SMS Habsburg SMS " Habsburg " was a pre - dreadnought battleship built by the Austro - Hungarian Navy in 1899 . The lead ship of the , she was launched on 9 September 1900 . In 1903 and 1904 , " Habsburg " and her sister ship " Árpád " conducted training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea . In 1906 and 1907 , " Habsburg " was transferred to the III Battleship Division . One of her superstructure decks was removed to reduce weight and to modernize the vessel in 1910 . For most of World War I , " Habsburg " remained in her home port of Pula , in present - day Croatia except for two engagements . In 1914 , she was part of the Austro - Hungarian flotilla sent to protect the escape of the German ships SMS " Goeben " and SMS " Breslau " from the British - held Mediterranean ; she advanced as far as Brindisi before being recalled to her home port . Her sole combat engagement occurred in late May 1915 , when she participated in the bombardment of the Italian port city of Ancona . After the war , " Habsburg " was awarded to the British as a war prize . She was scrapped in 1921 . Construction and layout . " Habsburg " was the first of three battleships of her class . Her hull was laid down on 13 March 1899 at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste . Following a year and a half of construction , she was launched on 9 September 1900 . After the completion of final fitting - out work , " Habsburg " was commissioned into the Austro - Hungarian fleet on 31 December 1902 . Like all ships of her class , " Habsburg " was 113 . 11 m ( 371 ft ) long at the waterline and was 114 . 55 m ( 375 ft 10 in ) in overall length . She had a beam of 19 . 8 m ( 65 ft ) and a draft of 7 . 5 m ( 24 ft 6 in ) . The ship displaced 8 , 364 metric tons ( 8 , 232 long tons ) . " Habsburg " had a crew of 638 officers and enlisted men . The " Habsburg " was powered by 2 - shaft , 4 - cylinder vertical triple expansion engines , which were supplied with steam by 16 Belleville boilers . " Habsburg " s power output was rated at 15 , 063 indicated horsepower ( ihp ) , which produced a top speed of . The ship ' s hull was constructed from longitudinal and transverse steel frames , over which the outer hull plates were riveted into place . The hull incorporated a double bottom that ran for 63 percent of the ship ' s length . A series of watertight bulkheads also extended from the keel to the gun deck . There were a total of 174 watertight compartments in the ship . " Habsburg " had a metacentric height of between and . Bilge keels mounted on either side of the hull reduced rolling . She had a flush main deck that was planked with wood ; the upper decks were covered with linoleum or corticine . " Habsburg " had three 24 cm ( 9 . 4 in ) L / 40 guns , two mounted in a twin turret forward and one mounted in a single turret aft of the main superstructure . The C 97 guns were manufactured by Krupp in Germany . The main guns fired at a rate of between three to four 215 kg ( 474 lb ) armor - piercing ( AP ) shells per minute . Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm ( 5 . 9 inch ) SK L / 40 guns in casemate s . These guns could fire at 4 – 5 shells per minute . " Habsburg " was built with face - hardened chrome - nickel steel . The main armored belt was in the central portion of the ship , where the ammunition magazines , machinery spaces , and other critical areas were located . The belt tapered slightly to on either end of the central section . Service history . Peacetime . " Habsburg " and her sister , , took part in their first fleet maneuvers in mid - 1903 . By the summer of 1904 , a third ship , " Babenberg " , was commissioned and participated in successive fleet drills . During the 1904 training exercises , the three " Habsburg " - class battleships engaged the three battleships in a simulated war game . The maneuvers also marked the first time the Austro - Hungarian navy had two squadrons of modern battleships . Following these maneuvers , the " Habsburg " - class ships were formed into the I Battleship Division . With her sisters , " Habsburg " was also active in the Mediterranean Sea . " Habsburg " underwent a training cruise with the three " Monarch " - class battleships in January 1903 . " Árpád " joined the training cruise in 1904 . With the commissioning of the s in 1906 and 1907 , the three " Habsburg " - class ships were transferred to the II Division and the three " Monarch " s formed the III Division . In 1910 " Habsburg " was extensively modernized and lightened : one of her superstructure decks removed to reduce weight . In 1911 , her sister ship , " Árpád " underwent the same renovations . Following these renovations , " Habsburg " and her sister ships were converted to coastal defense vessels . World War I . In late July and August 1914 , " Habsburg " served as the flagship of the III Battleship Division of the Austro - Hungarian navy , under the command of Captain Miklós Horthy . The battleship , along with her sister ships and the rest of the Austro - Hungarian Navy , were mobilized to support the flight of SMS " Goeben " and SMS " Breslau " from 28 July to 10 August 1914 . The two German battlecruisers were stationed in the Mediterranean Sea and were attempting to break out of the strait of Messina , which was surrounded by British troops and vessels , and make their way to Turkey . After the Germans successfully escaped the strait , the Austro - Hungarian Navy was recalled . The fleet had advanced as far south as Brindisi in southeastern Italy . Following the flight of SMS " Goeben " and SMS " Breslau " , " Habsburg " was transferred to the IV Division along with her sisters when the first new s came into service in 1912 . After Italy entered World War I on the side of France and Great Britain , the Austro - Hungarian Navy bombarded several Italian port cities along the Adriatic coast . " Habsburg " took part in the bombardment of Ancona on 23 May 1915 . During the attack on the Italian port city , " Habsburg " bombarded the town ' s train station , the St . Stefano military camp and Ancona coastal batteries . The bombardment of Ancona was " Habsburg " s only combat operation . Following the bombardment , " Habsburg " and her sister ships traveled back to their port city of Pula . Due to a shortage of coal , they remained there for the remainder of the war . For the latter half of the war , " Habsburg " was decommissioned and re - purposed as a harbor defense vessel . Her crew was transferred to the new U - boat s and aircraft . In 1918 , she was re - commissioned as a training ship for the Austrian Naval Academy . Following the war , the " Habsburg " was awarded to Great Britain as a war prize . She was instead sold to Italy and broken up for scrap in 1921 . Footnotes . Explanatory notes Citations References . Online sources