SMS Viribus Unitis

Type

Battleship

Period

20th Century

Nation

Other

Overview: SMS Viribus Unitis was the lead ship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's Tegetthoff-class dreadnought battleships, the first dreadnoughts built for any Mediterranean power. Her Latin name, meaning "With United Forces," was the personal motto of Emperor Franz Joseph I, and the ship is historically significant for having carried Archduke Franz Ferdinand's body and, earlier, for having been used by him on the fateful trip that ended in his assassination at Sarajevo. Specifications: The ship displaced roughly 20,000 tons standard, measured about 152 m in length with a 27.9 m beam, and was propelled by four steam turbines driving four shafts for a top speed near 20.4 knots. Her main armament was an innovative arrangement of four triple 30.5 cm (12 in) gun turrets, supplemented by twelve 15 cm secondary guns, smaller anti-torpedo boat guns, and torpedo tubes, with belt and turret armor up to 11 inches thick. Service History: Ordered in 1908 and laid down at Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Trieste in 1910, she was launched in 1911 and commissioned in December 1912. During World War I she saw limited action due to the Otranto Barrage confining Austro-Hungarian battleships largely to their base at Pola, though she took part in covering the escape of the German ships SMS Goeben and Breslau and in the 1915 bombardment of Ancona. Notable Facts: On 31 October 1918, as Austria-Hungary collapsed, the ship was handed over to the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs; the very next day, 1 November 1918, she was sunk in Pola harbor by a limpet mine planted by Italian frogmen of the Regia Marina, unaware the ship had already changed hands. The wreck's dramatic end, combined with her pioneering triple-gun-turret design, makes her a popular subject for large-scale dreadnought model builds and detailed plan sets.