SMS Viribus Unitis

SMS Viribus Unitis PDF

Author: Andrew Wilkie

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9788364596643

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Tegetthoff Class In 1907 the navy of the dualist, multinational Austro-Hungarian Empire placed an order for a new class of warships, whose design was based on the "all big gun" concept pioneered by HMS Dreadnought. Eventually four Tegetthoff class vessels were laid down, including the flagship Viribus Unitis, Tagetthoff, Prinz Eugen and Szent Istvan. The last warship of the class was not completed until well into World War I. The vessels' careers were not especially eventful. They spent most of their service lives as a "fleet in being" anchored in a well-protected port of Pola with only occasional trips to the Fazana Channel (well-screened by Brijuni Islands) for gunnery practice. During the war the ships were manned mainly by reservists, while the most promising and experienced members of their crews were detached to serve onboard submarines or torpedo boats, or assigned to land-based units. The second ship of the class ended her career in rather dramatic circumstances, which is why she perhaps deserves a more detailed treatment. Viribus Unitis The Battleship IV was laid down at San Marco on July 23, 1910 and launched on June 24, 1911. The Emperor's court used the occasion to organize a lavish celebration designed to carry a strong political message. The Emperor insisted that the battleship be given a rather unusual, Latin name Viribus Unitis (Strength in Unity - Emperor's personal motto).

The Tegetthoff Class

The Tegetthoff Class PDF

Author: Andy South

Publisher:

Published: 2019-04-14

Total Pages: 105

ISBN-13: 9781093932492

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In 1906 their was a new club in town. One that only the richest and most powerful of nations could really afford to join. It's chief asset was bigger, faster, shapelier and more powerful than all that had gone before. Membership of this 'exclusive' club sent the message "don't mess with us". As with all new 'must-haves' those who couldn't afford to join, 'wanted-in' all the more, so they too would be seen as a 'Great Power'. In 1906 the must have item was the dreadnought, and the Hapsburg's wanted in.The Austro-Hungarian empire only ever built one class of dreadnought, the four ships of the Tegetthoff class. They were poorly designed, poorly built and suffered 50% losses during the First World War. They were possibly the least successful of their type, but for all their flaws, they have a amazing tale to impart. A tale of corruption, a blind and deaf designer, Italian frogmen and torpedo boats, of revolutions and of an ill-conceived design.This is new edition of a old book, rewritten and I hope an improvement on its poorer predecessor. The tale is told chronologically and draws from a number of sources which I have credited at the back.

Against the Day

Against the Day PDF

Author: Thomas Pynchon

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2012-06-13

Total Pages: 1584

ISBN-13: 1101594667

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A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year Spanning the era between the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, and constantly moving between locations across the globe (and to a few places not strictly speaking on the map at all), Against the Day unfolds with a phantasmagoria of characters that includes anarchists, balloonists, gamblers, drug enthusiasts, mathematicians, mad scientists, shamans, spies, and hired guns. As an era of uncertainty comes crashing down around their ears and an unpredictable future commences, these folks are mostly just trying to pursue their lives. Sometimes they manage to catch up; sometimes it’s their lives that pursue them.

Hitler's Italian Allies

Hitler's Italian Allies PDF

Author: MacGregor Knox

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2000-10-30

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9781139432030

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Fascist Italy's ultimate defeat was foreordained. It was a pygmy among giants, and Hitler's failure to destroy the Soviet Union in 1941 doomed all three Axis powers. But Italy's defeat was unique; the only asset that it conquered - briefly - with its own unaided forces in the entire Second World War was a dusty and useless corner of Africa, British Somaliland. And Italy's forces dissolved in 1943 almost without resistance, in stark contrast to the grim fight to the last cartridge of Hitler's army or the fanatical faithfulness unto death of the troops of Imperial Japan. This book tries to understand why the Italian armed forces and Fascist regime were so remarkably ineffective at an activity - war - central to their existence. It approaches the issue above all from the perspective of military culture, through analysis of the services' failure to imagine modern warfare and through a topical structure that offers a social-cultural, political, military-economic, strategic, operational, and tactical cross-section of the war effort.

The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867-1918

The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867-1918 PDF

Author: Lawrence Sondhaus

Publisher: Purdue University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 9781557530349

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The Austro-Hungarian navy warrants recognition because it functioned far better than most organs of the multinational Habsburg state. Ultimately, in the pre-World War I age of navalism, the fleet provided a unique common cause for a wide variety of nationalities and political parties. Dramatic funding increases fueled the expansion of the fleet, and lucrative naval contracts, judiciously distributed, reinforced and further broadened the navy's base of support. Though often criticized by its German ally, the Austro-Hungarian navy succeeded in defending the Adriatic throughout World War I, in the process requiring the constant attention of a significant share of enemy sea power; as late as the spring of 1918, an American admiral characterized the Adriatic as "an Austrian lake." The navy collapsed only when Austria-Hungary as a whole disintegrated, in the last days of the war. This detailed study charts the uneven growth of the Austro-Hungarian navy from its high point following Archduke Ferdinand Max's administration and the War of 1866 to its ultimate dissolution after World War I. In following this development, Sondhaus not only relates the operational aspects of the Habsburg navy but also traces the growth of popular navalism in Austria-Hungary, the role of naval expansion in stimulating industrial development, and the peculiar difficulties of navy commanders in dealing with the Habsburg nationality problem and the cumbersome politics of Austro-Hungarian dualism. Drawing on a vast variety of archival sources and government documents and protocols, Sondhaus analyzes economic factors carefully and shows how these tended to complicate, perhaps even to override, political divisions. He ably demonstrates how such varied factors as the wavering policy of Italy, French naval theory, the need for consensus within the Dual Monarchy, and the general European escalation in naval armaments influenced the fortunes of the fleet.

The German Battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger

The German Battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger PDF

Author: Marsden Samuel

Publisher:

Published: 2021-01-31

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13: 9788366673052

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Quite correctly the Derfflinger class was considered to be the best battle cruisers completed up until the end of the First World War. Aesthetically they were also the most handsome. Design work was begun in October 1910 and continued until October 1912. Derfflinger had the sisterships Lützow and the near sister Hindenburg. The design represented the change to a new generation of German Großen Kreuzer. After the final design of cruiser J there were still outstanding issues for the following design. In April 1910 the General Navy Department was asked to prepare the requirements for the cruiser of 1911. The issues were primarily the number of shafts, machinery and armament. A three shaft arrangement would allow the employment of a diesel engine on the center shaft. The advantages of this were better thermal efficiency, easier transfer of fuel, saving in personnel and the price. The General Department thought the change to 30.5cm caliber was essential. The weight increase of 8 30.5cm guns over 10 28cm guns was just 36 tons and the latest English battleships were fitted with 300mm armor. If the cruisers were expected to fight in the line, the increase was mandatory. However, von Tirpitz disagreed and the matter remained unresolved.

Austro-Hungarian Battleships 1914–18

Austro-Hungarian Battleships 1914–18 PDF

Author: Ryan K. Noppen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2012-09-20

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13: 1780968973

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Austria-Hungary did not have an overseas empire; its empire lay within its own boundaries and the primary purpose of its navy until the beginning of the twentieth century was the defense of its coastline. As its merchant marine dramatically grew, admirals believed that the navy should take a more proactive policy of defense. The 1890s saw the beginning of a series of naval building programs that would create a well-balanced modern fleet. Cruisers were constructed for the protection of overseas trade and for “showing the flag” but the decisive projection of Austria-Hungary's commitment to control the Adriatic was the construction of a force of modern battleships. Despite the naval arms race throughout Europe at the time, the navy had difficulty obtaining funds for new ships. The difficulties experienced in battleship funding and construction mirrored the political difficulties and ethnic rivalries within the empire. Nevertheless by August of 1914, the Austro-Hungarian had a fleet of battleships. This book details the five classes of Austro-Hungarian battleships in service during World War I.

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