# SMS Monarch

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**SMS *Monarch*** [a] ("His Majesty's Ship Monarch") was the [lead ship](/source/Lead_ship) of the [*Monarch*-class coastal defense ship](/source/Monarch-class_coastal_defense_ship) built for the [Austro-Hungarian Navy](/source/Austro-Hungarian_Navy) in the 1890s. After their commissioning, *Monarch* and the two other *Monarch*-class ships made several training cruises in the [Mediterranean Sea](/source/Mediterranean_Sea) in the early 1900s. *Monarch* and her [sisters](/source/Sister_ship) formed the 1st Capital Ship Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy until they were replaced by the newly commissioned [*Habsburg*-class battleship](/source/Habsburg-class_battleship) [pre-dreadnought battleships](/source/Predreadnought_battleship) at the turn of the century. In 1906 the three *Monarch*s were placed in [reserve](/source/Reserve_fleet) and only recommissioned during the annual summer training exercises. After the start of [World War I](/source/World_War_I), *Budapest* was recommissioned and assigned to 5th Division together with her sisters.

The division was sent to [Cattaro](/source/Cattaro) in August 1914 to attack [Montenegrin](/source/Montenegro) and French artillery that was bombarding the port, and *Monarch* remained there for the rest of the war. The ship was [decommissioned](/source/Ship_decommissioning) in early 1918 and became an [accommodation ship](/source/Accommodation_ship). She was awarded to Great Britain by the [Paris Peace Conference](/source/Paris_Peace_Conference,_1919) in 1920. The British sold her for [scrap](/source/Ship_breaking) and she was broken up in Italy beginning in 1921.

## Description and construction

Main article: [Monarch-class coastal defense ship](/source/Monarch-class_coastal_defense_ship)

At only 5,785 tonnes (5,694 long tons) maximum displacement,[1] the *Monarch* class was less than half the size of the [battleships](/source/Battleship) of other major navies at the time,[2] and were officially designated as coast defense ships.[3] [Austria-Hungary's](/source/Austria-Hungary) only coastline was on the [Adriatic Sea](/source/Adriatic_Sea), and the Austro-Hungarian government believed that the role of its navy was solely to defend the nation's coast.[2]

*Monarch* had an [overall length](/source/Length_overall) of 99.22 meters (325 ft 6 in), a [beam](/source/Beam_(nautical)) of 17 meters (55 ft 9 in) and a [draft](/source/Draft_(hull)) of 6.4 meters (21 ft 0 in).[3] Her two 4-cylinder [vertical triple-expansion steam engines](/source/Marine_steam_engine#Triple_or_multiple_expansion) produced a total of 8,500 horsepower (6,300 kW) using steam from five cylindrical [boilers](/source/Boiler_(steam_generator)). These gave the ship a maximum speed of 17.8 knots (33.0 km/h; 20.5 mph). *Monarch'*s maximum load of 500 tonnes (490 long tons) of coal gave her a range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at a speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph). She was manned by 26 officers and 397 enlisted men, a total of 423 personnel.[4]

The armament of the *Monarch* class consisted of [four 240-millimeter (9.4-inch)](/source/24_cm_SK_L/40) [Krupp](/source/Krupp) K/94 guns mounted in two twin-[gun turrets](/source/Gun_turret), one fore and one aft of the [superstructure](/source/Superstructure). The ships carried 80 rounds for each gun. Their [secondary armament](/source/Secondary_armament) was six [150-millimeter (6-inch)](/source/15_cm_SK_L/40_naval_gun) [Škoda guns](/source/%C5%A0koda_Works) located in [casemates](/source/Casemate) in the superstructure. Ten [quick-firing (QF)](/source/Quick-firing_gun) [47 mm (1.9 in)](/source/QF_3-pounder_Hotchkiss#Austro-Hungarian_service) Škoda guns and four 47-millimeter QF [Hotchkiss guns](/source/Hotchkiss_gun) provided defense against [torpedo boats](/source/Torpedo_boat). The ships also mounted two 450-millimeter (18-inch) [torpedo tubes](/source/Torpedo_tube), one on each [broadside](/source/Broadside_(naval)). Each torpedo tube was provided with two [torpedoes](/source/Torpedo).[4] In 1917 a [66-millimeter (2.6-inch) G. L/45](/source/%C5%A0koda_7_cm_guns) [anti-aircraft gun](/source/Anti-aircraft_gun) was installed.[5][6]

The ship's nickel-steel [waterline](/source/Waterline) [armor belt](/source/Belt_armor) was 120–270 millimeters (4.7–10.6 in) thick and the [gun turrets](/source/Gun_turret) were protected by 250 millimeters (9.8 in) of armor. The [casemates](/source/Casemate) had 80 millimeters (3.1 in) thick sides while the [conning tower](/source/Conning_tower) had 220 millimeters (8.7 in) of armor. *Monarch'*s [deck](/source/Deck_(ship)) armor was 40 millimeters (1.6 in) thick.[7]

The *Monarch*-class ships were ordered in May 1892,[8] with *Monarch* to be built at the [Pola](/source/Pula) Naval Arsenal (*Seearsenal*). The ship was [laid down](/source/Keel_laying) on 31 July 1893,[3] and she was [launched](/source/Ship_naming_and_launching) on 9 May 1895 by [Archduchess Maria Theresa](/source/Infanta_Maria_Theresa_of_Portugal), wife of [Archduke Karl Ludwig](/source/Archduke_Karl_Ludwig_of_Austria). She was commissioned on 11 May 1898.[9]

## Service history

*Monarch* and her sisters formed the Navy's 1st Capital Ship Division (*I. Schwere Division*) in 1899, and the division made a training cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean where they made port visits in [Greece](/source/Greece), [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon), [Turkey](/source/Turkey) and [Malta](/source/Malta) later that year. In early 1902, they made another training cruise to the Western Mediterranean with port visits in [Algeria](/source/Algeria), [Spain](/source/Spain), [France](/source/France), [Italy](/source/Italy), [Corfu](/source/Corfu), and [Albania](/source/Albania). The ship was fitted with a [Siemens](/source/Siemens)-Braun radio early the following year. The ships of the division were inspected by [Archduke Franz Ferdinand](/source/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria), the heir to the throne, in March 1903 at [Gravosa](/source/Gru%C5%BE). In 1904, the *Monarch*-class ships formed the 2nd Capital Ship Division,[10] and they took part in the 1904 cruise of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas as well as training exercises in which the three [*Habsburg*-class battleships](/source/Habsburg-class_battleship) engaged the *Budapest* and her sisters in simulated combat. Those maneuvers marked the first time two homogeneous squadrons consisting of modern battleships operated in the Austro-Hungarian Navy.[11] In the summer of 1905, *Wien* ran aground during a night exercise off [Meleda](/source/Meleda_(island)) Island; it took two tries by [SMS *Budapest*](/source/SMS_Budapest) and [SMS *Habsburg*](/source/SMS_Habsburg) to pull her off.[12]

The *Monarch*s were relegated to the newly formed Reserve Squadron on 1 January 1906, and were only recommissioned for the annual summer exercises. They participated in a fleet review by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, conducted in the [Koločepski Channel](/source/Kolo%C4%8Dep) near [Šipan](/source/%C5%A0ipan), in September. The ships were briefly recommissioned at the beginning of 1913, as the 4th Division after the start of the [Second Balkan War](/source/Second_Balkan_War), but were decommissioned again on 10 March. In early 1914, *Monarch* made a cruise in the [Levant](/source/Levant) with the [dreadnoughts](/source/Dreadnought) [SMS *Viribus Unitis*](/source/SMS_Viribus_Unitis), [SMS *Tegetthoff*](/source/SMS_Tegetthoff_(1912)) and the [predreadnought](/source/Predreadnought) [SMS *Zrínyi*](/source/SMS_Zr%C3%ADnyi). Two of the ship's crew came down with [smallpox](/source/Smallpox) and [cerebrospinal meningitis](/source/Cerebrospinal_meningitis) in [Egypt](/source/Egypt) and caused the ship to be quarantined for several weeks in [Pola](/source/Pula).[13]

### World War I

With the beginning of World War I the three *Monarch*s were recommissioned as the 5th Division. They were sent down to the [Bay of Kotor](/source/Bay_of_Kotor) in August 1914, to attack Montenegrin [artillery batteries](/source/Artillery_batteries) on [Mount Lovćen](/source/Mount_Lov%C4%87en) bombarding the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro and the fortifications defending it. *Monarch* and her sisters arrived on 13 August, but their guns could not elevate enough to engage all of the enemy artillery, which was reinforced by eight French guns on 19 October. The battleship [SMS *Radetzky*](/source/SMS_Radetzky_(1909)) was summoned to deal with the guns two days later, and she managed to knock out several French guns and forced the others to withdraw by 27 October.

*Monarch* remained at Cattaro for the rest of the war to deter any further attacks. The ship's crew joined in the Cattaro Mutiny in early February 1918. Six weeks later she became an accommodation ship for the [submarine](/source/Submarine) crews based at nearby Gjenovic.[14] *Monarch* was handed over to Great Britain as war reparations in January 1920 and broken up for scrap in Italy in 1921.[14]

## Notes

### Explanatory notes

1. "SMS" stands for "*[Seiner Majestät Schiff](/source/Seiner_Majest%C3%A4t_Schiff)* ", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German.

### Citations

1. Sieche, p. 256.

1. Sokol, p. 67.

1. Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 272.

1. Noppen, pp. 6, 8.

1. Friedman, p. 294.

1. Sieche, p. 250.

1. Noppen, p. 8.

1. Sieche, p. 227.

1. Sieche, pp. 234, 240.

1. Sieche, pp. 234, 240, 245.

1. Sondhaus, p. 158.

1. Sieche, p. 245.

1. Sieche, pp. 245–46.

1. Sieche, p. 253.

## References

- [*Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905*](https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2). Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). *Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations: An Illustrated Directory*. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Noppen, Ryan (2012). *Austro-Hungarian Battleships 1914–1918*. Vol. 193. New Vanguard. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-688-2.
- Sieche, Erwin F. (1999). "Austria-Hungary's Monarch Class Coast Defense Ships". *Warship International*. **XXXVI** (3): 220–260. Toledo, Ohio: International Naval Research Organization. [ISSN 0043-0374](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0043-0374)
- Sokol, Anthony (1968). *The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy*. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. [OCLC 462208412](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/462208412)
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). *The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918*. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-034-9. [OCLC 28112077](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28112077)

## Further reading

- Greger, René (1976). *Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I*. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0623-7.

## External links

- [The Monarch Class (1895/1898)](http://www.cityofart.net/bship/sms_monarch.html)
- [Monarch Class Battleships](http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/monarch_class.htm)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SMS Monarch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Monarch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Monarch?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.