Between the 1870s and 1910s, the Austro-Hungarian Navy built a series of cruisers of various types, including small torpedo cruisers, protected cruisers, fast scout cruisers and large armored cruisers. The first modern cruisers were the three begun in the late 1870s; a fourth vessel, , followed in the early 1880s. These ships proved to be unsatisfactory in service, and so to gain experience building effective vessels, the Navy ordered the two s from Britain. These were used as the basis for the domestically-built . Toward the end of the 1880s, the Navy shifted from building small torpedo cruisers to larger protected and armored cruisers, the first of which were the two s. These provided the basis for the armored cruisers , , and , built between 1891 and 1905.
In the mid-1890s, the three s were built; these proved to be the last protected cruisers of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. In the mid-1900s, the Navy started building scout cruisers, starting with , which proved to be a disappointment owing to her unreliable engines. The subsequent design, the , rectified the problem and they shouldered much of the burden of the Adriatic Campaign during World War I. They were the last class of cruisers completed before the war, as the was cancelled after the outbreak of hostilities, just two months after they had been authorized.
+ Key Armament The number and type of the primary armament Armor The thickness of the belt or deck armor Displacement Ship displacement at full combat load Propulsion Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed/horsepower generated Service The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate Laid down The date the keel began to be assembled Commissioned The date the ship was commissioned
Torpedo cruisers
Zara class
Unable to secure funding for new ironclad warships, Vice Admiral Friedrich von Pöck, the Marinekommandant (Navy Commander) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, resorted to developing less expensive torpedo cruisers armed with the new Whitehead torpedoes that had been developed in Austria-Hungary in the 1860s as a way to strengthen the fleet. The design staff considered a number of designs, ranging from large, heavily-armored vessels with torpedoes and large-caliber guns, to small ships armed only with torpedoes. They ultimately settled on smaller vessels that were modeled on the German aviso , which had proven to be a success for the Imperial German Navy. The new ships were to serve as fleet scouts and flotilla leaders for smaller torpedo boats. Josef von Romako, the Austro-Hungarian chief naval architect, prepared the design, which ultimately failed to meet expectations, primarily the result of an insufficiently high speed.
The three Zaras saw little active use during their careers, since their low speed precluded them from being used in their intended roles. Instead, they spent most of their existence in reserve, being reactivated periodically for exercises. The only major operation in which any members of the class participated came in 1897 during the Greco-Turkish War, where Sebenico was sent to enforce a blockade of the island as part of an international squadron. They were used as training ships during this period, until the start of World War I in July 1914, when they became harbor guard ships. The ships saw no action during the war, though Zara was badly damaged by a mine in 1917. All three vessels were surrendered to Italy after the conflict as war prizes and were then broken up.
Ship Armament Armor Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned Fate 4 × guns3 × torpedo tubes — 1 August 1878 13 June 1881 Ceded to Italy as a war prize, scrapped in 1920 September 1878 September 1881 4 × 9 cm guns1 × 35 cm torpedo tube 29 November 1880 December 1882
Lussin
Pöck ordered a fourth torpedo cruiser, which Romako designed while Zara was undergoing sea trials. He used the Zaras as the basic starting point, but lengthened the hull to incorporate finer lines and thus improved hydrodynamics and included a more powerful engine. Projected to reach a speed of , Lussin failed to reach her intended speed owing to problems with her propulsion system; her boilers did not produce sufficient power and her engine room was poorly ventilated. By the time Lussin entered service, Pöck had died and his successor, Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck, decided to order future torpedo cruisers from more experienced foreign shipyards.
Lussin took part in an international blockade of Greece in 1886 as part of an attempt by the Great Powers to stop a war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Like the Zaras, her slow speed prevented her from being used as intended, and after spending most of the next three years out of service, in 1889 she was reduced to a training ship. She saw limited activity in the annual fleet maneuvers into the early 1900s. Between 1903 and 1909, she served as the station ship for Teodo. She was rebuilt into an admiralty yacht between 1909 and 1913. During World War I, she was used as a barracks ship for German U-boat crews in Pola. She was seized by Italy, renamed Sorrento, and modernized for use as a depot ship for MAS boats, serving in that role until 1928, when she was broken up.
Ship Armament Armor Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned Fate 4 × guns1 × 35 cm torpedo tube Deck: Ceded to Italy as a war prize, commissioned as Sorrento, scrapped after 1928
Panther class
By the time Sterneck became the head of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1884, the fleet was technologically backward as a result of chronic under-funding. The refusal of the Imperial Council of Austria and the Diet of Hungary to grant larger naval budgets forced Sterneck to continue Pöck's policy of pursuing cheaper methods to defend the Austro-Hungarian coast, including torpedo cruisers. He requested authorization to build three new cruisers, which Kaiser Franz Josef I approved that year. As the domestically produced Zara and Lussin designs had been failures, Sterneck opted to order the two ships of the Panther class from the British shipbuilder Armstrong Whitworth. The Austro-Hungarian naval architect Siegfried Popper was sent to oversee the project to gain experience in designing ships of the type. They were the first cruiser-type ships of the Austro-Hungarian fleet to discard sailing rigs. The decision to build a force of torpedo-armed warships instead of capital ships represented a doctrinal shift led by Sterneck away from traditional theories to the Jeune École (Young School), which favored smaller, cheaper vessels.
Both vessels were successful additions to the Austro-Hungarian Navy, operating with the main fleet for their first years in service; they also conducted several long-distance training voyages. In 1896, was sent on a major training cruise to the Pacific Ocean in 1896 and joined the international squadron off Crete in 1897. Both ships made several voyages to Asia and Africa over the next decade, and one of the ships was on station in East Asian waters at all times between 1907 and 1910. They served with the Coastal Defense Special Group during World War I and Panther bombarded Montenegrin forces in 1916. Britain seized both ships as war prizes and sold to them ship breakers in Italy in 1920.
Ship Armament Armor Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned Fate 4 × 12 cm guns4 × torpedo tubes Deck: Two compound steam engines, 29 October 1884 31 December 1885 Ceded to Britain as a war prize, scrapped in 1920 January 1885 31 March 1886 Ceded to Britain as a war prize, scrapped in 1920
Tiger
Having secured experience with the Panther class, Sterneck ordered the third of his projected cruisers to be built domestically. In 1885, Popper was tasked with designing the vessel that was to be based on the Panthers with modest improvements. The hull was lengthened to incorporate finer lines, which gave the ship a slightly higher top speed than the Panthers (though both designs were nominally 18-knot ships, Tiger exceeded her design speed by more than a knot on trials). She carried the same armament as the Panther-class, albeit with domestically-produced 35 cm torpedo tubes instead of the slightly larger 35.6 cm tubes of the British-built ships.
Tiger served with the fleet for the first several years of her career, and in 1890 took part in a major cruise to visit Germany, Great Britain, and other countries in northern Europe. She was overhauled in 1896 and participated in the international squadron at Crete in 1897. Between 1905 and 1906, she was converted into a yacht and was then renamed Lacroma. In 1916, she was reduced to a barracks ship in Pola for German U-boat crews In the final days of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Navy attempted to transfer more modern vessels, including Lacroma, to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs to avoid their seizure by the Allies. The ship was nevertheless taken by Italy as a prize, thereafter being scrapped in 1920.
Ship Armament Armor Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned Fate 4 × 12 cm guns4 × 35 cm torpedo tubes — Two compound steam engines, 18 kn 5 October 1886 March 1888 Ceded to Italy as a war prize, scrapped in 1920
Protected cruisers
Kaiser Franz Joseph I class
During the design process for the Panther class, Sterneck predicted that larger vessels, of around and armed with large-caliber guns, would be necessary in the future. Having secured approval for the three torpedo cruisers, he next requested funding for a pair of vessels to meet the requirements for the larger vessels. His design was modeled on the Italian protected cruisers and the ; the Austrian and Hungarian parliaments were pleased at the low cost of the vessels—half that of contemporary ironclad warships—and authorized two vessels for the 1888 and 1889 fiscal year to replace the obsolete ironclads and . Like their Italian counterparts, Kaiser Franz Joseph I and Kaiserin Elisabeth carried a pair of guns in open barbettes to give them the ability to engage hostile capital ships, while retaining the high speed necessary to operate with the torpedo cruisers. In service, the ships proved to be incapable of performing the duties Sterneck envisioned, and moreover the Jeune École doctrine had fallen out of favor; while a third member of the class had been authorized, it was never built.
After entering service in 1890, Kaiser Franz Joseph I served with the fleet in home waters, including the voyage to northern Europe with Tiger in 1890, while Kaiserin Elisabeth made a circumnavigation of the globe in 1892–1893 with Archduke Franz Ferdinand aboard. Both ships visited Germany for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in 1895. Kaiser Franz Joseph I went to East Asia in 1897 before returning to take part in the international squadron off Crete and Kaiserin Elisabeth was sent to China to help suppress the Boxer Uprising in 1899. After the rebellion, Austria-Hungary received a concession in Tianjin, which prompted the Navy to keep one of the two members of the class on station through the 1910s. Kaiserin Elisabeth was there at the start of World War I and she moved to join German forces in Qingdao; during the ensuing siege, she was disarmed to strengthen the land defenses of the port and her crew went ashore to fight as infantry. The ship was ultimately scuttled to avoid capture by the Allied forces. Kaiser Franz Joseph I, meanwhile, was used as a guard ship in Cattaro Bay for the duration of the war. After the Cattaro Mutiny in early 1918, the vessel was reduced to a barracks ship. She sank in Cattaro Bay in 1919 before she had been allocated to the Allies, and was eventually scrapped in 1967.
Ship Armament Armor Displacement Propulsion Service Laid down Commissioned Fate 2 × K L/35 guns Belt: Two triple-expansion engines, 3 January 1888 2 July 1890 Ceded to France as a war prize, foundered in 1919 July 1888 21 January 1892 Scuttled in Qingdao, 2 November 1914
Zenta class