SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max

SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max underway
History
Austria-Hungary
Name	Erzherzog Ferdinand Max
Namesake	Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian
Builder	STT
Laid down	9 March 1904
Launched	21 May 1905
Completed	21 December 1907
Fate	Scrapped, 1921
General characteristics
Class and type	Erzherzog Karl-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement	10,472 long tons (10,640 t)
Length	414 ft 2 in (126.2 m)
Beam	71 ft 5 in (21.8 m)
Draft	24 ft 7 in (7.5 m)
Installed power	18,000 ihp (13,423 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts 4-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines
Speed	20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Complement	700
Armament	4 × 24 cm (9.4 in)/40 Škoda guns 12 × 19 cm (7.5 in)/42 Škoda guns 12 × 7 cm (2.8 in)/45 Škoda guns 2 × 7 cm (2.8 in)/45 Škoda AA guns 4 × 47 mm (1.9 in)/44 cal Škoda QF guns 2 × 4.7-cm/33 cal Škoda QF guns 4 × 37 mm (1.5 in) Vickers guns 2 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Waterline belt: 210 mm (8.3 in) Deck: 55 mm (2.2 in) Turrets: 240 mm (9.4 in) Casemates: 150 mm (5.9 in) Conning tower: 220 mm (8.7 in) Bulkheads: 200 mm (7.9 in)

SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max ^[a] (German: "His Majesty's ship Archduke Ferdinand Max") was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1902. The second ship of the Erzherzog Karl class, she was launched on 21 May 1905. She was assigned to the III Battleship Division.

For most of World War I, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max remained in her home port of Pola, in present-day Croatia, except for four engagements. In 1914, she formed part of the Austro-Hungarian flotilla sent to protect the escape of the German ships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau from the British-held Mediterranean; she advanced as far as Brindisi before being recalled to her home port. Her sole combat engagement occurred in late May 1915, when she participated in the bombardment of the Italian port city of Ancona. She also took part in suppressing a major mutiny among the crew members of several armored cruisers stationed in Cattaro between 1–3 February 1918. She also attempted to break through the Otranto Barrage in June of that year, but had to retreat when the dreadnought SMS Szent István was sunk. After the war, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max was awarded to the United Kingdom as a war prize in 1920.
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