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SMS Kaiser Karl VI
SMS Kaiser Karl VI ("His Majesty's Ship Kaiser Karl VI") was the second of three armored cruisers built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She was built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Trieste between June 1896 and May 1900, when she was commissioned into the fleet. Kaiser Karl VI represented a significant improvement over the preceding design—Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia—being faster and more heavily armed and armored. She provided the basis for the third design, Sankt Georg, which featured further incremental improvements. Having no overseas colonies to patrol, Austria-Hungary built the ship solely to reinforce its battle fleet.
Kaiser Karl VI spent the first decade in service rotating between the training and reserve squadrons, alternating with Sankt Georg. In 1910, Kaiser Karl VI went on a major overseas cruise to South America, visiting Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina; this was the last trans-Atlantic voyage of an Austro-Hungarian warship. After the outbreak of war, she was mobilized into the Cruiser Flotilla, which spent the majority of the war moored at Cattaro. The lengthy inactivity eventually led to the Cattaro Mutiny in February 1918, which the crew of Kaiser Karl VI joined. After the mutiny collapsed, Kaiser Karl VI and several other warships were decommissioned to reduce the number of idle sailors. After the war, she was allocated as a war prize to Britain and was sold to ship-breakers in Italy, where she was scrapped in 1920.
Starting in the mid-1880s, the new Austro-Hungarian Marinekommandant (Navy Commander), Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck, began a reorientation of Austro-Hungarian naval strategy. The fleet had until then been centered on large ironclad warships, but had been unable to continue building vessels of that type under the direction of the previous Marinekommandant, Vizeadmiral Friedrich von Pöck, owing to the refusal of the Imperial Council of Austria and the Diet of Hungary to grant sufficient naval budgets. Sterneck decided to adopt the concepts espoused by the French Jeune École (Young School), which suggested that flotillas of cheap torpedo boats could effectively defend a coastline against a fleet of expensive battleships. The torpedo boats would be supported by what Sterneck termed "torpedo-ram-cruisers", which would protect the torpedo boats from enemy cruisers.
In his fleet plan for 1891, Sterneck proposed that the future Austro-Hungarian fleet would consist of four squadrons, each consisting of one torpedo-ram-cruiser, a smaller torpedo cruiser, a large torpedo boat and six smaller torpedo boats. The first three of these squadrons would be led by the two Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class protected cruisers and the armored cruiser Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, and in 1891 the design staff began work on the fourth cruiser. Three proposals were considered, the first modeled on Kaiser Franz Joseph I, the second on the small protected cruiser Panther, and the last derived from the British armored cruiser HMS Royal Arthur. All three designs displaced 5,090 long tons (5,170 t). But by the time work on Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia began that year, naval officers who opposed Sterneck's theories forced him to postpone the fourth cruiser in favor of beginning work on a new generation of capital ships, what would become the Monarch-class coastal defense ships.
Those opposed to Sterneck believed the new cruisers should be formed into their own squadron to serve with the main battle fleet, and so in 1894, began preparations to build another armored cruiser. Three competing designs were submitted, two by the naval architect Josef Kellner and the third by Viktor Lollok. Kellner's initial design was for a 5,800-long-ton (5,900 t) ship similar to Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, armed with the same battery of two 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and eight 15 cm (5.9 in) guns. The second was broadly similar with the same but differently arranged armament, and displacement increased to 6,000 long tons (6,100 t) and two funnels instead of the one in his other design. Lollok's proposal was also 6,000 tons, and instead of carrying all eight 15 cm guns in main-deck casemates, four would be moved up to open mounts on the upper deck.
The naval command selected Kellner's second design, although it mandated a change to water-tube boilers for increased engine power, which in turn necessitated the addition of a third funnel. She also received the latest version of 24 cm guns manufactured by the German firm Krupp: the longer-barreled SK L/40 C/94 version. The new cruiser, named Kaiser Karl VI, was about 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) larger than her predecessor, Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, and was a significantly more effective vessel as a result, being a knot faster, mounting more powerful guns, and carrying heavier armor.
Kaiser Karl VI was 117.9 meters (386 ft 10 in) long at the waterline and was 118.96 m (390 ft 3 in) long overall. She had a beam of 17.27 m (56 ft 8 in) and a draft of 6.75 m (22 ft 2 in). She displaced 6,166 long tons (6,265 t) as designed and up to 6,864 long tons (6,974 t) at full load. Having gained experience with the stability problems caused by Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia's military masts, Kaiser Karl VI was completed with lighter pole masts and a significantly smaller superstructure. Her crew varied between 535 and 550 officers and men over the course of her career. Kaiser Karl VI was fitted with two pole masts for observation.
The ship's propulsion system consisted of two 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines that drove a pair of screw propellers. The engines were built at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) shipyard in Trieste that built the ship. Steam was provided by sixteen water-tube Belleville boilers manufactured by Maudslay, Sons and Field of Britain. The engines were rated at 12,000 indicated horsepower (8,900 kW) for a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), though on trials they produced a top speed of 20.83 knots (38.58 km/h; 23.97 mph). Coal storage amounted to 500 long tons (510 t) normally and up to 818 long tons (831 t) under wartime loading.
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SMS Kaiser Karl VI
SMS Kaiser Karl VI ("His Majesty's Ship Kaiser Karl VI") was the second of three armored cruisers built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She was built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Trieste between June 1896 and May 1900, when she was commissioned into the fleet. Kaiser Karl VI represented a significant improvement over the preceding design—Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia—being faster and more heavily armed and armored. She provided the basis for the third design, Sankt Georg, which featured further incremental improvements. Having no overseas colonies to patrol, Austria-Hungary built the ship solely to reinforce its battle fleet.
Kaiser Karl VI spent the first decade in service rotating between the training and reserve squadrons, alternating with Sankt Georg. In 1910, Kaiser Karl VI went on a major overseas cruise to South America, visiting Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina; this was the last trans-Atlantic voyage of an Austro-Hungarian warship. After the outbreak of war, she was mobilized into the Cruiser Flotilla, which spent the majority of the war moored at Cattaro. The lengthy inactivity eventually led to the Cattaro Mutiny in February 1918, which the crew of Kaiser Karl VI joined. After the mutiny collapsed, Kaiser Karl VI and several other warships were decommissioned to reduce the number of idle sailors. After the war, she was allocated as a war prize to Britain and was sold to ship-breakers in Italy, where she was scrapped in 1920.
Starting in the mid-1880s, the new Austro-Hungarian Marinekommandant (Navy Commander), Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck, began a reorientation of Austro-Hungarian naval strategy. The fleet had until then been centered on large ironclad warships, but had been unable to continue building vessels of that type under the direction of the previous Marinekommandant, Vizeadmiral Friedrich von Pöck, owing to the refusal of the Imperial Council of Austria and the Diet of Hungary to grant sufficient naval budgets. Sterneck decided to adopt the concepts espoused by the French Jeune École (Young School), which suggested that flotillas of cheap torpedo boats could effectively defend a coastline against a fleet of expensive battleships. The torpedo boats would be supported by what Sterneck termed "torpedo-ram-cruisers", which would protect the torpedo boats from enemy cruisers.
In his fleet plan for 1891, Sterneck proposed that the future Austro-Hungarian fleet would consist of four squadrons, each consisting of one torpedo-ram-cruiser, a smaller torpedo cruiser, a large torpedo boat and six smaller torpedo boats. The first three of these squadrons would be led by the two Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class protected cruisers and the armored cruiser Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, and in 1891 the design staff began work on the fourth cruiser. Three proposals were considered, the first modeled on Kaiser Franz Joseph I, the second on the small protected cruiser Panther, and the last derived from the British armored cruiser HMS Royal Arthur. All three designs displaced 5,090 long tons (5,170 t). But by the time work on Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia began that year, naval officers who opposed Sterneck's theories forced him to postpone the fourth cruiser in favor of beginning work on a new generation of capital ships, what would become the Monarch-class coastal defense ships.
Those opposed to Sterneck believed the new cruisers should be formed into their own squadron to serve with the main battle fleet, and so in 1894, began preparations to build another armored cruiser. Three competing designs were submitted, two by the naval architect Josef Kellner and the third by Viktor Lollok. Kellner's initial design was for a 5,800-long-ton (5,900 t) ship similar to Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, armed with the same battery of two 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and eight 15 cm (5.9 in) guns. The second was broadly similar with the same but differently arranged armament, and displacement increased to 6,000 long tons (6,100 t) and two funnels instead of the one in his other design. Lollok's proposal was also 6,000 tons, and instead of carrying all eight 15 cm guns in main-deck casemates, four would be moved up to open mounts on the upper deck.
The naval command selected Kellner's second design, although it mandated a change to water-tube boilers for increased engine power, which in turn necessitated the addition of a third funnel. She also received the latest version of 24 cm guns manufactured by the German firm Krupp: the longer-barreled SK L/40 C/94 version. The new cruiser, named Kaiser Karl VI, was about 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) larger than her predecessor, Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, and was a significantly more effective vessel as a result, being a knot faster, mounting more powerful guns, and carrying heavier armor.
Kaiser Karl VI was 117.9 meters (386 ft 10 in) long at the waterline and was 118.96 m (390 ft 3 in) long overall. She had a beam of 17.27 m (56 ft 8 in) and a draft of 6.75 m (22 ft 2 in). She displaced 6,166 long tons (6,265 t) as designed and up to 6,864 long tons (6,974 t) at full load. Having gained experience with the stability problems caused by Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia's military masts, Kaiser Karl VI was completed with lighter pole masts and a significantly smaller superstructure. Her crew varied between 535 and 550 officers and men over the course of her career. Kaiser Karl VI was fitted with two pole masts for observation.
The ship's propulsion system consisted of two 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines that drove a pair of screw propellers. The engines were built at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) shipyard in Trieste that built the ship. Steam was provided by sixteen water-tube Belleville boilers manufactured by Maudslay, Sons and Field of Britain. The engines were rated at 12,000 indicated horsepower (8,900 kW) for a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), though on trials they produced a top speed of 20.83 knots (38.58 km/h; 23.97 mph). Coal storage amounted to 500 long tons (510 t) normally and up to 818 long tons (831 t) under wartime loading.