SMS Warasdiner

Warasdiner in August 1914
Class overview
Name: Warasdiner
Operators:  Austro-Hungarian Navy
Preceded by: Huszár class
In commission: 1914
Completed: 1
Retired: 1
China
Name: Lung Tuan
Builder: STT, Trieste
Laid down: 1912
Launched: 1913
Fate: Seized by Austria-Hungary, 1914
Austria-Hungary
Name: SMS Warasdiner
Acquired: Seized 1 August 1914
Completed: 10 September 1914
Fate: Ceded to Italy in 1920 and scrapped
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer
Displacement: 389 long tons (395 t)
Length: 68.4 m (224 ft 5 in)
Beam: 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
Draught: 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in)
Propulsion: 6,000 ihp (4.5 MW)
Speed: 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement: 75 officers and men
Armament:

SMS Warasdiner[lower-alpha 1] was a destroyer launched in 1913 as Lung Tuan, intended for sale to China. She was taken over by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1914, renamed and rearmed. She served in World War I with the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Following the war, the ship was ceded to Italy and scrapped.

Construction and design

In 1912, China placed an order for a single destroyer with the Austrian shipyard Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) of Trieste. The design of the destroyer, to be named Lung Tuan, was based on that of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's Huszár-class destroyer, which had entered service between 1905 and 1911.[1]

Like the Huszárs, Lung Tuan was to be powered by two triple expansion steam engines, fed by four Yarrow boilers, rated at 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW), driving two shafts, although at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), the ship was slightly faster than the 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) Huszár class.[2] The ship's hull was 68 metres (223 ft 1 in) long at the waterline and 67 metres (219 ft 10 in) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 6.2 metres (20 ft 4 in) and a draught of 1.7 metres (5 ft 7 in). Displacement was 386 tonnes (380 long tons) standard and 400 t (390 long tons) deep load.[3] The ship was to be armed with two 12-pounder (76 mm) and four 3-pounder (47 mm) guns, all supplied by Armstrong Whitworth of Great Britain and two 18 in (46 cm) torpedo tubes.[1][2]

Lung Tuan was laid down in 1912 and launched in 1913.[3][lower-alpha 2] Although the Huszár class and therefore Lung Tuan were obsolete by 1913, the Chinese government ordered a further 12 destroyers from STT that year, partly due to the low price (£16,500 per ship).[1][5]

Service

Lung Tuan was virtually complete when Austria-Hungary declared war with Serbia on 28 July 1914, beginning the First World War. Lung Tuan was seized by Austria-Hungary on 1 August and towed to Pola where she was re-armed with Austrian weapons, receiving a gun outfit of two 66 mm L/45 Skoda gun[lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4] and four 6.6 cm L/30 guns, together with four 45 cm torpedo tubes.[3] Renamed Warasdiner, the ship entered service with the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 10 September 1914.[3]

Warasdiner served for the remainder of the First World War, sinking the French submarine Fresnel off Cattaro on 5 December 1915.[7] She was ceded to Italy in 1920 and scrapped.[3]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff ", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German.
  2. ↑ Sieche states that Lung Tuan was laid down in April 1911, and underwent sea trials on 1 July 1912.[4]
  3. ↑ While the gun's actual calibre was 66 mm, it was usually referred to as a 7 cm gun in contemporary literature.[6]
  4. ↑ L/45 refers to the length of the gun's barrel. In this case the barrel was 45 calibres long.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 397.
  2. 1 2 Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 338.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Greger 1976, p. 42.
  4. ↑ Sieche 1996, p. 20.
  5. ↑ Bennighof, Mike (May 2013). "Austria's Destroyers, Part One". Avalanche Press. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 330.
  7. ↑ Couhat 1974, p. 140.

Bibliography


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