Armo 700-22 SMS Szent Istvan - the Austro-Hungarian Battleship

SMS Szent Istvan was an Austro-Hungarian battleship (so-called dreadnought) from the First World War. The keel for this unit was laid in 1912, the launch took place in January 1914, and the entry into service in the Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine - in 1915. The length of the ship was 152 meters and a width of 27.9 meters. Full displacement reached approx. 21,800 tons, and maximum speed - approx. 20 knots. The deck armament, at the time of the launch, consisted of, among others: 12 305 mm guns placed in four turrets of three guns, 12 150 mm guns and 18 70 mm guns.

SMS Szent Istvan was one of four battleships belonging to the Tegethoff class. Units of this type were the first and the last dreadnoughts that served in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Units of this type had three-barreled towers, modern for those times, with high-quality Skoda cannons. Also, their armor and general combat properties were similar to the potential enemy, i.e. the Italian battleship of the Dante Allighieri type. However, they were clearly inferior to the speed of Italian dreadnoughts of the Conte di Cavour type. One of the battleships of this type was SMS Szent Istvan, which was the only one of the entire class to be built at the shipyard in Ganz Danubius in the city of Fiume. It also differed from other ships of its class in terms of the engine room and having only two propellers. It also did not have anti-torpedo nets. The ship took a very limited part in World War I and spent a large part of it in the port of Pola. It was largely determined by the Allied blockade of the Strait of Otranto in the course of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's attempt to break it. SMS Szent Istvan was sunk by Italian torpedo boats on June 10, 1918. 89 seamen of the crew of about 1,100 died.