Erzherzog Ferdinand Max-class ironclad

Erzherzog Ferdinand Max in the 1880s
Class overview
Operators	Austro-Hungarian Navy
Preceded by	Kaiser Max class
Succeeded by	SMS Lissa
Built	1863–1866
In commission	1866–1898
Completed	2
Scrapped	2
General characteristics
Type	Ironclad warship
Displacement	5,130 long tons (5,210 t)
Length	83.75 meters (274 ft 9 in) oa
Beam	15.96 m (52 ft 4 in)
Draft	7.14 m (23 ft 5 in)
Installed power	2,925 indicated horsepower (2,181 kW)
Propulsion	1 × marine steam engine 1 × screw propeller
Speed	12.54 knots (23.22 km/h; 14.43 mph)
Crew	511
Armament	16 × 48-pounder guns 4 × 8-pounder guns 2 × 3-pounder guns
Armor	Battery: 123 mm (5 in) Ends: 87 mm (3.4 in)

The Erzherzog Ferdinand Max class consisted of a pair of ironclad warships—Erzherzog Ferdinand Max and Habsburg—built for the Austrian Navy in the 1860s. They were the last broadside armored frigates to be built for the Austrian Empire, and the last vessels completed to see action against the Italians at the Battle of Lissa in 1866. Intended to have been armed with new breech-loading Krupp guns, the outbreak of the Seven Weeks' War prevented the delivery of the guns, forcing the Austrian Navy to arm the ships with a battery of sixteen older 48-pounder muzzle-loading guns.

Hastily finished after the war started, both ships saw action at the Battle of Lissa in July. There, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff; in the course of the melee, the ship rammed and sank the Italian ironclad Re d'Italia, which proved to be the decisive action in the battle. After the war, both ships were laid up and did not see much significant activity for the remainder of their careers owing to reduced naval funding in what had become the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The ships were converted for secondary duties in 1886, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max and Habsburg became a tender and a guard ship, respectively. Habsburg was sold for scrap in 1898, but Erzherzog Ferdinand Max lingered on until 1916, when she joined her sister in the breaker's yard.