List of battleships of Austria - Hungary The Austro - Hungarian Navy ( " Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine " , shortened to k . u . k . Kriegsmarine ) built a series of battleship s between the early 1900s and 1917 . To defend its Adriatic coast in wartime , Austria - Hungary had previously built a series of smaller ironclad warship s , including coastal defense ship s , and armored cruisers . The appointment of Admiral Hermann von Spaun to the post of State Secretary of the Navy in 1897 accelerated naval construction and under the command of Franz Joseph I of Austria , the k . u . k . Kriegsmarine began a program of naval expansion at the beginning of the 20th century . The navy immediately pushed for the construction of the three s , after which soon followed three of the , all of which were pre - dreadnought s . Several years passed before the s were built . These were the last pre - dreadnought battleships to be built by the Austro - Hungarian Navy and were soon succeeded by the being built within three more years . They were the country ' s only class of dreadnought s . Near the beginning of World War I , the navy started discussions on the construction of a second class of dreadnoughts named the to replace the old " Monarch " s . The plans were canceled in 1917 , and no new battleships were built after that . Overall , within a period of 13 years , the Austro - Hungarian Navy had produced 13 battleships . All of the ships saw service in World War I , although the diversion of coal , which was scarce , to the newer " Tegetthoff " and " Radetzky " classes limited the service of the remaining battleships . Following the defeat of Austria - Hungary in World War I , the empire was dismantled and all of the battleships were handed over to France , Great Britain , the United States , and Italy . " Habsburg " class . The " Habsburg " - class battleships were the first class of pre - dreadnought battleship s to be built by Austria - Hungary between 1899 and 1902 . The construction of the " Habsburg " - class battleships marked the beginning of the naval expansion program by the Austro - Hungarian Navy . The " Habsburg " - class was also the first class of seagoing battleships the Austrio - Hungarian Navy built since the construction of the ship " Tegetthoff " 24 years earlier in 1876 . The class was composed of three ships : , , and . The members of the " Habsburg " - class were built in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyards in Trieste . The lead ship of the class , " Habsburg " , was launched on 9 September 1900 . " Árpád " followed a year later , with her launching on 11 September 1901 . The last ship of the class was the " Babenberg " , launched on 4 October 1902 . The first two ships , " Habsburg " and " Árpád " , were modernized either in 1910 and 1911 respectively , or in 1911 and 1912 , by having one deck of the superstructure removed . At the outbreak of World War I in late July 1914 , " Habsburg " was serving as the flagship of the III Battleship Division of the Austro - Hungarian fleet , under the command of Captain Miklós Horthy , alongside her two sisters . They were later transferred to the IV Division after the new s came into service . All three battleships saw a limited service during World War I as members of the IV Division of the Austro - Hungarian fleet . While both " Babenburg " and " Árpád " participated in the bombardment of the Italian port city of Ancona in 1915 , the class was largely inactive for the remainder of the war , serving as coastal defense ships . All three were decommissioned in 1916 in order to allow their crews to serve in the Austro - Hungarian air force and as crew members of Austro - Hungarian U - boats . Following the end of World War I , all of the " Habsburg " - class battleships were handed over to Great Britain . They were then sold to Italy and broken up in 1921 . " Erzherzog Karl " class . The " Erzherzog Karl " - class was the second class of pre - dreadnought battleships to be built by the Austro - Hungarian Navy . Like the members of the " Habsburg " - class before them , all of the battleships of the " Erzherzog Karl " - class were built in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyards in Trieste . The first battleship , was laid down in 1902 . Construction on the remaining two battleships , and continued up to 1905 . Erzherzog Karl was commissioned in 1906 , while " Erzherzog Ferdinand Max " and " Erzherzog Friedrich " were commissioned in 1907 . The three " Erzherzog Karl " - class battleships were considered modern for their small size . Small docking space and budget restraints resulted in the class being fairly compact . They were well designed and properly protected , however the " Erzherzog Karl " - class battleships were inferior to the more modern Dreadnought type battleships – with their " all big gun " armament and turbine propulsion . Due to their obsolete nature , they only played a limited role during World War I . At the beginning of World War I , the members of the " Erzherzog Karl " class formed the III division of the Austrian - Hungarian battle - fleet . Despite their largely inactive careers in the war , the battleships of the " Erzherzog Karl " class did participate in the flight of and during the opening days of the war as well as the bombardment of Ancona on 23 May 1915 . The ships also took part in suppressing a major mutiny among the crew members of several armored cruisers stationed in Cattaro between 1 and 3 February 1918 . Following Austria - Hungary ' s defeat in World War I , " Erzherzog Karl " and " Erzherzog Friedrich " were ceded as war reparations to France . The remaining battleship , " Erzherzog Ferdinand Max " , was given to Great Britain . " Erzherzog Karl " ran aground at Bizerte and was broken up there in 1921 . The remaining two battleships were scrapped in 1921 in Italy . " Radetzky " class . The " Radetzky " - class battleships were the third and last group of pre - dreadnought battleships to be constructed by Austria - Hungary . The class was made up of three battleships : , , and ; all of which were built in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste between 1907 and 1910 . Their heavy secondary guns were the main difference between the " Radetzky " - class battleships and other pre - dreadnought type battleships of the Austro - Hungarian Navy . All three of the " Radetzky " - class battleships were commissioned only a few years prior the beginning of World War I . Prior to the war , all three battleships were assigned to the 2nd Division of the 1st Battle Squadron , along with the " Tegetthoff " - class battleships in the 1st Division . All three battleships conducted training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea from 1910 to 1911 . In 1913 , they participated in an international naval demonstration in the Ionian Sea that protested the Balkan Wars . During World War I , the ships had very limited service careers , hardly ever leaving port . However , in October 1914 , the three ships bombarded French positions on Mount Lovčen during the Austro - Hungarian invasion of Montenegro . After Italy declared war on Austro - Hungary in 1915 , the " Radetzky " - class battleships participated in the bombardment of the Italian city of Ancona . Following these operations , the three battleships ' contributions to the war effort became minimal . They remained in port until the end of the war . Following Austria - Hungary ' s defeat in World War I , all three battleships were handed over to Italy and later broken up for scrap between 1920 and 1926 . " Tegetthoff " class . The " Tegetthoff " - class battleships were the only group of dreadnought battleship s to be constructed by Austria - Hungary . The Austro - Hungarian Navy needed to update its fleet following the construction of . After the announcement in 1908 of the start of construction for the first dreadnought of the Regia Marina ( the Italian Navy ) , the , the Austro - Hungarian Navy formally ordered the construction of a series of four dreadnought battleships . Unlike the previous classes of the Austro - Hungarian Navy , the " Tegetthoff " class was made up of four battleships instead of three . They were the , , , and . The first three battleships were constructed in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste , while the fourth battleship , " Szent István " was constructed at the Danubius shipyard at Fiume . All of the battleships were constructed between 1910 and 1915 . Two of the " Tegetthoff " - class battleships were commissioned less than two years prior the beginning of World War I , while " Prinz Eugen " was commissioned the same month as the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand . The last battleship of the class , " Szent István " , was commissioned during the war in November 1915 . Prior to the war , the battleships in commission were assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the 1st Battle Squadron of Austro - Hungarian Navy . During the war , the ships had limited service due to the Otranto Barrage , which prevented the battleships from leaving the Adriatic Sea . As a result , they rarely left Pola . However , three of the battleships participated in the flight of the German battleships SMS " Goeben " and SMS " Breslau " in 1914 , and in the bombardment of the Italian city of Ancona in May 1915 . ( " Szent István " was still under construction ) . Following these operations and the completion of the " Szent István " , the " Tegetthoff " - class battleships remained in port for the remainder of the war . The final operation for the " Tegetthoff " - class ships was an attempt to break through the Otranto Barrage in June 1918 . During the journey to the strait of Otranto , the battleship " Szent István " was torpedoed and sunk on 10 June 1918 , resulting in the operation being called off . " Viribus Unitis " was also sunk prior to the end of the war on 1 November 1918 when a team of Italian frogmen sank the battleship with mines while she was moored at port in Pola . Following Austria - Hungary ' s defeat in World War I , the remaining two battleships of the class were handed over to Allies with the " Tegetthoff " being given to Italy and scrapped in 1924 and " Prinz Eugen " being handed over to France and sunk as a target ship in 1922 . " Ersatz Monarch " class . The " Ersatz Monarch " - class ( literally " Replacement Monarch " - class ) was a projected series of four battleships that would have been constructed for the Austro - Hungarian Navy between 1914 and 1919 . They were essentially an enlarged version of the " Tegetthoff " - class and were meant to replace the aging s . Due to World War I , none were laid down and all four were eventually canceled in late 1917 . There were supposed to be four battleships in the class ( named " Battleship VIII " to " Battleship XI " ) . While the battleships were never laid down , four of the main guns were constructed and later transferred to the Austro - Hungarian Army for use on the Italian Front . 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