SMS Erzherzog Friedrich

Erzherzog Friedrich displaced . She was long, had a beam of and a draft of . She was manned by 700 men. She and her sisters were the last and largest pre-dreadnought class built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, surpassing the by approximately . She was propelled by two two-shaft, four cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines. On trials, they developed , which propelled the ship at a speed of . Erzherzog Friedrich carried a primary armament of four /40 caliber guns in two twin turrets on the centerline. These guns were an Austro-Hungarian replica of the British 24 cm/40 (9.4") Krupp C/94, which was used on the Habsburgs. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve Škoda 19 cm Vz. 1904|/42 caliber guns, also made by Škoda, mounted in eight single casemates on either wing of the ship and two twin turrets on the centerline. shell at maximum elevation with a muzzle velocity of . The gun weighed 12.1 tons and could fire three rounds per minute. The ships had a tertiary armament for protection against torpedo boats in the form of the Škoda 7 cm guns|/45 caliber gun, also manufactured by Škoda. Anti-aircraft and airship protection was covered by the four Vickers anti-aircraft guns on the ship bought from Britain in 1910 and mounted onto Erzherzog Karl. After 1916–17 refits four Škoda 7 cm L/45 BAG anti-aircraft guns were installed. Erzherzog Karl was also fitted with two above water torpedo tubes, although rarely used. == Service history ==

At the outbreak of World War I, Erzherzog Friedrich was in the III division of the Austrian-Hungarian battle-fleet. She was mobilized on the eve of the war along with the remainder of the fleet to support the flight of and . The two German ships were attempting to break out of Messina, which was surrounded by British troops, and make their way to Turkey. The breakout succeeded. When the flotilla had advanced as far south as Brindisi in south eastern Italy, the Austro-Hungarian ships were recalled. In company with other units of the Austro-Hungarian navy, Erzherzog Friedrich took part in the bombardment of Ancona on 24 May 1915. There she and her sisters expended 24 rounds of 240 mm armor-piercing shells at signal and semaphore stations as well as 74 rounds of 190 mm shells aimed at Italian gun-batteries and other port installations. A major mutiny among crews of the armored cruisers stationed in Cattaro, including and , began on 1 February 1918. Two days later, Erzherzog Friedrich and her two sister ships arrived in the port and assisted with the suppression of the mutiny. Following the restoration of order in the naval base, the armored cruisers Sankt Georg and Kaiser Karl VI were decommissioned and Erzherzog Friedrich and her sisters were stationed in Cattaro in their place. For the morning of 11 June, Admiral Miklós Horthy planned a major assault on the Otranto Barrage; the three Erzherzog Karls and the four s were to provide support for the s. The plan was intended to replicate the success of the raid conducted one year earlier. Horthy's plan was to destroy the blockading fleet by luring Allied ships to the cruisers and lighter ships, which were protected from the heavier guns of the battleships, including the guns of the Erzherzog Karl class. However, on the morning of 10 June, the dreadnought was torpedoed and sunk by an Italian torpedo boat. Horthy felt that the element of surprise had been compromised, and therefore called off the operation. This was to be the last military action Erzherzog Friedrich took part in and she spent the rest of their career at port in Pula. Following the end of World War I in November 1918 and the surrender of Austria-Hungary, Erzherzog Friedrich was ceded as a war reparation to France in 1920. She was later scrapped in 1921. == Notes ==