page_title: Austro-Hungarian Navy
section_title: The Ferdinand Max era
hierarchical_section_title: Austro-Hungarian Navy / History / The Ferdinand Max era
context_page_description: The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine were designated SMS, for Seiner Majestät Schiff. Existing between 1867 and 1918, the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine came into being after the formation of Austria-Hungary in 1867, and ceased to exist upon the Empire's defeat and subsequent collapse at the end of World War I. Prior to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Navy was referred to as the Imperial Austrian Navy or simply the Austrian Navy. It saw action in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the Second Egyptian–Ottoman War, the First and Second Wars of Italian Independence, the Second Schleswig War, and the Seven Weeks War as well as the simultaneous Third War of Italian Independence. Following Austria's defeat by Prussia and Italy during the Seven Weeks War, the Empire reformed itself into a dual monarchy with the Habsburg monarch ruling as Emperor of Austria over the western and northern half of the country that was the Austrian Empire, and as King of Hungary over the Kingdom of Hungary.
context_section_description: After a two-year interim period in which Lieutenant General Count Franz Wimpffen commanded the Navy, in September 1854 Emperor Franz Joseph I promoted his younger brother, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian (commonly referred to as Ferdinand Max), to the rank of Rear Admiral and named him Commander-in-Chief of the Austrian Navy. At the age of 22, Ferdinand Max became the youngest Oberkommandant in the history of the Austrian Navy, being a year younger than when Archduke Friedrich of Austria assumed command of the navy ten years earlier.
  Despite his age, the fact that he had only been in the Navy for four years, and his lack of experience in battle or command on the high seas, Ferdinand Max proved to be among the most effective and successful commanders of the Austrian Navy in history. He was described by Lawrence Sondhaus in his book The Habsburg Empire and the Sea: Austrian Naval Policy, 1797–1866 as "the most gifted leader the navy had ever had, or ever would have". Anthony Sokol describes Ferdinand Max in his book The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy as "one of the most talented of the Habsburg princes...He used his prestige, youthful enthusiasm, and love of the Service to promote it in every way possible."
  Ferdinand Max worked hard to separate the Austrian Navy from its dependence upon the Austrian Army, which had nominal control over its affairs. On 14 January 1862, Franz Joseph I agreed to establish the Ministry of Marine, which oversaw the affairs of both the Austrian Navy, and the Austrian merchant marine, and named Count Matthais von Wickenburg its head. Under this new system, Ferdinand Max continued to be the Oberkommandant, but he was no longer responsible for the political management of the fleet. In addition to obtaining support for the creation of Ministry of Marine, Ferdinand Max was given great freedom by the Emperor to manage the navy as he saw fit, especially with respect to the construction and acquisition of new warships.
caption: Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria served as Commander-in-Chief of the Austrian Navy throughout the 1850s and early 1860s.
exif: {}