SMS Leopard

SMS Leopard was a torpedo cruiser (Torpedoschiff) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She and her sister ship, SMS Panther, were part of a program to build up Austria-Hungary's fleet of torpedo craft in the 1880s.

Design
The Austro-Hungarian Navy Commander (Marinekommandant), Vice Admiral Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck, outlined in a memorandum of 8 September 1884 the requirements for a torpedo ram cruiser. Such a vessel should have a reinforced bow for ramming as well as torpedoes for attacks on larger warships. The cruisers would also be small and fast enough to undertake patrol and reconnaissance duties. They were originally classified as "torpedo ships" (Torpedoschiff) - equivalent of a torpedo cruiser in other navies. In 1903 they were reclassified as 3rd Class Cruisers, then in 1909 as small cruisers (Kleine Kreuzer).

When funds for two vessels were approved by the Austro-Hungarian Reichsrat, bids were solicited from British builders. The order went to the firm of W.G. Armstrong of Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, and its chief designer, William White (afterwards the British Director of Naval Construction from 1885 to 1902).

As designed by White, Leopard was a steel-hulled vessel of 1,557 tons displacement. She measured 240 feet nine inches in length with a beam of 34 feet 11 inches and a draft (as completed) of 14 feet five inches. Propulsion was supplied by two compound steam engines with four cylindrical boilers, giving a maximum speed of 19.4 knots. The crew numbered 186 officers and men.

Original armament of Leopard comprised two 12 cm Krupp guns, four 4.7 cm quick-firing guns, six 4.7 cm revolver cannon and four 14-inch torpedo tubes. The torpedo tubes were located singly, in the bow, stern, and at either beam. Leopard was built with as pronounced a ram bow as the larger Austro-Hungarian warships of the time.

Service
Leopard was launched 10 September 1885. The Austro-Hungarian supervising naval architect, Siegfried Popper, found that the ship's draft aft was four feet 11 inches deeper than intended. After lengthy disagreement, White (by now DNC) and the shipyard admitted the error, which was partly offset through a redistribution a weight, reducing the excessive draft to two feet five inches.

Upon completion, Leopard was leader of a torpedo boat flotilla. She and Panther represented Austria-Hungary at the Barcelona World's Exposition in 1888. In 1891 Leopard's four 4.7 cm quick-firing guns were replaced with ten 4.7 cm guns. She was reclassified as a 3rd Class cruiser in 1903 and as a small cruiser (Kleiner Kreuzer) in 1909. Also in 1909, the aft torpedo tube was removed and four 6.6 cm guns were added to her armament.

Leopard was taken out of service and placed in reserve in 1910. The Panther, however, was used for shore bombardment and as a seagoing training ship during the First World War, and was decommissioned only weeks before Austria-Hungary's collapse. In the spring of 1915 Leopard briefly served as a training ship for the torpedo school. She was employed for subsidiary local defense at Pola from May 1915 to November 1918. Both ships were then allocated to Britain as a war reparation in 1920, but subsequently sold and scrapped in Italy.