KuK Kriegsmarine Capital Ship Projects

[Tzoli]

This thread was long overdue, actually way long overdue. I don't know why didn't I posted these until now.
So here it is, the capital ship projects of the Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine aka the KuK Kriegsmarine or the Austro-Hungarian Navy


Some designs were already posted here:

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/austro-hungarian-navy-non-capital-ship-designs.25995/

But now I create a comprehensive thread for them.

I'm sure you will see that quite a few of these designs are excellent and unique.

Let's start with the preliminary designs of the Radetzky class Semi-Dreadnought type battleships!
The 1904 series:
Project I:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project I by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

The first meeting about a new battleship class was held at 1904, March 15. (almost a year after the launch of SMS Erzherzog Karl) where Admiral Hermann Freiherr von Spaun, Vice-Admiral Rudolf Graf von Montecuccoli degli Erri, Rear-Admiral Juliusz Franciszek von Ripper, Vice-Admiral Franz Freiherr von Minutillo, Rear-Admiral Anton Johann Haus and Naval Architect Siegfried Popper were participated. They decided to begin designing a new battleship class, though the construction could only be started after the current 3 was finished so around 1907 and Popper was instructed to start working on the preliminary studies for the new class.

The next meeting was done at the same year May 18 at Pola where Admiral Spaun noted that the construction could only start in 1907 and now only simple preliminary work was required to determine the hull and armament choices. It was set that the main armament calibre were to be either 30,5cm or 28cm rather 24cm like the previous class and the secodnary armament calibre was set at 19cm. Due to the new development of armour piercing shells the armour too had to be improved, together with this the displacement would rise by some 2.000tons compared to the previous class (10.600tons).
Discussions on placement of armaments was very fluid at this meeting, as the following ideas was emerged:
- 2 single 30,5cm Turrets
- 2 twin 28cm Turrets
- 1 single and twin 30,5cm Turrets
- 1 twin 30,5cm forward, 1 twin 24cm aft Turret
But in the end there were no definite decision was made armament wise.

By the Summer of 1904 MTK (Marinetechnische Komitee - Naval Technical Committee), Pola lead by Siegfried Popper produced six alternative plans. Of the 6 plans only one had 28cm/45 Main Guns (Project I) the rest were carried 30,5cm/40 weapons and none were equipped with 24cm Guns. Secondary armament was uniform 19cm/42 Guns and armour belt was decided on 230mm, with main turrets having 280mm face plates.

So this is the first of the series of Radetzky Preliminaries, the 1904 designs, where I've used the hull shape of the previous Erzherzhog Karl class but enlarged to Radetzky dimensions, two funnels because the wider hull allowed more space for the Boilers, and mixed Radetzky-Erzherzhog style superstructure elements. Added 66mm Anti-Torpedoboat Guns which was the standard calibre of the KuK Kriegsmarine at the time

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: 12.650tons (standard)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Engines: 18.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 37km/h (20knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2 28cm/45 Skoda K04 Cannons
4x2,4x1 19cm/42 Skoda K03 Guns
10x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

The only known data table about the 1904 projects:
i.imgur.com/sHhBwgy.jpg


Project II:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project II by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

Out of the six 1904 series of Pre-Designs, only Project I was equipped with 28cm calibre main guns the rest were all 30,5cm in various numbers, which shows the preference of the larger calibre weapons by Siegfried Popper.
The series shows that Popper and the team of the MTK wished to stay below 13.000tons hence the how the main Guns number increase or decrease the secondary gun numbers accordingly decreases or increases in number accordingly. Here for example 4 casemated 19cm Guns were sacrificed for increasing the main gun calibre to 30,5cm. Another unique about these designs are the introduction of the 30,5cm Guns but not the final 45 calibre ones but a shorter 40 ones which seems consistent of an incremental increase in firepower over the previous class. Also this was the only design to have 19knots speed with 16.000shp engine power to reach it, rather 18.000 of the previous class and 20.000 of the final one.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: 12.200tons (standard)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Engines: 16.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 35km/h (19knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2 30,5cm/40 Skoda K05 Cannons
4x2 19cm/42 Skoda K03 Guns
10x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project III:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project III by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

In order to maintain the tonnage limit the designers had to sacrafice the armament to increse other aspects of the ship. This time by reducing the number of 30,5cm Cannons from 4 to 3 allowed the increase of the secondary 19cm Gun number from 8 Guns to 12 and a broadside of 4 to 6. This is logical, if you set the a displacement limit and speed to achieve while armour must remain the same, the only thing you can "play" with is the armament, either it's calibre and/or it's number. While this philosophy is evident in every Major Power's navy it is most significant in the the case of the KUK Kriegsmarine which not only have very limited number of shipyards, (2 at the time, both at STT - Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino) and floating docks (none at the time) for construction and service / fitting out but the economical background as well (material and monetary).


The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: 12.650tons (standard)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Engines: 18.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 37km/h (20knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
1x2,1x1 30,5cm/40 Skoda K05 Cannons
4x2,4x1 19cm/42 Skoda K03 Guns
10x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project IV:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project IV by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

With Project IV Siegfried Popper and the designers of MTK reached the lowest end of primary firepower of a battleship!
By further reducing the gun barrels number to two from three from Project III, but further increasing the secondary 19cm guns number to 16, 8 per side. Basically they made a modern version of the Habsburg class Coastal Defence Battleship with this proposal. With this many 19cm Guns you have much higher chance of sinking a ship with plunging fire then with the main 30,5cm cannons! None the less this is another unique design, probably the least useful for what the KuK Kriegsmarine was needed but shows the options offered for the new battleship class.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: 12.650tons (standard)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Engines: 18.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 37km/h (20knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x1 30,5cm/40 Skoda K05 Cannons
4x2,8x1 19cm/42 Skoda K03 Guns
10x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project V:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project V by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

The designers decided that the only way to have acceptable secondary firepower (eg at least 6 guns per broadside) and maintain the required main gun firepower of four 30,5cm weapons, was to increase the standard displacement to almost 13.000tons.
Hence the two last designs in the 1904 series were featured increased displacement for two twin 30,5cm and six 19cm Guns per broadside.
Project V combine the main turret layout of Project II and the secondary guns layout of Project III.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: 12.950tons (standard)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Engines: 18.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 37km/h (20knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2 30,5cm/40 Skoda K05 Cannons
4x2,4x1 19cm/42 Skoda K03 Guns
10x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project VI:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project VI by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

The final known design of the 1904 series of Radetzky preliminary projects. Possibly to increase redundancy of the secondary armament in case of battle damage, on this project all 19cm Guns were housed in single mounts, 4 in single turrets and the rest in casemates, rather then 8 in twin turrets and 4 in casemates as in the previous design.

After the meeting of 1904. September 19 where the previous 6 projects where discussed a new meeting was held in 1905. February 10 which shows hat there was an almost half year of designing pause was occurred.
On the new meeting Vice-Admiral Franz Freiherr von Minutillo, Rear-Admiral Juliusz Franciszek von Ripper, Captain Julius Beck von Wellstaedt, Admiral Josef Mauler von Elisenau, Rear-Admiral Guido Ritter von Couarde, Captain Lucian Eugenio Ziegler de Lintz-Pozza, head of the MTK and Chief Engineer Friedrich Jedlička were participated.
On this meeting Popper was not present as the subject was not about the design of the warships but their armament. The first topic was about the usage of either the German Krupp Sliding Breech lock or the British Vickers-Maxim Breech lock eg the Welin breech block. There were pros and contrast for either lock but after their discussion the team remained that Krupp Sliding Breach was to be used for the new weapons.
Next topic was the calibre of the main Guns to use either the 28cm (283mm) L/45 calibre Guns or the new 30,5cm L/40 calibre ones.
Among who participated the risen issues were the larger shell wight and the necessary handling equipment the lock system to be used for such large calibre (At that time the largest Sliding Breech Guns were the German 28cm SK L/40 aboard the Braunschweig class battleships), the uncertainty of the new 30,5cm calibre and the positive ability to further develop the larger calibre.
It was also noted that ballistically there were not much difference between the 28cm and 30,5cm Guns despite there were like 100kg difference between their shell weight (345kg for the 28cm and 445 for 30,5cm one)
The committee agreed that it would be wise to use the larger 30,5cm calibre for the new ships and only return to the 28cm one of there were problems developing the new gun. (This discussion was later mirrored in 1908/09 as to to choose between the L/45 and 50 calibre 30,5cm Guns for the Viribus Unitis class when in development) In the end only two, Ziegler and Jedlička supported the 28cm armament, three supported the 28cm armament if there were issues with the development of the 30,5cm and the rest wholeheartedly supported the 30,5cm calibre even if that means changing the Breech Lock technology to the Vickers-Maxims / Welin one.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: 12.950tons (standard)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Engines: 18.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 37km/h (20knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2 30,5cm/40 Skoda K05 Cannons
12x1 19cm/42 Skoda K03 Guns
10x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


The 1905 series:
Project A:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project A by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

Here I continue the series of the Radetzky class preliminaries but now from the 1905 series of designs which all feature L/45 calibre Guns (both primary secondary and tertiary) as well as definitive shape of how the final ship going to look like. Though not as armoured as the previous version nor as the final one, the use of larger secondary guns and longer barrels together with thicker turret armour resulted in an increased displacement for these proposals.

After the last meeting in mid February 1905, in late June news were reached the KuK Admirality about the new British Battleship about to be laid down at that time and which was going to be 18.000tons displacement and to be armed with ten 30,5cm Cannons. With this new development and information from the famous battle around a straits between Japan and Korea called Tsushima from Maj 27 meant the new battleships of KUK Kriegsmarine had to be redesigned.
The next meetings was held in 1905. September 25 and 29, lead by Rear-Admiral Juliusz Franciszek von Ripper and participated Admiral Josef Mauler von Elisenau, Captain Lucian Eugenio Ziegler de Lintz-Pozza, Captain Freih Victor von Baselli-Süßenberg, Naval Architect Siegfried Popper and Chief Engineer Friedrich Jedlička.
The topic was the armament of the now increased 13.500tons battleships. Ripper told that after the Russo-Japanese war the battleships should be armed the best and largest calibre weapons the Austro-Hungarian industry eg Skoda could offer. Ziegler noted that it would be not possible to put enough number of long 30,5cm cannons (as used on the Japanese Battleships) on 13.500tons hence the displacement had to be risen to at least 16.000tons which would require a new larger floating dock of which the KuK had already shortage of, of which Mauler was agreed and requested building a new one. Popper agreed with Ripper that a new dock together with the increased costs of the 16.000ton battleships would had been too high so he proposed to stay on 13.500tons of which 4 Guns could be easily mounted which could be supplemented with secondary Guns.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: Unknown, probably 12.550tons (standard), 13.650tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 210mm Belt
Engines: Unknown, probably 20.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2 28cm/45 (283mm) Skoda K04 Cannons
4x1 24cm/45 (238mm) Skoda K09 Cannons
8x1 19cm/42 Skoda K03 Guns
6x1 7cm/50 (66mm) Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

The only known sketch series about the 1905 projects:
i.imgur.com/qRaH57v.jpg


Project B:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project B by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

During the September 25 meeting while the 30,5cm L/45 seemed the best choice for main armament, Chief Engineer Friedrich Jedlička tried to go through with the 28cm main armament as on 13.500tons only four 30,5cm Cannons could be installed without any stronger secondary armament but this hull could accept even eight 28cm in four twin turrets (note that the same armament in the Germany Navy required 15-15.700tons displacement!) which could penetrate 230mm armour at 8.000m. He was the same person who suggested increasing the anti torpedo-boat gun calibre from 7cm (66mm) to 10cm whose semi automatic gun could fire fast enough, has considerable stopping power and has increased range. Ripper applied to the 30,5cm Cannon as it's 100kg heavier shell has more stable trajectory while Mauler empathised the 19cm secondary armament which could devastate the unarmoured parts of a warship. The meeting was ended with most of the participants emphasising the heavier armament.

This Project B shows Jedlička idea for an all 28cm armed battleship in two twin and four single turrets with the anti-torpedo armament of 10cm Guns.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: Unknown, probably 13.300tons (standard), 14.400tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 210mm Belt
Engines: Unknown, probably 21.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2,4x1 28cm/45 (283mm) Skoda K04 Cannons
12x1 10cm/45 Skoda K07 Guns
6x1 7cm/50 (66mm) Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project C:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project C by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

This version was an improvement over the previous B variant, in so that the 4 single turrets replaced by two twins making a Romboid arrangement rather a hexagonal one. This allowed saving weights which were used to strengthen the secondary armament of 10cm guns to considerable broadside of 8 guns!
This is now basically a dreadnought battleship with all of it's aspects except it was still using reciprocating engines rather then turbines.
As you can see on the original sketch the wing turrets angle of fire was limited, they could not fire directly ahead and abaft due partially because of the blast damage to the superstructure and partially to actually to provide storage space for the ship boats.

These projects (A through E) was offered by Siegfried Popper at the meeting of 1905 September 29. All of these projects for the first time and among the pre and semi-dreadnoughts had equipped with limited anti-torpedo and anti mine defence which was barely enough to protect the ships from such dangers, it shows the forward thinking of the engineers of the KuK Kreigsmarine. Armour wise as I've stated previously all had 210mm belt and 40mm deck but turret armours differed among the various proposals:
A,B had 250mm, C had 230mm and the last two D and E had 280mm.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: Unknown, probably 12.950tons (standard), 14.050tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 210mm Belt
Engines: Unknown, probably 20.600shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
4x2 28cm/45 (283mm) Skoda K04 Cannons
16x1 10cm/45 Skoda K07 Guns
4x1 7cm/50 (66mm) Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project D:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project D by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

Project D is basically a modification of the previous C, where all the 28cm turrets got replaced with either twin or single 30,5cm ones making it the smallest dreadnought like battleship if built, smaller then the Spanish Espana and only lack one barrel per broadside and despite it's older engiens it would had been faster as well.

At the 1905 September 29. meeting, after the calibre question was discussed the next topic was the number and arrangement of the primary armament. Friedrich Jedlička, Freih Victor von Baselli-Süßenberg, Siegfried Popper and Lucian Eugenio Ziegler de Lintz-Pozza agreed that the 6x 30,5cm armed version was desirable, though if there were issues with developing the 30,cm cannons at Skoda then the 28cm armed C version. Ziegler added that after the experiences of the battle of Tsushima of that year show that neither the 15 nor even the 20cm Guns were adequate and the new battleships had to carry the largest number and largest heavy guns possible.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: Unknown, probably 12.850tons (standard), 13.950tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 210mm Belt
Engines: Unknown, probably 20.500shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2,2x1 30,5cm/45 Skoda K08 Cannons
16x1 10cm/45 Skoda K07 Guns
4x1 7cm/50 (66mm) Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project E:

Radetzky Class Preliminary Project E by Tzoli on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

Project E was the last known proposal of the Radetzky class development series of which I have exact data on armour, armament and it's layout. As you can see it is almost the same as the finished class except the secondary armament being on 19cm's rather 24cm (That was changed later) and the belt armour being thinner at 210mm.

During the 1905 September 29. meeting Josef Mauler insisted on staying with the 19cm secondary armament as these could fire faster and more numerous guns could be mounted which would increase the effective accuracy of the ship and by heavily damaging or destroying the unarmoured parts and upper decks of an enemy ship that would not be able to fight. He voted for the E design and Ripper too agreed with him on this manner.
The next topic was the question of the medium armament. On this matter Ziegler, Baselli, Popper and Jedlička voted for the six 30,5cm armed D variant while Ripper and Mauler gone for variant E with it's four 30,5cm and eight 19cm weaponry. After this Baselli risen the question of the power operations of the turrets which he suggested to be electrically powered which Jedlička too supported saying that the hydraulic system was heavier prone to ice damage and would be more difficult to change it to manual operation. This power sysem was soon accepted and the meeting was ended after a short discussion about the anti-torpedo-boat armament which became the 10cm calibre.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: Unknown except the width so I've used the data of the Radetzkys: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,0m x 8,1m
Displacement: Unknown, probably 13.100tons (standard), 14.200tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 210mm Belt
Engines: Unknown, probably 20.800shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Range: 7.400km at 18,5km/h (4.000nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2 30,5cm/45 Skoda K08 Cannons
4x2 19cm/42 Skoda K03 Guns
12x1 10cm/45 Skoda K07 Guns
2x1 7cm/50 (66mm) Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


And now for contrast the Radetzky Class as built:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Radetzky-Class-Battleship-840647538

I very rarely draw finished ships as they built, only those which I really like (Yamato class) or deem worthy to represent their lineage as in the case here. Here you can see after the numerous preliminary studies to what level the last battleship class before the Viribus Unitis class evolved to. The Radetzky class Semi-Dreadnought battleships of the KuK Kriegsmarine, the fastest battleship class of the Austro-Hungarian navy ever built and also the fastest among it's contemporary classes like the Lord Nelsons and Dantons.
As usual in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the emperor ( Franz Josef I ) had to choose the naems for the new ships from lists offered to him. The then ordered Battleships I,II,III names at first these were considered at the end of 1908 February as follows:
SMS Admiral Sterneck
SMS Admiral Daun
SMS Admiral Montecuccoli
Then due to the request of the Hungarians for at least one ship to be named from a Hungarian person so next group of names consisted of:
SMS Radetzky
SMS Hunyadi
SMS Prinz Eugen
Finally in March 24th 1908, the final names became as:
SMS Radetzky
SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand
SMS Zrínyi

This concludes the history behind the Radetzky class Battleships.

The class had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 137,5m (wl) 138,8m (oa) x 24,6m x 8,1m
Displacement: 14.508tons (standard), 15.855tons (full load)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Engines: 20.000shp Yarrow Vertical Triple Expansion Engines, 2 Shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Range: 9.600km at 18,5km/h (5.200nm at 10knots)
Armaments:
2x2 30,5cm/45 Skoda K08 Cannons
4x2 24cm/45 (238mm) Skoda K09 Guns
20x1 10cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
6x1 7cm/50 (66mm) Skoda K10 Guns
3x1 45cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

 

[Tzoli]

Now I continue the KuK Battleship projects with the development of the Empire's first Dreadnought battleship and the first capital ship to be commissioned with triple turrets, preceeding both the Italian Dante Alighieri and the Russian Sevastopol classes


The first design leading to the Viribus Unitis class was Franz Pitzinger's proposal:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Pitzinger-s-Proposal-848308142

The history of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy's first and only Dreadnought battleships are a rather interesting and intriguing one!
The first formal meeting of new battleships for the Austro-Hungarian Navy was held on May 7th, 1908 by the MTK (Marinetechnische Komitee - Naval Technical Committee), Pola / Vienna the meeting was led by Rudolf von Montecuccoli degli Erri, and the official design contest was issued on July 6th, 1908 with the following requirements:
Displacement up to 20,000 tons,
8x 30,5cm Main Guns all on the centreline,
19 and 10cm medium and light guns,
armour belt of 230mm at the waterline and 250mm thickness of the barbettes.

In addition to Popper, two engineers, Franz Pitzinger and Theodor Novotny, presented their own drawings in the spring of 1910 when the original deadline expired. At this point, however, the detailed design of the Popper Plans was completed, and in November of last year, the contract was signed with STT for the construction of two ships. The designs of Pitzinger and Novotny were shoved to the depths of the archives, but they received cash compensation for their work.

Like Theodor Novotny, Franz Pitzinger too submitted his design too late to be evaluated (By that time the final design was already chosen) but he too featured some novel aspects in his design. The most striking aspect are the two funnels placed side by side like on some early pre-dreadnought battleships of the British, Italian and Russian navies. This was the result of placing the boilers side by side rather horizontally which allowed more hull space allocated for the weaponry and the turbines. The hull was flush deck with nice curves aft providing ample deck space, the turrets placed similarly as on contemorary British battleships like the King George V and Orion classes as well as the later Iron Duke class. Secondary gun wise Pitzinger foresaw the use of single and larger calibre anti destroyer and anti-torpedo-boat guns rather mixed ones of the other designs.
The designs had the following characteristics:
Design date: 1909
Dimensions: 153 (wl) x 26 x 8,4m
Displacement: 18.500tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 240mm Belt
Armaments:
5x2 30,5cm/50 Skoda K09 Cannons
14x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns (Probably)
3x1 7cm/45 Skoda K10 Guns (Probably)
4x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes (Probably)

Original sketch drawing:
i.imgur.com/1VYT9B5.jpg


Next is Theodor Novotny's proposal:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Novotny-s-Proposal-698210984

Theodor Novotny's proposal shows some interesting design choices. The hull is flush deck but oval shaped resembling a cargo ship or the old pre-dreadnought battleship types of the other navies. The ten 30,5cm cannons distributed evenly in two twin and triple turrets forward and aft 15 and 10cm casemated guns were separated with the smaller ones located at the ends. But this desing's striking uniqueness was the large flying bridge protruding high from the main superstructure. The idea behind this is not entirely clear but probably to provide excellent positions for the command to crew to check the ship, the battle and to examine or watch the area around the ship.

Design date: 1910
Dimensions: 155 (wl) x 27 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 27.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 280mm Belt
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 30,5cm/50 Skoda K09 Cannons
16x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns
8x1 10cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns
2x1 7cm/45 Skoda K10 Guns (Probably)
4x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes (Probably)

Original sketch drawing:
i.imgur.com/PtWGyGT.png



And now the actual design series done by Siegfried Popper:
Project I:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-I-848410261

Two shipyards were invited to make design studies based on these requirements:
Ganz-Danubius (Ganz és Társa-Danubius Villamossági-, Gép-, Waggon- és Hajógyár Rt. - Ganz and Partner-Danubius Electrical- Machine-, Wagon- and Shipbuilding Co.), Fiume/Budapest and STT (Stabilimento Tecnico Triestone), Trieste.
Ganz-Danubius refused the invitation as it could not build such large warships and this led the automatic acceptance by STT where the Naval Engineer, Siegfried Popper was working in cooperation. Siegfried Popper was recently retired from the post of the Naval Engineering Office, according to many the whole application was intended exactly for him to get the job of designing the new battleships, this was supported by the fact that the ships construction began well before the entire design contest expired in 1910.

Project I of the Viribus Unitis class battleship preliminaries by Siegfried Popper is your most stock first generation dreadnought battleship design you can imagine. 8x 30,5cm cannons in superfiring turret pairs forward and aft with the casemated Guns on the sides between the turrets. What makes this above a stock battleship was the calibre of the secondary guns of 19cm and the large amount of anti-torpedo gun armament put on the deck between the two superstructure.

Data on the design:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
4x2 30,5cm/50 Skoda K09 Cannons,
10x1 19cm/50 Skoda K09 Casemated Guns,
20x1 10cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
2x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
i.imgur.com/fR5Q1hZ.jpg

Project II:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-II-848507859

By the spring of next year, the first drafts were made. In February 1909, MTK presented the first, followed by 7 versions of STT Popper in March. Of the total of 8 plans, 5 were equipped with ten, 2 equipped with eight and 1 equipped with 12 main guns. The MTK designed it's ship with triple expansion engines while STT used the modern Parsons steam turbine propulsion units. The plans had an important common feature: none of them were similar to later-built battleships.
The MTK commented on the plans on April 14, 1909 and, according to their report, the plans were divided into three groups:
The first group consisted of 8x main gun and 19cm secondary gun armed versions (2),
the second group was the 12x main gun armed version, (1)
and the third group was the 10x main gun armed versions (5).

Project II basically a Radetzky class battleship updated to dreadnought standards:
The main armament was doubled to 4 twin turrets in superfiring pairs forward and aft but the wing turrets and the similar deck area around them remained though the calibre was reduced from 24cm to 19cm guns but the casemated 10cm armament remained. This design is an interesting mix between the final Viribus Unitis and the previous Radetzky class battleships, mixing elements from both.

Data on the design:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
4x2 30,5cm/50 Skoda K09 Cannons,
4x2 19cm/50 Skoda K09 Guns,
20x1 10cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
2x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes


Project III:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-III-848623728

On April 16, STT was interested in receiving plans. Although the plans included mainly 30,5cm L/50 calibre cannons, the 30,5cm L/45 calibre ones were too included. Skoda, who produced the cannons, had problems with the development of a longer calibre cannon, so the shipyard of Trieste redesigned the plans of the VI and VII Projects with L/45 calibre main guns. On April 20, MTK asked STT to produce another 12 gun in 6 turrets armed design which was completed on the 27th in 2 versions. Shortly thereafter, on May 5th, at Montecuccoli's personal request, STT Trieste prepared another 12 gun L/45 calibre main gun armed design in 4 triple turrets which became Project VIII and which was used as a basis for the final version.

This last project was the first to use triple turrets, with the idea was likely to emerge in designers' minds in January that year, as it turned out that the Italians wanted to equip their new battleships (Dante Alighieri) with such turrets. In the spring of 1909, the Navy was allowed to check the plans of the newest German battleships then under construction (Kaiser class).
With this task, the secretary of Montecuccoli, Frigate Captain Alfred von Koudelka, was sent to Berlin on the evening of 29th April. Koudelka was personally greeted by none other then Grand Admiral Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz, who with surprising openness even presented with German plans and commented on the Austrian plans taken by Koudelka. Tirpitz objected in particular to the thin belt armour and insufficient torpedo protection on the Austrian plans.

Project III was essentially a modified version of project I, where the secondary 19cm armament was changed to 15cm ones and part of the 10cm guns were removed to make space and tonnage for a 5th twin 30,5cm/50 turret creating the Austro-Hungarian variant of the British Orion class battleships.

Data on the design:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
5x2 30,5cm/50 Skoda K09 Cannons,
10x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
14x1 10cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
3x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
i.imgur.com/rsWJDUC.jpg

 

[Tzoli]

Project V:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-V-848837149

Project V re-introduced the wing turrets into the series for a brief time making a romboid arrangement with superfiring turrets at the ends while these designs still provided the same 10 gun broadside of the previous versions despite adding a 6th turret to the hull, end on fire was increased by a 1/3rd on both directions from 4 to 6 guns. The two sub variants a and b shows that at this time there were doubts of the 50 calibre 305mm cannons the Skoda developing and thus on these proposals the main artillery was reverted to the 45 calibre Cannons first used on the previous Radetzky classes and which with some improvement used on the final Viribus Unitis class battleships.

Data on the designs:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
6x2 30,5cm/50 Skoda K09 Cannons,
24x1 10cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated and Shielded Guns,
4x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
i.imgur.com/miAsHD6.jpg


Project Va:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-Va-848837340

On the "a" sub-variant apart from the change of the main gun calibre to /45 ones the secondary armament was increased in size to 15cm from the 10cm of the baseline version as well as quadrupled the 7cm (66mm) Anti Torpedo-Boat guns number to 16, half of them located on the turret tops.

Data on the designs:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
6x2 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
8x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
16x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
i.imgur.com/wqOGTwn.jpg


Project Vb:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-Vb-848837345

On the "b" sub-variant apart from the change of the main gun calibre to /45 ones the secondary armament though remained the same 10cm calibre but their number was reduced to 18 from 24 of the baseline version but like in the "a" sub variant here as well the 7cm (66mm) Anti Torpedo-Boat guns number quadrupled from 4 to to 16, half of them located on the turret tops.

Data on the designs:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
6x2 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
18x1 10cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
16x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
i.imgur.com/wqOGTwn.jpg


Project VI:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-VI-848941706

Similarly to the Project V variants Project VI also shows the uncertainty of the Skoda's then development 50 calibre 305mm Cannons hence reversion back to the previous 45 calibre cannons. Design wise they were a modified version of the Project IV proposal with revised secondary gun armaments and layouts.
Project VI continues the 5 turreted arrangement of the designs III and IV, but this time with uniform 15cm secondary armament but coupled with the increase number of 7cm (66mm) Anti Torpedo-Boat guns, quarter of them on turret tops. Basically an updated Project III,

Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
5x2 30,5cm/50 Skoda K09 Cannons,
14x1 15cm/50 SkodaK10 Casemated Guns,
11x1 7cm/50 SkodaK10 Guns,
3x1 53cm Torpedoes


Original sketch drawing:
imgur.com/LfXM1Ia.jpeg

Project VIa:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-VIa-848941716

The "a" sub versions is the same (in idea) to the Project Va version with the reduced /45 calibre main cannons but increased (even further) 7cm (66mm) Anti Torpedo-Boat guns then of the baseline project VI design to 14, with almost half of them on turret tops.

Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
5x2 30,5cm/45 SkodaK10 Cannons,
14x1 15cm/50 SkodaK10 Casemated Guns,
14x1 7cm/50 SkodaK10 Guns,
3x1 53cm Torpedoes


Original sketch drawing:
imgur.com/LfXM1Ia.jpeg

Project VIb:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-VIb-848941726

While the "a" sub variant increased the 7cm guns to 14 in total the "b" sub variant only changed the main guns calibre to /45 ones and the 15 and 7cm guns remained the same both in number and in arrangement.

Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
5x2 30,5cm/45 SkodaK10 Cannons,
14x1 15cm/50 SkodaK10 Casemated Guns,
11x1 7cm/50 SkodaK10 Guns,
3x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
imgur.com/LfXM1Ia.jpeg


Project VII:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-VII-849049559

While on project VI the secondary armament was chosen as the 15cm Skoda Guns (as was on the final version), on Project VII this armament was of a smaller calibre of 12cm Skoda guns but more numerous otherwise it was the same as the previous proposal with it's 5 centreline turrets

Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
Project VII:
5x2 30,5cm/50 Skoda K09 Cannons,
18x1 12cm/50 Skoda K09 Casemated Guns,
11x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
3x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
imgur.com/QcQYZHd.jpeg


Project VIIa:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-VIIa-849049576

Project VIIa again a sub-variant of the baseline with it's shorter /45 calibre 30,5cm cannons but as usual more numerous (doubled on turret tops) 7cm (66mm) Anti Torpedo-Boat Guns.

Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
5x2 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
18x1 12cm/50 Skoda K09 Casemated Guns,
14x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
3x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
imgur.com/QcQYZHd.jpeg


Project VIII:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Viribus-Unitis-Preliminary-Project-VIII-849152332

On June 9, 1909, the final design contest was issued under the amended terms. The proposed displacement was increased to 20.500 tons, main guns were of 30,5cm L/45 calibre ones (The the 50 calibre ones had construction errors and thus not chosen) the secondary and tertiary guns were chosen of 15 and 7cm (66mm) ones with the increased armour belt of 280mm. For propulsion steam turbines were chosen with auxiliary oil fired boilers next to the coal ones. Popper had submitted six more proposals a few weeks later (varying in tripod or polemast arrangements) and of these, the design "F" was finally selected.
In 1910, the Joint Finance Minister of the Monarchy did not support the construction of new warships, so the Navy started to build ships at its own risk.

In addition to the problems surrounding the construction costs of the ships, their names did not go smoothly either.
At first the Navy proposed SMS Tegetthoff, SMS Prinz Eugen, SMS Don Juan and SMS Hunyadi for the ships while Archduke Franz Ferdinand wished to name the 4th ship SMS Laudon, but the Hungarians did, of course, start a fierce protest, as part of the cost of the ships was provided by the Hungarian parliament, so they expected that one of the ships receive a Hungarian name. This was a common practice in the Austro-Hungarian Navy (SMS Budapest, SMS Zrínyi, SMS Árpád etc).
In the end Emperor Franz Joseph I ended the debate with an iron fist naming the ships as follows:
SMS Viribus Unitis, SMS Tegetthoff, SMS Prinz Eugen and SMS Szent István

As a sidenote, for the 4th ship the following names were proposed:
SMS Corvin Mátyás after Matthias Corvinus
SMS Szent István after St. Stpehen, first Christian king of Hungary
SMS Erzsébet Királyné after Empress Elisabeth commonly known as Sisi

Montecuccoli dictated a forced pace for the designers, as the start of construction was planned for the spring of 1910. The cause was the peaceful rivalry between the KuK Kriegsmarine and the Regia Marina as the Austro-Hungarians wanted to build their battleships first and hence the construction was finally begun in the summer of 1910 even when the entire design documentation of the ships had not even been completed!

As you can see Project VIII was the final design chosen for further development. It was still designed for the /50 calibre 30,5cm cannons but this soon changed to /45 ones. The saved weight sued into widening the hull and adding a limited underwater protection system to the ships. (The final design was 27,3m wide and a 8,9m depth) Secondary armament was also strengthened to 6 per side 15cm guns rather only 5. And finally belt armour increased to 28cm.

Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 151,5 (wl) x 26 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
Project VI:
4x3 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
10x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
14x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawing:
imgur.com/0ckQRRK.jpeg
alternative to the 7cm armament placement:
imgur.com/FBiKObu.jpeg

 

[Tzoli]

There are 3 more variants which I've haven't drawn, all of them were proposed by the STT (Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino) as alternatives to the final design (Project VIII). They differ mostly by placement and number of the secondary 15cm guns and the mast type being polemast or tripod.
Project A:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 160 (wl) x 161,2(oa) x 27,5 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
Project VI:
4x3 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
12x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
14x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Project B:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 160 (wl) x 161,2(oa) x 27,5 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
Project VI:
4x3 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
12x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
14x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Project C:
Design date: 1909/10
Dimensions: 160 (wl) x 161,2(oa) x 27,5 x 8,6m
Displacement: 20.000tons (standard)
Engines: 25.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 38km/h (20,5knots)
Armour: 48mm Deck, 230mm Belt
Armaments:
Project VI:
4x3 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
4x2,4x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
14x1 7cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns,
4x1 53cm Torpedoes

Original sketch drawings:

https://imgur.com/ZphGmc6

View: https://i.imgur.com/ZphGmc6.jpeg

https://imgur.com/Q1lQWLQ

View: https://i.imgur.com/Q1lQWLQ.jpeg

 

[Tzoli]

Next are the final battleships of the KuK Kriegsmarine which were actually laid down but the WW1 prevented them from being finished, the Ersatz Monarch or Replacemetn Monarch class battleships.
Here are the preliminary designs leading to this class of warships:

Project I:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-I-716741058

While the Ersatz Monarch class battleships is mostly likely the most well-known never-were project of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (Kaiserlich und Königlich Kriegsmarine) the history of the class and the other design variants considered are rather difficult to get hold knowledge of, not only because the troubled history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and it's successor states (Ships designed by Vienna and the various shipyards of Croatia and parts of nowadays Italy, Armour produced by Vitkovice in Silesia and Main guns produced and developed by Skoda in Bohemia (today Czech Republic) while engines and smaller calibre guns produced by Ganz-Danubius, Budapest, Hungary) in the past 100 years, but the documents of the ships might ended up in various parts of the old Monarch due to their contribution of the development and construction of the ships. Meaning while most of the documents were held in Vienna (Austria), some documents could be found in Budapest (Hungary), Pola and Zagreb (Croatia), Venezia (Italy) or might be even in Prague (Czech Republic). None the less due to some Hungarian and Italian Naval enthusiasts as well as sheer luck I was able to collect as much info as I could,
In case of the name formally this new class of battleships were never called Ersatz Monarch class, but rather as Projects like I II III etc, Enlarged or Improved Tegetthoff type or by their tonnage like 23.400ton battleships, 24.500ton battleships and so on. The name Ersatz Monarch (Replacement Monarch) originated from the leading article of August 1913 number of “Die Flagge”, the monthly magazine of Austrian Navy League: “The Monarch class must be replaced.” and hence the name Ersatz Monarch survived to this very day describing the last ordered battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

In early June 1911, some 3 weeks before the launch of SMS Viribus Unitis (First dreadnought battleship of Austro-Hungary) planning works begun for a new design of battleship. The Empire required new battleships for several reasons:

- Balance the eternal rival of the Adriatic Region: Italy’s construction of new battleships (Andrea Doria and Conte di Cavour classes)
- With the addition of modern capital ships, the fleet of Austria-Hungary became a major navy instead of a mere coastal defence force
- to maintain the status of great power was impossible without dreadnought-type battleships

The new battleships must be stronger than the previous Viribus Unitis class and for better seakeeping abilities must have a risen forecastle deck and increased speed of 21knots (39km/h)
With other requirements as follows:
Variant A: 23.000tons, with a minimum of 10x 30,5 cm cannons, 18x 15cm and 24x 7,5 cm secondary and tertiary guns
Variant B: 24.600tons, with a minimum of 10x 34,5 cm cannons, other armament same as above

The displacement was limited by the lifting capacity of Drydock No.1 of 23.800tons.

In April earlier of that year, Skoda offered plans of a new heavy gun a 34,5cm one in twin and triple turrets as well as ideas for a new battleship arguing with the necessity of securing high skilled workforce and ensuring development continuity.

The Naval Technical Committee (MTK - Marinetechnische Komitee) offered the first designs in December of that year:
Project I: 22.000tons, 4x3, 30,5cm, 16x1 15cm, 18x1 7,5cm
Project II: 23.400tons, 2x3,2x2 34,5cm, 6x2,10x1 15cm, 24x1 7,5cm
Project III: 24.500tons, 2x3,2x2 34,5cm, 6x2,10x1 15cm, 24x1 7,5cm
Project IV: 23.400tons, 2x3,2x2 34,5cm, 6x2,10x1 15cm, 24x1 7,5cm
All had 6x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

Essentially Project I of the Ersatz Monarch series shows how would the Viribus Unitis class would had looked if more displacement was allowed for them. Improvements include risen forecastle deck, thicker armour and improved and rearranged secondary and tertirary anti Torpedo-Boat armaments. A unique attribute of the design are the use of twin casemates to save weight yet increase firepower.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 161 (wl), 162,2 (oa) x 27,6 x 8,4m
Displacement: 22.000tons (standard)
Engines: 28.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 300mm Belt, 63mm Deck
Armaments:
4x3 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
6x2,10x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
24x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project II:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-II-718468054

Here on project II the Project I hull was used but lengthened which allowed the instalment of ten 34,5cm cannons in two twin and triple turrets instead of the triple 30,5cm ones of the previous design as well as the Viribus Unitis class. This resulted in a considerable increase in firepower with only a slight, 1.400tons increment in displacement though a stronger engine too was required to maintain the desire speed.

All had 6x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes
Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 165 (wl), 166,2 (oa) x 27,8 x 8,4m
Displacement: 23.400tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 300mm Belt, 76mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 34,5cm/45 Skoda K13 Cannons,
6x2,10x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
24x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project III:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-III-849464676

Project III was a slight modification of the previous Project II battleship design where the foremost twin 15cm casemate pair was moved into the citadel, between the main turrets, but to achieve the same end on fire forward the forecastle deck had to remain relatively narrow so these guns could fire directly forward effectively.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 161 (wl), 162,2 (oa) x 27,6 x 8,4m
Displacement: 24.500tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 320mm Belt, 63mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 34,5cm/45 Skoda K13 Cannons,
6x2,10x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
24x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project IV:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-IV-849575020

Project IV is essentially a mix of Project II and III regarding in arrangement of the secondary 15cm casemated guns. As I had no definite sketch to work on I've had to try out different layouts but not too extreme seeing how minor changes were done on the Viribus Unitis class preliminary designs.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 165 (wl), 166,2 (oa) x 27,8 x 8,4m
Displacement: 23.400tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 300mm Belt, 76mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 34,5cm/45 Skoda K13 Cannons,
6x2,10x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
24x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project V:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-V-849683739

With Project I modified (as Project V) in February of the next year with partially reduced poop deck (Which might be more of a partially reduced quarter or aft deck as poop deck was not used on any modern capital ships! ) to reduce the displacement of the design after more accurate calculations were done. Another unique traits of these proposals are the usage of twin casemates required by the specified large amount of secondary guns on a limited hull length. Further investigations in the twin casemate design while featured better gun placements on a limited hull the actual technical difficulties of placing two guns in a single casemate as well as the issues of reloading and rotating the mount resulting of rejection of the idea. (Note: Twin casemates were offered by STT (Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino - Technical Establishment of Trieste) for the Viribus Unitis class as well in 1909! as shown by official papers)

The 7,5cm/50 gun was a new development which did not entered production but it was in par with the other navies 76mm or 3” guns used mostly for Anti-Torpedo Boat, Anti-Destroyer and Anti-Air weaponry and would had provided better protection for the ships than the previous 7cm (66mm) guns. Later the 7,5cm L/30 K16 gun developed by Skoda was used onboard submarines, destroyers (Warasdiner, Huszár class) and gunboats as AA guns and might had been developed from this earlier 7,5cm gun.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 161 (wl), 162,2 (oa) x 27,6 x 8,4m
Displacement: 22.000tons (standard)
Engines: 28.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 300mm Belt, 63mm Deck
Armaments:
4x3 30,5cm/45 Skoda K10 Cannons,
6x2,10x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
24x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project VI:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-VI-849785936

To counter the influence of Skoda, the Naval Ministry ordered a new set of designs in early spring of 1912 with armaments minimum of 8x either 34,5cm or 35,5cm cannons (Skoda was ordered to develop guns and turrets for this new calibre as well) with new tonnage set to 23.400tons. Though Skoda could not provide drawings and data of the 35,5cm guns and turrets in time so most of the Shipyards used 34,5cm guns for their proposals.
With this new specifications in mind no less than 26 design proposals were made by the various shipyards ranging from 8 guns to 13 guns from 161 to 175m in length, displacements of 23.400 to 27.000tons and armour ranging from 280mm to 340mm belt and 38-64mm deck. Sadly most of these designs precise data as well as their drawings I could not acquire (if still exists) and hence I only draw the MTK variants for which I have more accurate data of.
In case of the 8 gunned 23.000ton designs I’m not sure the accuracy of either the tonnage or the amount of guns carried because on 23-24.000tons the Royal Navy able to produce ships: Orion and King George V class, HMS Erin with 5x2 343mm (13,5”) armament on a same hull size and belt armour but thicker deck armour and faster speed of 22knots.

Here is the list of designers who offered their ideas to the Naval Ministry apart from MTK:
CNT - Cantiere Navale Triestino (Trieste Naval Shipyard)
STT - Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (Technical Establishment of Trieste) mostly by Naval Architect Siegfried Popper
Ganz-Danubius - Ganz és Társa-Danubius Villamossági-, Gép-, Waggon- és Hajógyár Rt. (Ganz and Partner-Danubius Electrical- Machine-, Wagon- and Shipbuilding Co.)
Naval Architect Silvius Morin

None the less by May 1912 MTK proposed these new set of designs all of which of 25.200tons displacement:
Project VI: 1x3,4x2 34,5cm, 16x1 15cm, 18x1 7,5cm
Project VII: 4x3 34,5cm, 16x1 15cm, 18x1 7,5cm
Project VIII: 3x3,2x2 34,5cm, 16x1 15cm, 18x1 7,5cm
Project IX: 2x3,3x2 34,5cm, 14x1 15cm, 18x1 7,5cm
All had 6x Underwater 53cm Torpedo Tubes

Design VI was the beginning of a new series of Ersatz Monarch variants. The hull was much lengthened to take in 5 turrets of the 34,5cm cannons now numbering 11 in 4 twin and one triple turrets. The hull remained a risen forecastle type which incresed seaworthiness and because of the 5 turrrets and much lengthened hull the displacement was risen to 25.200tons some 3.000tons heavier then previous versions yet engine power was marginally by 2.000shp stronger, but due to the better hydrodynamic values of the hull mostly by the better length to width ratio the speed did not fall despite the larger displacement.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 175 (wl), 176,2 (oa) x 28,5 x 8,6m
Displacement: 25.200tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 340mm Belt, 76mm Deck
Armaments:
1x3,4x2 34,5cm/45 Skoda K13 Cannons,
16x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
18x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project VII:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-VII-849861853

Project VII was a further development of the previous Project VI with 4 triple turrets paired forward and aft like in the Viribus Unitis class giving it a very nice look overall. The twelve 34,5cm cannons are a considerable increase in firepower.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 175 (wl), 176,2 (oa) x 28,5 x 8,6m
Displacement: 25.200tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 340mm Belt, 76mm Deck
Armaments:
4x3 34,5cm/45 Skoda K13 Cannons,
16x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
18x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project VIII:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-VIII-849987347

Project VIII might be considered a modification of the Project VI, the first of this series of designs with putting two extra barrels on it for the 1st and 5th turrets. But this design might be inspired by the Conte di Cavour (then under construction) and the Andrea Doria (then laid down) Italain battleship classes with the same turret layouts. But while those Italian ships were armed with 30,5cm cannons this proposal risen the firepower to the next calibre the 34,5cm or 13,5" range. This design also had thicker armour, both belt and deck making them a fearsome opponent to their Italian counterparts!

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 175 (wl), 176,2 (oa) x 28,5 x 8,6m
Displacement: 25.200tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 340mm Belt, 76mm Deck
Armaments:
3x3,2x2 34,5cm/45 Skoda K13 Cannons,
16x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
18x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

 

[Tzoli]

Project IX:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-IX-850098653

Not much to tell about this design apart from it is the same as the previous Project VIII but here the 3rd turret was a twin rather then a triple otherwise the same

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 175 (wl), 176,2 (oa) x 28,5 x 8,5m
Displacement: 25.200tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 340mm Belt, 76mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,3x2 34,5cm/45 Skoda K13 Cannons,
14x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
18x1 7,5cm Skoda K13 Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project X:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-X-850206717

After the last series of 34,5cm armed battleship designs were offered to the navy, the Ministry held a meeting in June 1912 to discuss the various proposals. On the meeting headed by Vice-Admiral Karl Kailer von Kaltenfels and chief naval architect Franz Pitzinger was also present who briefly commented on all the designs. By early July of 1912 the meeting concluded the following:
- 23.400 tons of displacement were too small for a well designed battleship and thus 24.500tons of displacement was chosen
- A new set of gun calibre was chosen: 35cm (Minimum 10 guns) as the final calibre which could use a standardised shell then under development by Krupp and the Imperial German Navy
- 18x 15cm secondary guns
- 9cm (88mm) tertiary guns
- Minimunm of 300mm Belt armour
- Minimum of 21knots speed

After these new set of requirements were formalised, the 3 shipyards were asked again but sadly I have only info on the MTK proposals as well as a single design from Ganz-Danubius. The Ganz-Danubius proposal is a bit different from the other designs as it was shorter but beamier resulting in a more stable gun platform but required a stronger engine due to the worse beam to length ratio and would had a single funnel. The MTK proposals were preferred and most have two versions done: one with superfiring triple the other with superfiring twin turrets also introducing casemates on two levels front to maximise forward fire..
While the Naval Ministry preferred superfiring twin turrets as they know the results of the trials done by SMS Viribus Unitis and SMS Tegetthoff which showed that these ships were top heavy (which is more about maximum weaponry on a limited displacement as Viribus Unitis class was the smallest battleship design which could carry 12x 30,5cm cannons) still the designers offered superfiring triple turrets as these showed better lines for the curves of the hull front and aft and also reduced citadel width which was also saving tonnage. On the other hand superfirign twin turrets would result in a more stable gun platform due to the less topweight the twin turrets offered.

The new designs were finished by January 1913 with Ganz Danubius's proposal by March:
Project X: 24.500tons, 2x3,2x2 35cm, 18x1 15cm, 16x1 9cm, 6x1 9cm AA, 6x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes
Project XI: 24.500tons, 2x3,2x2 35cm, 18x1 15cm, 16x1 9cm, 4x1 9cm AA, 6x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes
Project XII: 24.650tons, 2x3,2x2 35cm, 18x1 15cm, 16x1 9cm, 4x1 9cm AA, 6x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes
On 23rd April 1913 the Command of the Navy ordered the NTC to rework the January 1913 design: after some weight saving modifications it had to thicken the armour of the belt, the barbettes and the conning tower. In addition, it had to completely redesign the electric system of the ship and thus Project XI was born.
Apparently the Austro-Hungarian naval architects felt that such stripped down designs would not be well balanced and presented two enlarged alternative designs with heavier weaponry and speed increment to 23knots in January 1914, showing that more displacement was required for a more balanced battleships.

These two designs are:
Project XIII / Pre-project I: 29.600tons, 4x3 35cm, 18x1 15cm, 8x1 9cm, 10x1 9cm AA, 6x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes
Project XIV / Pre-project II: 32.000tons, 3x3,2x2 35cm, 18x1 15cm, 8x1 9cm, 10x1 9cm AA, 8x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes
These two were of course not chosen due to the building limitations of the shipyard facilities, but a 40.000ton Floating dock was ordered from Germany just before WW1 broke out.

But the tonnage limit was kept upright so in July 1914 the last design variants was presented. For weight reasons the number of secondary guns was reduced to 14x 15cm and tonnage set at 24.560tons:
Project XV: 24.560tons, 2x3,2x2 35cm, 14x1 15cm, 10x1 9cm, 12x1 9cm AA, 6x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes
Final Project / Project XVI: 24.560tons, 2x3,2x2 35cm, 14x1 15cm, 8x1 9cm, 12x1 9cm AA, 6x 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

Due to some copyright issues I can only provide links to the the plans of the 1913 project ( Project X ):

1/200 KuK “Ersatz Monarch” section original plans

These are the plans for the last class of the Austro-Hungarian navy, the “Ersatz Monarch” (Monarch class replacement). Full specs for the class are here. This specific layout is from or…

stefsap.wordpress.com

1/200 KuK “Ersatz Monarch” top view original plans

These are the plans for the last class of the Austro-Hungarian navy, the “Ersatz Monarch” (Monarch class replacement). Full specs for the class are here. This specific layout is from or…

stefsap.wordpress.com

But I had access to the original plans of the Final Project and the two enlarged Pre-Projects as well, for others I had only data from the Viribus Unitis site (currently under reconstruction)
www.viribusunitis.ca/
And from friends.

Project X is the first in the series leading to the final Ersatz Monarch design. It shows the longer forecaslte deck extending to the aft turret rather to the funnels as in the previous ones, the 4 turret arrangement with superfiring pairs at ends of triple and twin ones. The armament too changed to the final calibre of 35cm cannons.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 172 (wl), 173,2 (oa) x 28,5 x 8,4m
Displacement: 24.500tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 320mm Belt, 72mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 35cm/45 Skoda K14 Cannons,
18x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
16x1 9cm/45 Skoda K12 Guns
6x1 9cm/45 Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project XI:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-XI-850309729

Project XI is an alternative version of the previous Project X where the main turret superfiring positions got mirrored eg the twins were superfiring over the triples with the Anti-Torpedo Boat Guns and AA guns changed accordingly otherwise the same as the previous design. Eventually this turret layout was chosen for the final design as while it offered bigger surface area to armour in the citadel it gave less top heavy issues.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 172 (wl), 173,2 (oa) x 28,5 x 8,4m
Displacement: 24.500tons (standard)
Engines: 30.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 320mm Belt, 72mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 35cm/45 Skoda K14 Cannons,
18x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
16x1 9cm/45 Skoda K12 Guns
4x1 9cm/45 Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project XII:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-XII-850421382

Only limited information was available on this proposal and as being designed by the Hungarian firm Ganz-Danubius and as I'm Hungarian myself I've decided to make this design a bit more unique with one large funnel rather two smaller ones. The hull is shorter but beamier then the previous versions which while require a stronger engine to achieve the same speed it is also allows a more agile a more manoeuvrable ship to be built. In 1912 Ganz-Danubius designed a ship for this series but for those only dimensions, armour and main armament data (4X2 34,5cm cannons) were avaiable and at that time I decided not to draw it as I lacked info on the other armaments of the design.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 165 (wl) x 29,2 x 8,3m
Displacement: 24.650tons (standard)
Engines: 32.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 300mm Belt, 63mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 35cm/45 Skoda K14 Cannons,
16x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
16x1 9cm/45 Skoda K12 Guns
4x1 9cm/45 Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project XIII:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-XIII-850527659

As you can see from the description Projects XIII and the next Project XIV was the creations of the naval architects who saw what is really needed: A faster heavily armed and armoured battleship and hence the first variant was born feature four triple 35cm cannons, good armour of 32cm belt and 7,2cm deck and a long hull to achieve the desired speed. And such a design was born which would even make the british Queen Elizabeths or Revenges run for their money and overpower the Italian counterparts!

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 194 (wl), 195,2 (oa) x 29 x 8,5m
Displacement: 29.600tons (standard)
Engines: 45.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 43km/h (23knots)
Armour: 320mm Belt, 72mm Deck
Armaments:
4x3 35cm/45 Skoda K14 Cannons,
16x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
16x1 9cm/45 Skoda K12 Guns
10x1 9cm/45 Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project XIV:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-XIV-850609043

As you can see from the description the previous Project XIII and this Project XIV was the creations of the naval architects who saw what is really needed: A faster heavily armed and armoured battleship and hence the first variant was born feature four triple 35cm cannons, good armour of 32cm belt and 7,2cm deck and a long hull to achieve the desired speed. And such a design was born which would even make the british Queen Elizabeths or Revenges run for their money and overpower the Italian counterparts!
Project XIV was increased the firepower even further to 13 cannons in 5 turrets making the most powerful battleship design ever designed by the KuK Kriegsmarine to that time and thus before WW and until the late stages of WW1.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 196,5 (wl), 197,8 (oa) x 29,5 x 8,4m
Displacement: 32.000tons (standard)
Engines: 50.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 43km/h (23knots)
Armour: 320mm Belt, 72mm Deck
Armaments:
3x3,2x2 35cm/45 Skoda K14 Cannons,
16x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
8x1 9cm/45 Skoda K12 Guns
10x1 9cm/45 Skoda K16 AA Guns
8x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project XV:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Preliminary-Project-XV-850716411

Project XV was one of the two final versions to be chosen for evaluation by the Admiralty. The pro of this proposals was the smaller citadel area to be armoured as the turrets arrangement followed the hull shape and thus were thinner at the ends. The cons of this arrangement are that the triple turrets superfiring over the twins and hence give topweight issues.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 172 (wl), 173,2 (oa) x 28,5 x 8,4m
Displacement: 24.560tons (standard)
Engines: 31.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 310mm Belt, 72mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 35cm/45 Skoda K14 Cannons,
14x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
10x1 9cm/45 Skoda K12 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Final Project XVI:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Ersatz-Monarch-Final-Project-XVI-850860196

This is the final version of the Ersatz Monarch Battleship design series, the definitive variont which was ordered and would had built if World War 1 did not intervene.

Data on the Design:
Dimensions: 172 (wl), 173,2 (oa) x 28,5 x 8,4m
Displacement: 24.560tons (standard)
Engines: 31.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 39km/h (21knots)
Armour: 310mm Belt, 72mm Deck
Armaments:
2x3,2x2 35cm/45 Skoda K14 Cannons,
14x1 15cm Skoda K10 Casemated Guns,
8x1 9cm/45 Skoda K12 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

 

[Tzoli]

And in the end, the last capital ship designs of the Austro-Hungarian Navy which includes the first Battlecruiser proposals and whose designs were prepared as a basis for post war construction programmes.

Project Ia Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-Ia-Battlecruiser-Design-691299287

The KuK Kriegsmarine produced a number of capital ship designs starting from around the time of the Battle of Jutland to late 1917, early 1918 featuring mostly battlecruiser designs but a few battleships as well. Not much is known about the history of these designs apart from that they are prepared for the post war fleet, showing that the Austro-Hungarian Empire wished to end the war soon.
None the less, these project feature a good amount of ingenuity as well as traditional elements. Some of you might think these designs strike resemblance to the French warships of the same period like the grouped casemated guns and clear firearcs showing that either the Austro-Hungarians taken the same way of ideas and thinking as the French or simply copied them.
Typical to the Germanic nations these design does not feature the all or nothing armour scheme, instead the armour belt covers almost 100% of the waterline length with the main belt thickness of 225mm (9") and the ends having 100mm (4") which is quite comparable with the armours of the Royal Navy Battlecruisers.
Armament consisted of 35cm Cannons the same to be used on the Ersatz Monarch class and which was chosen over the 34.5cm because there was a standard shell in development which could be used both in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Imperial German Navy.
In 1915 the naval staff of the KuK Kriegsmarine have been impressed by the escape of the German Battlecruiser SMS Goeben from the British forces as well as the effectiveness of the Royal Navy battlecruisers HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible in the battle of Falklands of 1914 December and asked MTK (Marinetechnische Komitee - Naval Technical Committee), Pola to produce designs (at least these were the ones that survived) for the post war fleet and by late 1915 - early 1916, the first design, Project I was born.
Project Ia featured 3 triple turrets, all on the same deck level on the centreline and this was the true battlecruiser equivalent of the Ersatz Monarch class, though this layout seem not to be favoured as all consequent proposals featured twin turrets

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 220 (wl) x 29 x 8,65m
Displacement: 30.000tons (standard), 34.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 100.000shp Danubius Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 14.800km at 28km/h (8.000nm at 15knots)
Armaments:
3x3 35cm/45 (3x3 on variant a) Skoda K14 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K12 Guns
6x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

The original drawings can be found here:

BB/BC Pre-designs (Never Builts)

Preliminary designs for the Viribus Unitis, Improved Tegetthoff and BB/BC designs

www.viribusunitis.ca

Preliminary Designs - BB/BC 1915-17

Austro-Hungarian Naval Battleship and Battlecruiser designs between 1915 and 1917

www.viribusunitis.ca

Or here together with a small history on them:

KuK late WWI capital ship designs.

Source Warship International, N°4, 1992, by Erwin Sieche. A complete essay is here:

stefsap.wordpress.com

And finally based on the naming conventions of the German and Austro-Hungarian navies, the name of the class most likely be Ersatz Kaiser Karl or Ersatz Maria Theresia the two oldest armoured cruisers of the KuK navy.


Project Ib Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-Ib-Battlecruiser-Design-847348349

The b variant shown here represents a more classical approach to the armament in 4 twin turrets though not superfiring pairs at the ends but rather evenly spread on the centreline among the hull. This not only provided defence to the main battery as a lucky hit could only disable a single turret rather a pair and this arrangement also offers excellent stability together with less strain on the hull. Of course this arrangement only provides great firepower for broadsides which was expected in future wars but limited ahead and astern fire which is considered a better solution for a smaller navy not eager for decisive battle and whose primary area was the Adriatic and Southern Mediterranean sea

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 220 (wl) x 29 x 8,65m
Displacement: 30.000tons (standard), 34.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 100.000shp Danubius Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 14.800km at 28km/h (8.000nm at 15knots)
Armaments:
4x2 35cm/45 (3x3 on variant a) Skoda K14 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K12 Guns
8x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project Ic Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-Ic-Battlecruiser-Design-847464281

The c version tried to fix the issue of the b not having enough end firing arcs for it's maint turrets so the two middle turrets moved outwards to the sides making them echelon ones. This allowed this design to double or even triple the direct ahead and astern fire capabilities of the previous one without changing the balance or the strength of the hull too much. Of course this would result in damaging the deck in a broadside for the cross firing turret. Otherwise in every aspect this proposal is the same as the variant b.

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 220 (wl) x 29 x 8,65m
Displacement: 30.000tons (standard), 34.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 100.000shp Danubius Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 14.800km at 28km/h (8.000nm at 15knots)
Armaments:
4x2 35cm/45 (3x3 on variant a) Skoda K14 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K12 Guns
8x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project Id Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-Id-Battlecruiser-Design-847564804

Here on the d variant the designers chosen to put two turrets forward in superfiring position with the remaining ones are on the main deck. This solved the issue of cross deck fire of the previous c variant while increasing partly (at least the forward arc) the end fire capabilities of the design from 2 to 4 guns forward. This also allowed the centralisation of the engineering spaces grouping the boilers in one continuous machinery space rather distributing them along the hull separated by turrets.

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 220 (wl) x 29 x 8,65m
Displacement: 30.000tons (standard), 34.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 100.000shp Danubius Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 14.800km at 28km/h (8.000nm at 15knots)
Armaments:
4x2 35cm/45 (3x3 on variant a) Skoda K14 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K12 Guns
6x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project Ie Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-Ie-Battlecruiser-Design-847672051

Here the designers choose to put superfiring turret on the aft section of the hull rather forward, which result the same end fire and broadside changes as I've described in the d version just this is more of a defensive design eg providing more firepower while on the run from enemy forces. A new novel feature of this design is the larger armoured range finder tower just aft of the second funnel, and very close to the metacentric point of the hull providing a very stable platform for the sensitive equipment and optics in it.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 220 (wl) x 29 x 8,65m
Displacement: 30.000tons (standard), 34.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 100.000shp Danubius Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 14.800km at 28km/h (8.000nm at 15knots)
Armaments:
4x2 35cm/45 (3x3 on variant a) Skoda K14 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K12 Guns
6x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project If Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-If-Battlecruiser-Design-847742632

This is the most accepted arrangement for 4 turrets with evenly placed firepower in all directions. Though the turrets were not placed close to each other not just to defend better against lucky shots disabling both turrets but for stability and strength issues. Somewhat on a smaller scale as you can see on the Italian Francesco Caracciolo class battleships.

The design had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 220 (wl) x 29 x 8,65m
Displacement: 30.000tons (standard), 34.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 100.000shp Danubius Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 14.800km at 28km/h (8.000nm at 15knots)
Armaments:
4x2 35cm/45 (3x3 on variant a) Skoda K14 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K12 Guns
4x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project II Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-II-Battlecruiser-Design-696545675

In mid 1917 the MTK (Marinetechnische Komitee - Naval Technical Committee), Pola prepared a new battlecruiser design: Project II.
The Project II based heavily on the previous Project I design, using the same hull and secondary armament but increasing the main gun calibre from 35cm to 38cm in 3 twin turrets.

Choice over the increased calibre might be the result of the early studies based on the results of the battle of Jutland and the knowledge of the new generation of German Battlecruisers (Ersatz Yorck) and then under construction Battleships (Bayern) which to be armed with 38cm cannons. On the other hand the KuK Kriegsmarine might had accessed knowledge about the newly introduced warships of the Royal Navy, the Queen Elizabeth and Revenge class battleships as well as the Renown class battlecruisers which all carried 15" / 381mm cannons, it is also likely that the increased calibre is the result of the new Italian fast battleships laid down at that time: the Francesco Caracciolo class which too would had carried 381mm cannons.

Basically Project II is a modified Project Ia, replacing the triple turrets with twins but putting the 2nd turret between the two boiler rooms to increase survivability of the engine rooms.
You can think of this design as the Austro-Hungarian Renown though better in every aspect except the same firepower

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 220 (wl) x 29 x 8,65m
Displacement: 30.000tons (standard), 34.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 100.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 14.800km at 28km/h (8.000nm at 15knots)
Armaments:
3x2 38cm/45 Skoda K17 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
12x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K12 Guns
6x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project III Battleship:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-III-Battleship-Design-723229808

In mid 1917 the MTK (Marinetechnische Komitee - Naval Technical Committee), Pola prepared a battleship design the same time they proposed the battlecruiser Project II.
The hull shape was similar but shorter and wider providing a more stable gun platform with a more conventional layout of 4 twin 38cm turrets in superfiring pairs forward and aft and a reduced number of 9cm casemated guns only positioned at the ends.

Choice over the increased calibre might be the result of the early studies based on the results of the battle of Jutland and the knowledge of the new generation of German Battlecruisers (Ersatz Yorck) and then under construction Battleships (Bayern) which to be armed with 38cm cannons. On the other hand the KuK Kriegsmarine might had accessed knowledge about the newly introduced warships of the Royal Navy, the Queen Elizabeth and Revenge class battleships as well as the Renown class battlecruisers which all carried 15" / 381mm cannons, it is also likely that the increased calibre is the result of the new Italian fast battleships laid down at that time: the Francesco Caracciolo class which too would had carried 381mm cannons.

You can think of this design as the Austro-Hungarian equivalent of the Queen Elizabeth and Revenge classes but faster though with thinner belt and deck armour.

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 200 (wl) x 30 x 8,75m
Displacement: 30.000tons (standard), 32.300tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 300mm Belt
Engines: 75.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 46km/h (25knots)
Range: 8.500km at 28km/h (4.600nm at 15knots)
Armaments:
4x2 38cm/45 Skoda K17 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
10x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K12 Guns
4x1 9cm/45 (88mm) Skoda K16 AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

And finally based on the naming conventions of the German and Austro-Hungarian navies, the name of the class most likely be Ersatz Habsburg class the next oldest battleships of the KuK navy after the Monarch class.

Project IV Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-IV-Battlecruiser-Design-697007938

The designers at MTK (Marinetechnische Komitee - Naval Technical Committee), Pola continued to improve the battlecruiser proposals taking into account the experiences gained at the battle of Jutland and in they proposed what is basically a modified Project II battlecruiser:

Larger calibre main weapons are always superior,
anything below 10cm / 4" guns are not suitable against enemy cruisers
Less casemated guns means less holes on the side and thus less danger spots.
Unique among other navies are the adoption of a fully enclosed well armoured (100mm) AA turret mounting the heaviest AA gun of the time a 15cm/50 gun. For it's era this dual purpose gun would be more than enough against the WW1 aircraft and Zeppelins (Anti-Balloon guns as the Austrians called these weapons)

Like on Project II the Project IV design too featured 3 twin 38cm cannons in par with the German designs and to use a standard shell by both countries.

Simply put Project IV is a streamlined and slightly lengthened Project II with no tertiary armament and the introduction of heavy turreted DP-AA weaponry.
If Project II was the Austro-Hungarian Renown, then Project IV is the Renown killer!

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 230 (wl) x 29 x 8,82m
Displacement: 32.000tons (standard), 36.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 112.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 16.700km at 28km/h (9.000nm at 15knots) or
5.500km at 56km/h (3.000nm at 30knots)
Armaments:
3x2 38cm/45 Skoda K17 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
4x1 15cm/50 Skoda K18 DP-AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project V Battleship:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-V-Battleship-Design-723925779

This was the final battleship proposal by the MTK (Marinetechnische Komitee - Naval Technical Committee), Pola offered in late 1917, early 1918. It was a further improvement on the previous Project III type with another step taken in a larger main weapon calibre: the 42cm sized cannons. These weapons first appeared on the Imperial German navy post Jutland battleship and battlecruiser (The Grosskreuzer and L 20) designs planned for the post war fleet of Germany as well.
The 4 turrets are in a conventional layout of superfiring pairs forward and aft while the secondary armament are along the sides in casemates, while the 15cm heavy Dual Purpose AA guns are located in turrets on the deck with a single large funnel emphasising this design. What you actually see is the battleship equivalent of the Project VI battlecruiser mounting the same kind of armament but on a thicker and more armoured hull.

The ship reminiscent both in size, armament and armour to the Japanese Nagato class battleships laid down a few years earlier.

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 215 (wl) x 32 x 9,5m
Displacement: 37.200tons (standard), 39.600tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 300mm Belt
Engines: 56.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 44km/h (24knots)
Range: 9.000km at 28km/h (5.000nm at 15knots) or
5.500km at 44km/h (3.000nm at 24knots)
Armaments:
4x2 42cm/45 Skoda K18 Cannons
20x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
4x1 15cm/50 Skoda K18 DP-AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes


Project VI Battlecruiser:

https://www.deviantart.com/tzoli/art/Austro-Hungarian-Project-VI-Battlecruiser-Design-697768680

This was the final battlecruiser proposal by the MTK (Marinetechnische Komitee - Naval Technical Committee), Pola offered in late 1917, early 1918. It was a further improvement on the previous Project IV type with another step taken in a larger main weapon calibre: the 42cm sized cannons. These weapons first appeared on the Imperial German navy post Jutland battleship and battlecruiser (The Grosskreuzer) designs planned for the post war fleet of Germany as well.
The two twin turret layout while reminiscent of the British Courageous class light battlecruisers this design share more similarities with the Gk 4021 and 4221 designs of the Imperial German Navy which too had the same armament but due to being faster (32knots) and would carry thicker armour of 80mm deck and 320mm belt but this resulted in a 40-42.000ton displacement some 10.000tons heavier than their Austrian counterparts!

The hull too further refined and adjusted for the heavy twin 42cm gun turrets, while the DP-AA guns moved towards the centre of the ship, further away from the blast area of the main turrets

The design(s) had the following characteristics:
Dimensions: 230 (wl) x 29 x 8,82m
Displacement: 32.000tons (standard), 36.000tons (full load)
Armour: 40mm Deck, 225mm Belt
Engines: 112.000shp Steam Turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 56km/h (30knots)
Range: 16.700km at 28km/h (9.000nm at 15knots) or
5.500km at 56km/h (3.000nm at 30knots)
Armaments:
2x2 42cm/45 Skoda K18 Cannons
18x1 15cm/50 Skoda K10 Guns
4x1 15cm/50 Skoda K18 DP-AA Guns
6x1 53cm Underwater Torpedo tubes

As a side note:
While the British were the first to build battlecruisers with such minimal main armament, the Japanese designed a similar vessel with 3 and later 4 single 30cm gun turrets, I've mentioned the German Grosskreuzer series of 1916-17, but on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean the USN too played with the idea but they called this vessel a battle scout.
Also note that the Royal Navy's Courageous and Furious classes were designed for the Baltic Sea to provide fire support for the abortive Baltic amphibious operations and thus were very lightly armoured for minimal displacement and thus shallow draught, while the German and Austro-Hungarian proposal were true battlecruisers with thicker armour and heavier secondary armament ideal for fleet action or lone hunting duties!