 Zenta in Pola in 1901 after returning from China | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Austria-Hungary | |
| Name | Zenta |
| Namesake | Battle of Zenta |
| Builder | Pola Navy Yard |
| Laid down | 8 August 1896 |
| Launched | 18 August 1897 |
| Sponsored by | Archduchess Maria Josepha |
| Commissioned | 25 May 1899 |
| Fate | Sunk during theBattle of Antivari, 16 August 1914 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Zenta-classprotected cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 96.88 m (317 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 11.73 m (38 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 4.24 m (13 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Sail plan | Brigantine-rigged |
| Speed | 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 3,200 nmi (5,900 km; 3,700 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 308 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
SMSZenta was thelead ship of theZenta class ofprotected cruisers built for theAustro-Hungarian Navy in the late 1890s. The class included two other vessels,Aspern andSzigetvár. TheZentas were intended to serve as fleet scouts and to guard thebattleships against attacks bytorpedo boats. She carried amain battery of eight 12 cm (4.7 in) guns manufactured byŠkoda;Zenta and her sisters were the first major warships of the Austro-Hungarian fleet to be armed entirely with domestically produced guns. Unlike earlier Austro-Hungarian cruisers, theZenta class discarded heavybelt armor in favor of a higher top speed.
After entering service in 1899,Zenta was sent to East Asia to represent Austria-Hungary in the region. She was involved in theBoxer Rebellion inQing China in 1900, sending landing parties ashore as part of theEight-Nation Alliance to guard theLegation Quarter and to fight in theBattle of the Taku Forts.Zenta returned home in 1901 and was sent on another long-distance cruise in 1902–1903 to visit various ports in Africa and South America. The ship served in home waters beginning in 1904, spending her time with training exercises. In 1913, during theFirst Balkan War, she participated in theblockade of Montenegro by an international fleet.
At the start ofWorld War I in July 1914,Zenta was sent to the southern end of theAdriatic Sea to attack targets in Montenegro. She was cruising off that country's coast to enforce another blockade on 16 August when she and thedestroyerUlan encountered the main French battle fleet. In the ensuingBattle of Antivari,Zenta was sunk by the French battleships, with heavy loss of life as the French failed to pick up survivors. Some 139 men, including her commanderPaul Pachner, swam to shore, where they were captured by Montenegrin forces and imprisoned until 1916 when theAustro-Hungarian Army overran the country.
In January 1895, the senior officers of theAustro-Hungarian Navy decided to build two types of modern cruisers: largearmored cruisers of around 5,900 t (5,800long tons) and smaller vessels of around 1,700 t (1,700 long tons). The latter were intended to screen thebattleships of the main fleet, scouting for enemy vessels and protecting them fromtorpedo boat attacks. The chief constructor,Josef Kuchinka, prepared the initial design based on specifications that had been issued by the naval command, though by the time his design was finally approved in mid-1897, it had grown in size to around 2,300 t (2,300 long tons). Final approval came after work on the first unit,Zenta, had already begun.[1]
Zenta was 96 m (315 ft)long at the waterline and 96.88 m (317 ft 10 in)long overall; she had abeam of 11.73 m (38 ft 6 in) and adraft of 4.24 m (13 ft 11 in). The shipdisplaced 2,350 t (2,313 long tons) normally and 2,543 t (2,503 long tons) atfull load.[2] The crew of theZentas numbered 308 officers and enlisted men. Their propulsion system consisted of a pair oftriple-expansion steam engines, each driving ascrew propeller using steam provided by eight coal-firedYarrow boilers.[3][4] Their engines were rated to produce 7,200indicated horsepower (5,400 kW) for a top speed of 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph), althoughZenta reached a speed of 21.87 knots (40.50 km/h; 25.17 mph) from 8,584 ihp (6,401 kW) during hersea trials on 30 March 1899. The ships carried enough coal to give them a range of 3,800nautical miles (7,000 km; 4,400 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). To increase their range, the cruisers were fitted with abrigantine-sailing rig of 585.8 square meters (6,305 sq ft) on their twomasts.[5]
TheZentas'main battery consisted of eight 40-caliber 12-centimeter (4.7 in)quick-firing guns manufactured byŠkoda. One gun was mounted on the upper deck forward, six incasemates in thehull, and the remaining gun was placed on the upper deck aft. They also carried eight 44-caliber47-millimeter (1.9 in) Škoda guns and two 33-caliber 47 mmHotchkiss guns for defense against torpedo boats. These guns were all mounted individually, with four in thesuperstructure and the rest in casemates in the hull. The ships also carried a pair of 8 mm (0.31 in)Salvator-Dormus M1893 machine guns. Their armament was rounded out with a pair of 45 cm (17.7 in)torpedo tubes that were carried in the hull above thewaterline.[3][5][6] The threeZenta-class cruisers were the first major Austro-Hungarian warships to carry an armament entirely manufactured by Škoda.[7]
Their armordeck consisted of two layers of 12.5 mm (0.49 in) steel over the bow and stern.Amidships, where it protected the propulsion machinery spaces, it doubled in thickness to a pair of 25 mm (0.98 in) layers. The casemates for the primary guns had 35 mm (1.4 in) thick sides and theconning tower received two layers of 25 mm plate on the sides.[3][6] Each of the 120 mm guns was protected by a 45-millimeter (1.8 in)gun shield, although they were not large enough to provide good cover for the gun crews.[5]
Zenta, ordered under the contract nameErsatz (replacement)Greif, waslaid down at thePola Navy Yard on 8 August 1896 and waslaunched on 18 August 1897, the birthday ofKaiser Franz Joseph I. The ship was christened by his sister-in-law,Archduchess Maria Josepha.Fitting-out work was delayed by shortages of the 12 cm guns, since four of the guns that were slated to be installed aboard the ship were instead diverted to Spain on 11 July, which was in need of additional weapons as it was in the midst of fighting theCuban War of Independence. Additional guns were ordered on 27 April 1898 and were delivered on 22 April 1899. Named for theBattle of Zenta, the ship was completed on 25 May,[3][8] at a cost of 4.2 millionkrone,[9]commissioned three days later, and was ordered to deploy to East Asia to serve as the station ship inChinese waters. She left Pola on 10 November 1899 and relieved the homeward-bound station ship, the protected cruiserKaiserin Elisabeth, inColombo,British Ceylon between 22 and 28 December.[10][11][12]
The ship arrived inSingapore on 3 January 1900 and then continued on toHong Kong.Zenta embarked on a tour of ports in China in February, including those along theYangtze River, before returning toShanghai on 7 May. From there, she crossed toJapan, where the ship was on 30 May when the worseningBoxer Rebellion prompted the European diplomats in the country to request forces to guard theLegation Quarter.Zenta joined the international fleet that assembled as part of theEight-Nation Alliance off theTaku Forts on 2 June; she operated there for the next twenty days. On 3 June, a landing party led by the ship'scaptain,Fregattenkapitän Eduard von Montalmar, that consisted of one officer, twoofficer cadets, and thirty enlisted men went ashore to relieve the Legations; they helped to guard the embassies there during thesiege of the Legations for the next two months. Another party, consisting of an officer, three cadets, and seventy-three men joined the force thatstormed the Taku Forts on 17 June. Montalmar and three sailors were killed during the war with another four sailors later dying of their wounds.[11][12][13]
Zenta moved toChefoo from 23 to 25 June and then returned to Taku from 26 June to 5 August. The armored cruiserKaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia arrived in Taku two days later and her commander took control of Austro-Hungarian naval forces in the region. On 24 November, the ship returned to Japan, where she was brieflydrydocked for maintenance in December. In early January 1901,Zenta then sailed south toBangkok,Siam, arriving there on 17 January. The ship arrived in Hong Kong on 15 February to begin a tour of Chinese ports that lasted through May. She next visitedChemulpo inKorea later that month, followed by a brief stop in Japan. The ship returned to Chinese waters for the next two months before she received orders to return home.Zenta left China on 25 July and reached Pola on 1 October and was thereafter placed inreserve.[14]
Zenta spent most of 1902 in reserve, but she was reactivated late in the year for a training cruise to Africa and South America. She left Pola on 15 October and reachedMombasa,British Kenya, on 22 November. From there, the ship cruised toZanzibar and by 6 December had arrived inDiego Suarez,French Madagascar. Later that month,Zenta visitedTamatave, Madagascar, andSaint-Louis on the island ofRéunion. On 2 January 1903, she got underway forDelagoa Bay andLourenço Marques inPortuguese Mozambique.Zenta then proceeded toDurban,East London,Port Elizabeth, andCape Town in the BritishCape Colony andColony of Natal through early March. She then passed to the Atlantic coast of southern Africa, stopping inGerman Southwest Africa and then visitedLuanda inPortuguese Angola. At the end of March, the ship stopped inBanana andBoma in theCongo Free State, entering theCongo River and steaming toMatadi, Congo on 1 April.[15]
From Congo,Zenta dropped anchor inSaint Helena on the way to South America before arriving atSantos, Brazil, on 8 May. Later that month visitedMontevideo, Uruguay, staying there until 6 June when she crossed theRío de la Plata toBuenos Aires, Argentina. The next day, she entered theParaná River and traveled toRosario, Argentina, for two days before returning to Buenos Aires.Zenta then returned to Brazilian waters before returning to western Africa, arriving inFreetown,Sierra Leone, on 22 July. The ship then continued north, stopping inDakar,French Senegal a week later and thenTenerife in theCanary Islands in Spain, arriving there in early August. She arrived atFunchal on the island ofMadeira later that month. The ship next visited several ports inFrench North Africa along withMálaga, Spain, through September. From there, she began the last leg of the trip, stopping inCorfu,Greece from 22 September and then passing throughTrieste on 2 October, where she was present for the launching of thepre-dreadnought battleshipErzherzog Karl. The ship arrived back in Pola four days later.[15]
From 1 January 1904 to 15 June,Zenta served as theflotilla leader for the Torpedo-boat Flotilla of the main fleet. During this period, on 20 January, the Hungarian shipping company Adria requested the navy's assistance with locating the merchant shipSS Matelkovits, which had departed Venice on 12 January and had not been seen since.Zenta and a pair of torpedo boats conducted a search, but did not locate the vessel. The summer's training activities began on 15 June, and throughout the maneuvers, which lasted through 15 September,Zenta continued in her role as the flotilla leader. She was present for a visit of the BritishRoyal Navy in Pola, including the pre-dreadnoughtHMS Bulwark, the cruisersFurious andPandora, and thetorpedo gunboatSpeedy. The rest of the year was spent in dry dock to have her bow 12 cm guns altered,wireless equipment installed, and repairs made to her bow after a collision with a merchant ship in Trieste.[15]
Zenta rejoined the main fleet on 1 January 1905, resuming her role as a flotilla leader. The year followed the same schedule as the previous year, with the summer training program beginning on 15 June and ending on 15 September.Zenta was present for the launching of the battleshipErzherzog Ferdinand Max on 21 May that year. She was placed in reserve toward the end of the year and remained out of service into 1906, only being recommissioned for the summer maneuvers, which again lasted from 15 June to 15 September. During the maneuvers, which concluded with a simulatedamphibious assault that was observed by ArchdukeFranz Ferdinand, she served with the battleships of II Heavy Division. Following the exercises, the fleet held anaval review offCalamotta on 15 September, after whichZenta was reduced to reserve status. She again spent 1907 out of service except for the summer exercises, partially due to repairs to herdouble bottom; in 1908, she was not activated at all.[11][15]
On 16 March 1909,Zenta was recommissioned to join an international naval demonstration off the coast of theLevant; the Austro-Hungarian contingent also included the armored cruiserKaiser Karl VI and the torpedo gunboatMagnet. The ships left Pola on 22 April and steamed toPiraeus, Greece, where they joined the international fleet and stayed from 26 April to 2 May.Zenta patrolled offMersin andAntioch,Ottoman Turkey, for several weeks before returning to Greece on the 16th. She remained there until 5 June when she departed forTeodo,Montenegro, arriving three days later.Zenta was present for the launching of the pre-dreadnoughtRadetzky in Trieste on 3 July and was thereafter placed in reserve. She was reactivated on 15 June for the maneuvers. Another training amphibious operation was conducted on 24 August, withZenta assigned to the defending force. She was decommissioned again on 31 August.[15]
The ship was only intermittently in service for the next several years, attending the launching of the pre-dreadnoughtZrinyi on 12 April 1910 and then observing the launching of thedreadnought battleshipViribus Unitis in Trieste on 24 June 1911.[16] During this time she had a new radio transmitter installed. During theFirst Balkan War of 1913, an international fleet was composed toblockade Montenegro over its occupation of the port ofScutari.Zenta was sent as part of the Austro-Hungarian contingent, departing Pola on 19 March and two days later she arrived to patrol offMeljine. The ship saw little activity for the rest of the year, and on 1 April 1914, she was assigned to a training cruise in company with the oldcoastal defense shipsMonarch andBabenberg with a contingent of 240 naval cadets. While inGravosa on 10 April, the crew was exposed to an outbreak ofmeningitis; one man fell ill and had to be sent ashore inRagusa the next day. The infection began to spread and on 1 May, another man had to be hospitalized inCattaro;Zenta was ordered to return to Pola to be quarantined inFasana the next day. Forty of the cadets were sent ashore to be hospitalized, another sixty were transferred to thetenderSpalato, and the remainder were kept aboard to help disinfect the ship. The quarantine was lifted fifteen days later on 17 May.[17]
At the start ofWorld War I in July 1914,Zenta was assigned to I Cruiser Division,[18] which at that time included the armored cruisersSankt Georg,Kaiser Karl VI,Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, and the other twoZenta-class cruisers, under the command ofVice AdmiralPaul Fiedler.[19][20] On 8 August,Zenta and hersister shipSzigetvár steamed south to bombard the wireless station atAntivari. The ships of I Cruiser Division then began a blockade of the coast of Montenegro. Eight days later,Zenta sortied again, now in company with thedestroyerUlan to patrol the blockade line off Teodo.[18][21] The same day, the main French fleet, the1er Armée Navale (1st Naval Army) under AdmiralAugustin Boué de Lapeyrère's command, entered the southern Adriatic to search for the Austro-Hungarian fleet.[22]
At around 08:30, lookouts in the French fleet spotted smoke on the horizon as they steamed north, prompting Boué de Lapeyrère to turn his ships to investigate. The Austro-Hungarians had in turn spotted the approaching French fleet, and so moved closer to shore to flee north, hoping the coastline would obscure them. At 09:03, the French fleet encounteredZenta andUlan off the coast of Montenegro and opened fire, though Boué de Lapeyrère initially ordered his battleships to fire warning shots, but this caused confusion among the fleet's gunners.Zenta, commanded byPaul Pachner, turned to engage the French whileUlan fled to the north at high speed.Zenta came under a hail of French gunfire, though the sheer volume hampered French gunnery, as it was impossible to determine each ships' fall of shot.Zenta fired her 12 cm guns, though they fell some 300 to 400 m (980 to 1,310 ft) short, and would not have inflicted damage on the heavily armored battleships in any event. The slowerZenta attempted to evade French gunfire, but she quickly received several hits that disabled her engines and set her on fire by about 09:12. At 09:20, Boué de Lapeyrère ordered his ships to cease fire, by which timeZenta was burning badly and settling by the stern. By 09:30,Zenta's bow lurched upward at an angle of 45 degrees and quickly sank around 4 to 5 nmi (7.4 to 9.3 km; 4.6 to 5.8 mi) off the coast ofCastellastua, her flags still flying.[18][21][22]
Her crew suffered heavy casualties in the battle, with 173 men killed, though 139, including Pachner, managed to swim to shore. The French failed to pick up survivors, as Boué de Lapeyrère assumed thatZenta's boats could pick them up, or they could swim to shore. They were captured by Montenegrin forces and imprisoned asprisoners of war inPodgorica. By early 1916, theAustro-Hungarian Army had defeated Montenegro and the survivors fromZenta were freed.Ulan, meanwhile, successfully fled north, having been pursued by the French destroyer screen and the armored cruiserJurien de la Gravière.[18][23]
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in August 1914 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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| International | |
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| National | |
