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Regardless of this move, on 1 November 1918, two men of the [[Regia Marina]], [[Raffaele Paolucci]] and [[Raffaele Rossetti]], rode a primitive manned torpedo (nicknamed the ''Mignatta'' or "leech") into the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola. They then sank the ''Viribus Unitis'' as well as the freighter ''Wien'' using [[limpet mines]].<ref name=Assult/> |
Regardless of this move, on 1 November 1918, two men of the [[Regia Marina]], [[Raffaele Paolucci]] and [[Raffaele Rossetti]], rode a primitive manned torpedo (nicknamed the ''Mignatta'' or "leech") into the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola. They then sank the ''Viribus Unitis'' as well as the freighter ''Wien'' using [[limpet mines]].<ref name=Assult/> |
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Traveling down the rows of Austrian battleships, the two men soon encountered the ''Viribus Unitis'' at around 4:40 |
Traveling down the rows of Austrian battleships, the two men soon encountered the ''Viribus Unitis'' at around 4:40 am. Rossetti placed one canister of TNT on the hull of the battleship, timed to explode at 6:30 am. He then flooded the second canister, sinking it on the harbor floor close to the ship. This second canister exploded close to the Austrian freighter ''Wien'', resulting in her sinking.<ref name=Assult/> The men had no [[Scuba set|breathing sets]], and therefore had to keep their heads above water. They were soon discovered and taken prisoner just after placing the explosives under the battleship's hull. However, the Italians did not know that the Austrian government had handed over the ''Viribus Unitis'' along with most of the Austro-Hungarian fleet to the newly-created [[State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs]]. The two-man team were captured and taken aboard ''Viribus Unitis'', where they informed the new captain of the battleship what they had done but did not reveal the exact position of the explosives.<ref name="viribusunitis.ca">[http://www.viribusunitis.ca/history.htm Viribus Unitis – 3D: History of the Tegetthoff Class Battleships<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Vuković then arranged for the two prisoners to be taken safely to the sister ship [[SMS Tegetthoff|''Tegetthoff'']], and ordered the evacuation of the ship. But the explosion did not happen at 6:30 as predicted and Vuković returned to the ship with many sailors (believing mistakenly that the Italians had lied). He therefore remained on his ship and went down with her and 300–400 of her crew when the mines exploded shortly afterwards at 6:44. Following the explosion, the battleship sank in 15 minutes.<ref name="Assult">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwar1.com/sfvu.htm|title=Assault on the Viribus Unitis|last=Warhola|first=Brian|date=January 1998|publisher=Old News|accessdate=23 April 2010}}</ref><ref name="viribusunitis.ca"/> |
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The two Italian crew were interned for a few days until the end of the war and were honored by the [[Kingdom of Italy]] with the [[Gold Medal of Military Valor]].<ref>[http://www.marina.difesa.it/storia/movm/parte04/movm419.asp Gold Medal for Rossetti]</ref><ref>[http://www.marina.difesa.it/storia/movm/parte04/movm416.asp Gold Medal for Paolucci]</ref> |
The two Italian crew were interned for a few days until the end of the war and were honored by the [[Kingdom of Italy]] with the [[Gold Medal of Military Valor]].<ref>[http://www.marina.difesa.it/storia/movm/parte04/movm419.asp Gold Medal for Rossetti]</ref><ref>[http://www.marina.difesa.it/storia/movm/parte04/movm416.asp Gold Medal for Paolucci]</ref> |
Revision as of 14:57, 30 April 2010
![]() The SMS Viribus Unitis.
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History | |
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![]() ![]() | |
Name | SMS Viribus Unitis |
Ordered | 1908 |
Builder | Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, Trieste |
Laid down | 24 July 1910 |
Launched | 24 June 1911 |
Commissioned | 5 December 1912 |
Fate | Sunk, 1 November 1918 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Tegetthoff-class battleship |
Displacement | 20,000 t (19,684 long tons) standard |
Length | 152 m (498 ft 8 in) |
Beam | 27.9 m (91 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 8.7 m (28 ft 7 in) |
Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 12 Yarrow boilers 4 Parsons steam turbines, 27,000 hp (20,134 kW) 4 shafts |
Speed | 20.4 knots (23.5 mph; 37.8 km/h) |
Range | 4,200 nmi (7,800 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) |
Complement | 32 officers, 16 petty-officers, 993 men (1,087 max) |
Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) • 12 × 305 mm (12 in) guns in triple turrets • 12 × 150 mm (6 in) guns in single casemates • 18 × 70 mm (3 in) guns in single mountings • 4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes |
Armour | list error: <br /> list (help) Belt, barbettes, turrets and conning tower: 11 in (279 mm) Deck: 1.4 in (36 mm) |
SMS Viribus Unitis was the first Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the Tegetthoff-class. Its name – which means "With United Forces" – was the personal motto of Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Viribus Unitis was ordered by the Austro-Hungarian navy in 1908. As the first of the newly created Tegetthoff-class battleships, she was laied down in Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste on 24 July 1910. Viribus Unitis was launched from the shipyard on 24 June 1911 and was later formally commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian navy on 5 December 1912.
During World War I, Viribus Unitis took part in the flight of the German battleships SMS Goeben and Breslau. In May 1915, she also took part in the bombardment of the Italian port city of Ancona. Viribus Unitis was sunk by a mine from the Italian Regia Marina on 1 November 1918.
Construction and design
Construction
Viribus Unitis was ordered by the Austro-Hungarian navy in 1908. She was the first to be built out of the the newly created Tegetthoff-class battleships. The kneel to Viribus Unitis was laied down in Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste on 24 July 1910. Following exactly eleven months of construction from July 1910 to June 1911, Viribus Unitis was launched from Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino on 24 June 1911. She was later commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian navy later that same year on 5 December 1912.[citation needed]
Characteristics
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Vunitis-class.jpg/300px-Vunitis-class.jpg)
Launched in late-June 1911,Viribus Unitis had an overall length of 152 metres (498 ft 8 in), a beam of 27.9 metres (91 ft 6 in), and a draught of 8.7 metres (28 ft 7 in) at deep load. She displaced 20,000 tonnes (19,684 long tons) at load and 21,689 tonnes (21,346 long tons) at deep load.[1] The hull was built with a double bottom 1.22 metres (4 ft 0 in) deep with a reinforced inner bottom that consisted of two layers of 25-millimetre (1 in) plates.[1]
Viribus Unitis had two 4 Parsons steam turbines, each of which was housed in a separate engine-room. The turbines were powered by twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers in two boiler rooms. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,134 kW), enough for her designed speed of 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h), but no figures from her trials are known to exist.[2] She carried 1,844.5 tonnes (1,815.4 long tons) of coal, and an additional 267.2 tonnes (263.0 long tons) of fuel oil that was to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate.[1] At full capacity, she could steam for 4,200 nautical miles (7,800 km) at a speed of 10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h).[3]
Viribus Unitis mounted twelve 305-millimetre (12 in)/45-caliber K 10 guns in four triple turrets. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15-centimetre (5.91 in)/50 K 10 guns mounted in casemates amidships. Twelve 66-millimetre (3 in)/50 K 10 guns were mounted on open pivot mounts on the upper deck, above the casemates. Three more 66-mm K 10 guns were mounted on the upper turrets for anti-aircraft duties. Four 21-inch (530 mm) submerged torpedo tubes were fitted, one each in the bow, stern and on each broadside; twelve torpedoes were carried.[1]
The waterline armour belt of the Tegetthof-class dreadnoughts measured 279 millimetres (11 in) thick between the midpoints of the fore and aft barbettes and thinned to 150 millimetres further towards the bow and stern, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. It was continued to the bow by a small patch of 110–130-millimetre (4–5 in) armour. The upper armour belt had a maximum thickness of 180 millimetres (7 in), but it thinned to 110 millimeters from the forward barbette all the way to the bow. The casemate armour was also 180 millimetres thick. The sides of the main gun turrets, barbettes and main conning tower were protected by 280 millimetres (11 in) of armour, except for the turret and conning tower roofs which were 60 to 150 millimetres (2 to 6 in) thick. The thickness of the decks ranged from 30 to 36 millimetres (1 to 1 in) in two layers. The underwater protection system consisted of the extension of the double bottom up to the lower edge of the waterline armour belt, with a thin 10-millimetre (0.4 in) plate acting as the outermost bulkhead. It was backed by a torpedo bulkhead that consisted of two layered 25-millimetre plates.[4] The total thickness of this system was only 1.6 metres (5 ft 3 in) which made it incapable of containing a torpedo warhead detonation or mine explosion without rupturing.[5]
Service history
World War I
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Viribus-unitis.jpg/200px-Viribus-unitis.jpg)
During World War I, Viribus Unitis served with the First Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's battleships and along with her sisterships Tegetthoff, Prinz Eugen, and Szent István and the remainder of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Viribus Unitis was mobilized on the eve of World War I to support the flight of SMS Goeben and Breslau. 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 troops and vessels and make their way to Turkey. After the Germans successfully broke out of Messina, the navy was recalled. The fleet had by that time advanced as far south as Brindisi in south eastern Italy.[6]
Sinking
After it was clear that Austria-Hungary had lost World War I, the Austrian government decided to give the ship, along with much of the fleet, to the newly-formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. This move would have avoided handing the fleet to the Allies, since the new state had declared neutrality.[citation needed]
Regardless of this move, on 1 November 1918, two men of the Regia Marina, Raffaele Paolucci and Raffaele Rossetti, rode a primitive manned torpedo (nicknamed the Mignatta or "leech") into the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola. They then sank the Viribus Unitis as well as the freighter Wien using limpet mines.[7]
Traveling down the rows of Austrian battleships, the two men soon encountered the Viribus Unitis at around 4:40 am. Rossetti placed one canister of TNT on the hull of the battleship, timed to explode at 6:30 am. He then flooded the second canister, sinking it on the harbor floor close to the ship. This second canister exploded close to the Austrian freighter Wien, resulting in her sinking.[7] The men had no breathing sets, and therefore had to keep their heads above water. They were soon discovered and taken prisoner just after placing the explosives under the battleship's hull. However, the Italians did not know that the Austrian government had handed over the Viribus Unitis along with most of the Austro-Hungarian fleet to the newly-created State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The two-man team were captured and taken aboard Viribus Unitis, where they informed the new captain of the battleship what they had done but did not reveal the exact position of the explosives.[8] Vuković then arranged for the two prisoners to be taken safely to the sister ship Tegetthoff, and ordered the evacuation of the ship. But the explosion did not happen at 6:30 as predicted and Vuković returned to the ship with many sailors (believing mistakenly that the Italians had lied). He therefore remained on his ship and went down with her and 300–400 of her crew when the mines exploded shortly afterwards at 6:44. Following the explosion, the battleship sank in 15 minutes.[7][8]
The two Italian crew were interned for a few days until the end of the war and were honored by the Kingdom of Italy with the Gold Medal of Military Valor.[9][10]
Commemorations
Two deactivated shells from the ship's main guns form part of the Faro della Vittoria (Victory Lighthouse) built on a hill above Trieste as a war memorial in the 1920s. This also includes the anchor of the torpedo-boat Audace, the first Italian warship to enter Trieste at the end of World War I.[11]
A detailed cut-away model of SMS Viribus Unitis, about 6 metres long, is on display at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna, Austria.[citation needed]
The ship's anchor, as well as that of her sister ship (Tegetthoff) can be seen at the entrance to the Naval History Museum in Venice, Italy. The museum also displays segments of the mignatta human torpedo used to sink Viribus Unitis.[citation needed]
The SMS Viribus Unitis was recently selected as the main motif of a very high value collectors' coin: the Austrian SMS Viribus Unitis commemorative coin, minted on September 13, 2006. The obverse side shows the flagship Viribus Unitis as seen from the deck of an accompanying ship in the fleet. Two other ships of an older class can be seen in the background. The reverse of the coin is a tribute to the old Austro-Hungarian Imperial Navy, showing the SMS Viribus Unitis from a front angle. A naval bi-plane circles overhead and a submarine surfaces in the foreground. The coin commemorates not only the ship Viribus Unitis, but also the three main arms of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the First World War. The coin was the last of the series "Austria on the High Seas".[12]
See also
- List of ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy
- List of ship commissionings in 1912
- List of ship launches in 1911
- List of shipwrecks in 1918
- Tegetthoff class battleship
- Raffaele Rossetti
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c d Sieche, p. 133
- ^ Sieche, pp. 133, 140
- ^ Gardiner and Gray, p. 334
- ^ Sieche, pp. 132–33
- ^ Sieche, p. 135
- ^ Haplern p. 54
- ^ a b c Warhola, Brian (January 1998). "Assault on the Viribus Unitis". Old News. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ a b Viribus Unitis – 3D: History of the Tegetthoff Class Battleships
- ^ Gold Medal for Rossetti
- ^ Gold Medal for Paolucci
- ^ "Il Faro della Vittoria" (Victory Lighthouse)
- ^ "S.M.S. Viribus Unitis coin". Austrian Mint. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- Bibliography
- Sieche, Erwin F. (1991). "S.M.S. Szent István: Hungaria's Only and Ill-Fated Dreadnought". Warship International. XXVII (2). Toledo, OH: International Warship Research Organization: 112–46. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1922. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.