SMS Árpád SMS " Árpád " was a pre - dreadnought battleship built by the Austro - Hungarian Navy in the early 20th century . She was launched on 11 September 1901 as the second of three s . Along with her sister ships , she participated at the bombardment of Ancona during World War I . Due to a shortage of coal , she was soon decommissioned after the bombardment of Ancona and used as harbor defense ship for the remainder of the war . After the war , all of the " Habsburg " - class battleships were ceded to Great Britain as war prizes . She was scrapped in Italy in 1921 . Construction and layout . " Árpád " was the second of three battleships of her class . Her hull was laid down on 10 June 1899 at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste . Following more than two years of construction , she was launched on 11 September 1901 . After final fitting - out work was finished , " Árpád " was fully ready for service and commissioned into the Austro - Hungarian Navy on 15 June 1903 . Like all ships of her class , the " Árpád " 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 ) . Freeboard was approximately forward and about aft . She also displaced 8 , 364 metric tons ( 8 , 232 long tons ) . Once construction on her had finished and she was commissioned into the Navy , " Árpád " had a crew of 638 officers and enlisted men . The " Árpád " 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 14 , 307 indicated horsepower ( ihp ) , which produced a top speed of . The hull for the ship 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 % of the ship ' s length . A series of watertight bulkheads also extended from the keel to the gun deck . All in all , there was a total of 174 watertight compartments in the ship . " Habsburg " had a metacentric height of between and . Bilge keels were mounted on either side of the hull to reduce rolling and prevent her from capsizing . " Árpád " had a flush main deck that was planked with wood , while the upper decks were covered with linoleum or corticine . The " Árpád " 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 - type 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 . She 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 . " Árpád " took part in her first fleet maneuvers in mid - 1903 with her sistership " Habsburg " . The third sister , " Babenberg " , was commissioned in Summer 1904 , and participated in successive fleet drills . Following a series of simulated war games pitting the " Árpád " and her sister ships against the three battleships , the " Árpád " and the other two " Habsburg " - class ships became the I Battleship Division . This new division was active in the Mediterranean region . When the " Habsburg " underwent a training cruise with the three " Monarch " - class battleships in January 1903 , " Árpád " joined her the next year in a voyage around the Mediterranean Sea . With the commissioning of the s in 1906 and 1907 , the " Habsburg " - class ships were transferred from the I to the II Battleship Division , and the three " Monarch " - class battleships were moved from the II to the III Battleship Division . In 1910 – 1911 , the " Árpád " had one of her superstructure decks removed to reduce weight . World War I . Early in World War I , " Árpád " was transferred to the Austro - Hungarian Navy ' s IV Division after the first new s came into service . At around the same time , " Árpád " , her sister ships and and the remainder of the Austro - Hungarian Navy were mobilized to support the flight of and from 28 July to 10 August 1914 . The two German ships were stationed in the Mediterranean and were attempting to break out of the strait of Messina , which was surrounded by British vessels . After breaking out , the German ships planned to steam to Turkey . After the Germans successfully broke out of Messina , the Austro - Hungarian Navy was recalled . The fleet had by that time advanced as far south as Brindisi in southeastern coast of Italy . After Italy entered the war on the side of France and Great Britain , the Austro - Hungarian Navy bombarded several Italian port cities along the Adriatic coast . " Árpád " took part in the Bombardment of Ancona on 23 May 1915 . Due to a coal shortage , " Árpád " was later decommissioned and re - purposed as a harbor defense ship for the latter half of the war . " Árpád " s crew was transferred to man the new U - boat s and aircraft . Following the war , the " Árpád " , along with her sister ships , were awarded to Great Britain as war prize s . They were sold to Italy and broken up for scrap in 1921 . Footnotes . Explanatory notes Citations