SMS Custoza

SMS Custoza
History
Austria-Hungary
Name: Custoza
Namesake: Battle of Custoza
Builder: Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Laid down: 17 November 1869
Launched: 20 August 1872
Commissioned: February 1875
Fate: Ceded to Italy, 1920, broken up
General characteristics
Displacement: 7,609 to 7,730.99 metric tons (7,488.83 to 7,608.89 long tons; 8,387.49 to 8,521.96 short tons)
Length:
  • 92.14 meters (302.3 ft) p/p
  • 95.03 m (311.8 ft) o/a
Beam: 17.7 m (58 ft)
Draft: 7.9 m (26 ft)
Installed power: 4,158 ihp (3,101 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 13.75 knots (25.47 km/h; 15.82 mph)
Crew: 548–567
Armament:
  • 8 × 26-centimeter (10 in) guns
  • 6 × 9 cm (3.5 in) guns
  • 2 × 7 cm (2.8 in) guns
Armor:

SMS Custoza was an ironclad warship built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1870s, the only member of her class. She was the first Austro-Hungarian ironclad to be built after the navy studied the results of the Battle of Lissa of 1866; she was also the first iron-hulled capital ship to be built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She was laid down in November 1869, launched in August 1872, and completed in February 1875. Her career was fairly limited, in part due to reduced naval budgets in the 1870s that also delayed her completion. Custoza was somewhat more active in the 1880s, taking part in an international naval demonstration against the Ottoman Empire in 1880, being modernized in 1882, and a trip to Spain for the Barcelona Universal Exposition in 1888. The ship became a training ship in 1902, was converted into a barracks ship in 1914, and after World War I, was awarded as a war prize to Italy. Custoza was immediately broken up.

Design

In 1869, the Austro-Hungarian navy asked its foremost naval designer, Chief Engineer Josef von Romako, who had designed all of the earlier ironclad vessels, to prepare designs for two new ironclads. The first became the Custoza, and the second became Erzherzog Albrecht, the latter built to a slightly smaller design owing to budgetary shortages. Romako had studied the Battle of Lissa, fought in 1866, and decided the new ships should favor heavy armor and the capability of end-on fire to allow it to effectively attack with its ram. 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 casemate ship design adopted with the previous vessel, Lissa. Unlike the wooden-hulled Lissa, however, Custoza's hull would be constructed with iron, the first major Austro-Hungarian warship with an iron hull.[1][2]

Though she proved to be a fairly fast and maneuverable ship, Custoza was built to an obsolescent design, and did not meet the standards of other major navies in the period, which demanded greater armor protection and superior firepower.[3] Italy, Austria-Hungary's rival across the Adriatic Sea laid down the two Caio Duilio-class ironclads, very powerful turret ships carrying 450 mm (18 in) guns just four years after Custoza.[4] Nevertheless, Custoza, along with the similar and contemporaneously built Erzherzog Albrecht, was the basis for the ironclad Tegetthoff, laid down in 1876.[5]

General characteristics and machinery

Illustration of Custoza under sail

Custoza was 92.14 meters (302.3 ft) long between perpendiculars and 95.03 m (311.8 ft) long overall. She had a beam of 17.7 m (58 ft) and an average draft of 7.9 m (26 ft). Her displacement varied from 7,609 metric tons (7,489 long tons; 8,387 short tons) to 7,730.99 t (7,608.89 long tons; 8,521.96 short tons).[1][6] She had a cellular double bottom that extended up the lower sides of the hull, up to the battery deck; it ran from frame 52 in the bow to frame 34 in the stern; on either ends, the sharp narrowing of the hull form prevented the double bottom from being extended further. The outer plating was 44 mm (1 3⁄4 in) thick, and reduced to 17 mm (11⁄16 in) and then to 19 mm (3⁄4 in) on the sides. Wooden bilge keels were fitted to protect the hull in case of an accidental grounding.[7] She had a crew that ranged from 548 to 567 officers and enlisted men.[1][6]

Her propulsion system consisted of one single-expansion, horizontal, 2-cylinder steam engine that was manufactured by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT); the engines drove a single screw propeller that was 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in) wide. Steam was provided by eighty coal-fired boilers with thirty-two fireboxes, which were trunked into a pair of funnels located amidships. Her engine produced a top speed of 13.75 knots (25.47 km/h; 15.82 mph) from 4,158 indicated horsepower (3,101 kW). On speed trials conducted on 12 February 1875, she reached a slightly higher speed of 13.95 knots (25.84 km/h; 16.05 mph). She had a coal storage capacity of 606.8 t (597.2 long tons; 668.9 short tons). To supplement the steam engine, Custoza was originally fitted with a full ship rig, but she was reduced to a schooner rig in 1877.[1][6][8]

Armament and armor

Line-drawing of Custoza; the shaded areas represent the portion of the ship protected by armor

Custoza was armed with a main battery of eight 26-centimeter (10 in) 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. The guns each had two gun ports available, which allowed four guns to fire ahead or on the broadside; only the upper two aft guns could fire astern.[1][5][9] She also carried several smaller guns, including six 9 cm (3.5 in) 24-caliber guns and two 7 cm (2.8 in) 15-caliber guns, all manufactured by Krupp. The 9 cm guns were placed in unarmored gun ports, two in the bow and four in the stern.[1]

The ship's armored belt was placed on the waterline and was composed of wrought iron plate that was 229 mm (9.0 in) thick in the central portion of the ship, where it protected the ship's machinery spaces. Toward the bow and stern, the belt was reduced to 114 mm (4.5 in).[1][6] The belt extended for 2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) above the waterline and 1.45 m (4 ft 9 in) below the line. The deck was protected with only a thin sheet of iron, as was customary for capital ships of the period.[5] The main battery casemate had 152 to 178 mm (6.0 to 7.0 in) of iron plating.[1] A major advantage casemate ships like Custoza had over broadside ironclads was the reduced weight of the smaller battery; Custoza had enough buoyancy in the midships section alone to support the weight of the ship.[7]

Service history

Illustration of Custoza underway in 1899

Custoza was laid down at the STT shipyard in Trieste on 17 November 1869. Her completed hull was launched on 20 August 1872,[1] and she was completed on 18 September 1874. Her first sea trials were conducted over the course of 11–13 February 1875.[6] The ship was named for the Battle of Custoza, an Austrian victory over the Italian army in the Third Italian War of Independence fought in 1866.[10] The government placed a low priority on naval activities, particularly in the 1870s; as a result, the shortage of funds precluded an active fleet policy.[11] The ironclad fleet, including Custoza, was kept out of service in Pola, laid up in reserve; the only vessels to see significant service in the 1870s were several screw frigates sent abroad.[12] The ship's sailing rig was cut down to a schooner rig in 1877.[1]

In 1880, Custoza, the ironclad Prinz Eugen, and the unarmored frigate Laudon took part in an international naval demonstration against the Ottoman Empire to force the Ottomans to transfer the city of Ulcinj to Montenegro in accordance with the terms of the 1878 Congress of Berlin.[13] Custoza remained in commission the following year, along with four smaller vessels.[14] In 1882, the ship received a battery of new quick-firing guns, including four 47 mm (1.9 in) guns, five 47 mm Hotchkiss revolver cannon, and a pair of 25 mm (0.98 in) machine guns. She was also fitted with four 35 cm (14 in) torpedo tubes.[1] At some point before 1887, the ship received anti-torpedo nets.[15]

She participated in the annual fleet maneuvers in 1888, along with the ironclads Don Juan d'Austria, Kaiser Max, and Tegetthoff, and the cruisers Panther, Meteor, and Leopard.[16] Custoza and the other three ironclads were joined by Prinz Eugen, Panther, and Leopard for a visit to Barcelona, Spain, to take part in the opening ceremonies for the Barcelona Universal Exposition. This was the largest squadron of the Austro-Hungarian Navy that had operated outside the Adriatic. There, the Spanish Queen Maria Christina and Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria inspected both Custoza and Tegetthoff.[17] The following year, the ship took part in a set of major training exercises with five other ironclads, several cruisers, and smaller vessels.[18]

The ship had been reduced to the II Reserve by 1895.[19] From 1902, she was employed as a training ship for naval cadets, a role she filled until 1914.[20] That year, she was converted into a barracks ship, a role she filled until 1920. She was ceded to Italy as a war prize that year under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[1] She was immediately broken up in Italy.[21]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Gardiner, p. 269
  2. ↑ Pawlik, p. 81
  3. ↑ Dislère, pp. 24–25
  4. ↑ Gardiner, p. 340
  5. 1 2 3 Dislère, p. 24
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Pawlik, p. 91
  7. 1 2 Romako, p. 107
  8. ↑ Romako, pp. 108–110
  9. ↑ Very, p. 7
  10. ↑ Sondhaus, p. 22
  11. ↑ Sondhaus, p. 37
  12. ↑ Sondhaus, pp. 40–41
  13. ↑ Sondhaus, p. 65
  14. ↑ Parkinson, p. 53
  15. ↑ Pawlik, p. 96
  16. ↑ Brassey, p. 453
  17. ↑ Sondhaus, pp. 107–108
  18. ↑ Jahresbericht pro 1889, p. 31
  19. ↑ Pawlik, p. 97
  20. ↑ Pawlik, p. 103
  21. ↑ Greger, p. 137

References

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