List of Battleships of Austria-Hungary - Radetzky Class

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: Radetzky, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand, and Zrínyi; 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 short 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.