SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia

Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, sometime between 1898 and 1900
Class overview
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byKaiser Karl VI
History
Austria-Hungary
NameSMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia
NamesakeEmpress and Queen Maria Theresa
BuilderStabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Laid down1 July 1891
Launched29 April 1893
CommissionedNovember 1894
FateCeded to Britain in 1920, broken up for scrap
General characteristics
Class & typeArmored cruiser
Displacement
Length113.7 m (373 ft)
Beam16.25 m (53 ft 4 in)
Draft6.81 m (22 ft 4 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed19.35 knots (36 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement475
Armament
Armor

SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia ("Empress and Queen Maria Theresa") was an armored cruiser used by the imperial Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1895 to 1917; she was the first ship of that type built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The ship was a unique design, built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste; she was laid down in July 1891, launched in April 1893, and completed in November 1894. Armed with a main battery of two 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns and eight 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, the ship provided the basis for two subsequent armored cruiser designs for the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

In 1898, Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia was deployed to the Caribbean to safeguard Austro-Hungarian interests during the Spanish–American War; she inadvertently arrived off Santiago de Cuba on the morning the Spanish squadron attempted to escape from the American blockade, and was nearly attacked herself. In 1900, she was sent to China to assist in the suppression of the Boxer Uprising, and remained in East Asian waters until 1902. She was heavily modernized between 1906 and 1910, and served in the 1st Cruiser Division after returning to the fleet. She was used first as a harbor guard ship and then as a barracks ship during World War I. After the end of the war, she was surrendered to Britain as a war prize and broken up for scrap in 1920.