SMS Aspern
 Aspern during her visit to the United States in 1907 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Aspern |
| Laid down: | 4 October 1897 |
| Commissioned: | 29 May 1900 |
| Fate: | Ceded to Britain as a war prize; scrapped in 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Zenta-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: | 96.88 m (317 ft 10 in) |
| Beam: | 11.73 m (38 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.43 m (14 ft 6 in) (designed) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Complement: | 308 officers and men |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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SMS Aspern was the second of three Zenta-class cruisers built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1890s.
Design and description
Aspern had an overall length of 96.88 meters (317 ft 10 in), a beam of 11.73 meters (38 ft 6 in) and had a designed draft of 4.43 meters (14 ft 6 in). The ship displaced 2,350 metric tons (2,310 long tons) at normal load and 2,667 metric tons (2,625 long tons) at deep load.
She had two four-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft. Steam for the engines was provided by eight Yarrow boilers.
Aspern's main armament consisted of eight 40-caliber Škoda 12-centimeter (4.7 in) quick-firing guns. Two of these were mounted fore and aft of the superstructure in single pivot mounts protected by gun shields while the other six guns were mounted in casemates on the sides of the hull. Her secondary armament comprised eight 44-caliber 47 mm (1.9 in) Škoda guns and two 33-caliber 4.7-centimeter Hotchkiss guns. Four of these guns were mounted on pivot mounts in the superstructure and the remaining guns were in casemates in the hull. She was also armed with two 45-centimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes mounted in the hull above the waterline.[1]
The ship was lightly protected by an armor deck that consisted of two layers of 12.5-millimeter (0.49 in) plates. Over the engine and boiler rooms the thickness doubled to a total of 50 millimeters (2.0 in). The casemates were protected by 35 millimeters (1.4 in) of armor and the conning tower by two layers of 25-millimeter (0.98 in) armor plates.[1]
See also
Notes
References
- Bilzer, Franz F. (1981). "Austrian Light Cruiser Zenta". F. P. D. S. Newsletter. Akron, Ohio: F. P. D. S. IX (3): 22–24.
- Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0623-7.
- Sieche, Erwin (2002). Kreuzer und Kreuzerprojekte der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine 1889–1918 [Cruisers and Cruiser Projects of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, 1889–1918] (in German). Hamburg. ISBN 3-8132-0766-8.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918 : Navalism, Industrial Development, and the Politics of Dualism. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. ISBN 1557530343.