SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth

SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth was a Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class protected cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Named in honor of the Empress Elisabeth, consort of Emperor Franz Josef, the cruiser was designed for overseas service and in fact was stationed in China at the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Specifications
Launched at the seearsenal (naval base) at Pola on 25 September 1890, Kaiserin Elisabeth was a steel-hulled vessel of 3,967 tons displacement. She measured 321 ft in waterline length with a beam of 49 ft and a mean draft of 19 ft. The crew comprised 450 officers and men.

Propulsion
Propulsion was provided by two sets of horizontal triple expansion engines with four cylindrical double-ended boilers. Designed performance was 6,400 horsepower for 18 knots and 8000 hp for 19 kn; on trials she in fact reached 20 kn.

Armament
Originally Kaiserin Elisabeth was armed with two 24 cm and six 15 cm guns, both types Model 1886. In 1905-06 she was reconstructed with two long-barreled 15 cm and six short-barreled 15 cm guns, both types Model 1901. Rounding out her armament were 16 4.7cm quick-firing guns, one machine gun and four 14 in torpedo tubes located above water, two on either beam.

Service
Although Kaiserin Elisabeth burned enormous quantities of coal, in 1914 she could still steam at a very fair speed and was stationed in China. Upon the outbreak of the First World War, Kaiserin Elisabeth took part in the defense of the German naval base of Tsingtao, which was besieged by the Japanese on 25 August 1914. At Tsingtao with Kaiserin Elisabeth were the German light cruiser Cormoran, gunboats Iltis, Jaguar, Tiger and Luchs and the torpedo boat S90.

On 6 September 1914 the first air-sea battle in history took place when a Japanese Farman aircraft launched by the seaplane-carrier Wakamiya unsuccessfully attacked the Kaiserin Elisabeth with bombs

Early in the siege Kaiserin Elisabeth and Jaguar made a sortie against the Japanese. Later, Kaiserin Elisabeth ' s 15 cm and 4.7 cm guns were removed and mounted ashore in 'Batterie Elisabeth'. As the siege progressed, the naval vessels trapped in the harbor were scuttled -- Cormoran, Iltis and Luchs on 28 September, S90 on 17 October and Tiger on 29 October. Finally, Kaiserin Elisabeth was scuttled on 2 November, followed by Jaguar on 7 November, the day the fortress surrendered to the Japanese.

Images

 * Flickr SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth