905, ''Wien'' made a cruise of the [[Levant]] and visited ports in Greece, Turkeythe Ottoman Empire, Egypt and Albania. Later that summer, the ship ran aground during a night exercise off [[Meleda (island)|Meleda]] Island; it took two tries by ''Budapest'' and ''Habsburg'' to pull her off. She had to be dry-docked for repairs.{{sfn|Sieche|p=245}}

[[File:Italien 1905.png|thumb|right|MapA map of theItaly upperwith the [[Adriatic Sea]] at upper&nbsp;right]]

With the beginning of [[World War I]] the three ''Monarch''s were recommissioned as the 5th Division. They were sent down to the [[Bay of Kotor|Cattaro]] in August 1914 to attack Montenegrin [[artillery batteries]] on [[Mount Lovćen]] bombarding the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro and the fortifications defending it. ''Budapest'' and her sisters arrived on 13 August, but their guns could not elevate sufficiently enough to engage all of the enemy artillery, which was reinforced by eight French guns on 19 October. The battleship {{SMS|Radetzky|1909|2}} was summoned to deal with the guns two days later and she managed to knock out several French guns and forced the others to be withdrawn by 27 October. The ''Monarch''s remained at Cattaro until mid-1917 to deter any further attacks. In August, ''Budapest'' and ''Wien'' were transferred to Trieste to serve as [[guard ship]]s against Italian commando raids. Each ship was fitted with aan {{convert|66|mm|adj=on|sp=us}} [[anti-aircraft gun]] after their arrival on 26 August to counter constant Italian air attacks. ''Wien'' was damaged by a near miss on 5 September and both ships withdrew to Pola on 12 September.{{sfn|Sieche|pp=246, 250}}

Anxious to revengeavenge themselves against the Austro-Hungarians, the ''[[Regia Marina]]'' (Royal Italian Navy) made plans for a sneak attack on the two ships in their berths in the [[Bay of Muggia]], near Trieste, by MAS launches.{{sfn|Noppen|p=37}} On the night of 9/10 December, two MAS boats managed to penetrate the harbor defenses undetected, and fired torpedoes at ''Wien'' and ''Budapest'' at 02:32. The torpedoes fired at ''Budapest'' missed, but ''Wien'' was hit by two torpedoes fired by MAS 9, commanded by [[Lieutenant]] (''{{lang|it|tenente di vascello''}}) [[Luigi Rizzo]], that blew a hole {{convert|10.5|m|adj=on|sp=us}} wide abreast the boiler rooms.{{sfn|Sieche|pp=250–252}} All of the watertight doors were open on board the ''Wien'' and the ship [[capsized]] in five minutes despite an attempt to counter her growing [[list (watercraft)|list]] by flooding the trim tanks on the opposite side. The attack killed 46 members of the crew.{{sfn|Noppen|p=38}} Both Italian boats escaped without being detected and Rizzo was awarded the [[Gold Medal of Military Valor]].{{sfn|Sieche|p=250}}

''Wien'' was buried in the mud of the harbor bottom at a depth of {{convert|16.5|m|sp=us}} and salvage of the ship was ordered on 14 December. That same day the navy convened a court-martial of [[Vice Admiral]] [[Alfred Freiherr von Koudelka]], commander of the naval district, the [[captain (nautical)|captain]]s of both ships, and the commander of the naval defenses of Trieste. On 16 January 1918, the court convicted all four individuals for failing to take all possible precautions to protect the ships and failing to ensure that the precautions were taken. As punishment the court recommended that Koudelka and the two ship captains be retired and the commander of the naval defenses of Trieste to be returned to his former reserve status. [[Holy RomanAustrian Emperor|Emperor]] [[Charles I of Austria|Karl]] approved the recommendations on 23 January.{{sfn|Sieche|pp=252–53}}

'''===Explanatory notes'''===

| "SMS" stands for "''{{lang|de|[[Seiner Majestät Schiff]]'' }}", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German.

'''===Citations'''===

*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4| ref = {{sfnRef|Chesneau & Kolesnik}}|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}

*{{cite book|last=NoppenFriedman|first=RyanNorman|title=Austro-HungarianNaval BattleshipsWeapons 1914–1918|series=Newof VanguardWorld War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations: An Illustrated Directory|volumepublisher=193Seaforth|yearref=2012 {{sfnRef|publisher=OspreyFriedman}} Publishing|location=Botley, OxfordBarnsley, UK|year=2011|isbn=978-1-8490884832-688100-27| ref authorlink=Norman {{sfnRef|Noppen}}Friedman}}

[[Category:World War I shipwrecks in the Adriatic Sea]]