Editing Tegetthoff-class battleship (section)

== Construction ==
=== Secrecy ===
[[File:The construction of SMS Szent Istvan.webm|thumb|300px|Film about the construction of ''Szent István'' at the Ganz-Danubius shipyard in Fiume in 1912|alt=A large battleship undergoing construction in a shipyard. The ship's hull is launched with a crowd of people watching.|left]]

Montecuccoli's plans for the battleships gained approval from Emperor Franz Joseph&nbsp;I in January 1909, and by April plans for the ships' design, construction, and financing in the face of the ongoing budget crisis in Budapest were already being laid out.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=183}} Upon learning that Austria-Hungary was planning or currently building a class of dreadnoughts, the [[British Admiralty]] considered the project "as a concealed addition to the German fleet" and interpreted the ships as Austria-Hungary's way of repaying Germany for her diplomatic support during the former's [[Bosnian Annexation Crisis|annexation of Bosnia]] in 1908.{{sfn|Bridge|2002|p=330}} During the spring and summer of 1909, the United Kingdom was [[Anglo-German naval arms race#British reaction|locked in a heated naval arms race]] with Germany which led the Royal Navy to look upon the Austro-Hungarian ships as a ploy by German Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz to outpace British naval construction, rather than the latest development in Austria-Hungary's own naval arms race with Italy. The Admiralty's concerns regarding the true purpose of the ships were so great that a British spy was dispatched to Berlin when Montecuccoli sent the officer to obtain recommendations from Tirpitz regarding the design and layout of the ''Tegetthoff''-class ships.{{sfn|Koudelka|1987|pp=116–118}}

These concerns continued to grow and in April 1909 British Ambassador [[Fairfax Leighton Cartwright]] asked Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister [[Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal]] about the rumored battleships. Aehrenthal denied the construction of the ''Tegetthoff'' class, but admitted that plans to construct a class of dreadnoughts were being considered. In an attempt to assure Cartwright that Austria-Hungary was not constructing any ships for the German Navy, Aehrenthal justified any naval expansion as being necessary to secure Austria-Hungary's strategic interests in the Mediterranean. At the time, the potential of Austria-Hungary constructing four dreadnought battleships was widely regarded among the British press, public, and politicians as a provocation on the part of Germany.{{sfn|Vego|1996|pp=57–58}} Neither the Admiralty's suspicions, nor those of some politicians, managed to convince the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] that the German government was attempting to use the ''Tegetthoff'' class to escalate Germany and Britain's already contentious naval arms race. When [[Winston Churchill]] was appointed [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] in 1911, he rejected any potential Austro-German collusion regarding the battleships.{{sfn|Halpern|1971|p=41}}

For a full year, the Austro-Hungarian Navy attempted to keep the project a [[Classified information|state secret]]. This did not prevent rumors about their construction of a series of dreadnought battleships from circulating across Europe. The French Naval [[Attaché]] in Vienna complained to Paris in 1910 of extensive secrecy within the Austro-Hungarian Navy, which manifested itself in several ways. Among these were a ban on photography at Pola, future home port of the ''Tegetthoff'' class, and near-constant observation by the Austro-Hungarian police.{{sfn|Halpern|1971|p=160}} Roughly a year after the project began, the ''Arbeiter-Zeitung'', the Austrian Social Democratic Party newspaper, reported the details of the battleships to the general public.{{sfn|Vego|1996|pp=61–62}} The [[Christian Social Party (Austria)|Christian Social Party]], supportive of the construction of the ships and operating on the advice of the navy, published in its own newspaper, ''Reichspost'', that the secret dreadnought project and related financial agreements were true. The ''Reichspost'' lobbied in support of the project, citing Austria-Hungary's national security concerns with an Italian dreadnought already under construction. When the story broke Archduke Ferdinand also worked to build public support for the battleships, and the small but growing Austrian Navy League did the same.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=194}}{{sfn|Halpern|1971|pp=156, 160}}

=== Assembly ===
[[File:30,5 cm geschützturm.jpg|thumb|300px|The assembly of the first gun turret for ''Viribus Unitis'' at the Škoda Works in Pilsen|alt=A large turret with three guns being assembled in a factory.|right]]
The first ship of the ''Tegetthoff'' class, ''Viribus Unitis'', was formally laid down on 23 July 1910. Originally referred to as "Battleship IV", her [[keel]] was laid down after months of fiscal and political uncertainty. Two months later ''Tegetthoff'' was laid down on 24 September 1910. The title ship of the class, ''Tegetthoff'', was named after [[Wilhelm von Tegetthoff]], a 19th-century Austrian naval admiral known for his 1866 victory over Italy at the [[Battle of Lissa (1866)|Battle of Lissa]]. She was laid down once it became clear that Vienna and Budapest would pass the necessary budget funding to pay for the construction of the entire class.{{sfn|Sieche|1991|p=115}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=194}}

By the end of 1910, construction on the ''Tegetthoff''-class ships was well underway. Two ships were being assembled in Trieste's slipways, and more were in preparation. Aside from a brief strike in May 1911, construction on the battleships continued at a fast pace.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|pp=198–201}}{{sfn|Sieche|1985|p=334}} Less than a year after being laid down in Trieste, ''Viribus Unitis'' was launched on 24 June 1911 at a large ceremony featuring Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the Austrian Minister of War, General [[Moritz von Auffenberg]]. ''Viribus Unitis''{{'}}s sponsor at the ceremony was [[Archduchess Maria Annunciata of Austria|Archduchess Maria Annunziata]], sister to Franz Ferdinand.{{sfn|Vego|1996|p=83}} Seven months later, ''Prinz Eugen'' was laid down on 16 January 1912. She was followed by ''Szent István'' on 29 January. ''Tegetthoff'' was launched on 21 March following delays due to poor weather around Trieste.{{sfn|Sieche|1985|p=334}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=198}} Despite strikes in August 1912 and March 1913 by mechanics working on her engines,{{sfn|Greger|1976|p=25}} ''Prinz Eugen'' was launched on 30 November, while construction on ''Szent István'' took longer due to the fact that the shipyards in Fiume had to be expanded for a ship of her size. She was launched two years later on 17 January 1914.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=201}}{{sfn|Sieche|1985|p=334}}

While the battleships were under construction, discussions began over what to name them. The Naval Section of the War Ministry initially proposed naming the four battleships ''Tegetthoff'', ''Prinz Eugen'', ''Don Juan'', and ''Hunyadi''. Newspapers within Austria reported during construction that one of the ships was to be named ''Kaiser Franz Joseph I'', though it was later revealed the navy had no intentions of renaming [[SMS Kaiser Franz Joseph I|the cruiser which already bore the Emperor's name]]. Archduke Franz Ferdinand proposed ''Laudon'' for the fourth ship in honor of the [[Ernst Gideon von Laudon|Austrian field marshal]]. Emperor Franz Joseph I ultimately decided the names of the dreadnoughts, choosing to name the first ship using his own personal motto, ''Viribus Unitis'' (Latin: "With United Forces"), while the fourth ship in the class would be named ''Szent István'' after the Hungarian king and saint, [[Stephen I of Hungary|Stephen&nbsp;I]].{{sfn|Sieche|1991|p=116}}

=== Commissioning ===
[[File:Artillery exercises of SMS Szent Istvan 1915 (720p).webm|thumb|300px|Film about the artillery exercises of ''Szent István'' in 1915|alt=A black-and-white film showing the SMS Szent István conducting artillery exercises in the Adriatic Sea.|left]]
When ''Viribus Unitis'' was commissioned on 6 October 1912,{{sfn|Greger|1976|p=25}} she was at the time the most expensive warship ever to be constructed. The Italian ''Dante Alighieri'' had been laid down before ''Viribus Unitis'' but was not commissioned until January 1913. This meant Austria-Hungary became the sixth nation, after the [[United Kingdom]], [[German Empire|Germany]], the [[United States]], [[Brazil]], and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] to possess a dreadnought battleship.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|pp=195–196}}{{refn|There is some debate over the exact date of the commission of ''Viribus Unitis'' and the time it took to construct her. Halpern and Sondhaus state that the battleship was constructed within 27 months and commissioned in October 1912. Sokol states the ship was built in a "record time" of 24 months. Sieche and Preston maintain the ship was constructed in 29 months and was commissioned on 5 December 1912. Vego claims the ship was constructed in 26 months and was commissioned into the fleet on 26 September 1912. Parliamentary reports from the United Kingdom's House of Commons indicates the ship was commissioned on 6 October 1912. For the purposes of this article, the ship's commissioned date is given as 6 October 1912 as it is the most-commonly reported date.|group = lower-alpha}} Montecuccoli addressed the Austrian and Hungarian Parliaments on 15 October 1912 and laid out his vision for the role the ''Tegetthoff'' class would play in naval policy. Declaring that Austria-Hungary had become "a Mediterranean power" in light of her new dreadnoughts,{{sfn|Kiszling|1953|p=163}} Montecuccoli expected that the new class of battleships would help Austria-Hungary "assume our proper place among the Mediterranean powers".{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=208}}

''Viribus Unitis'' was soon followed by ''Tegetthoff'', the namesake of the class, on 14 July 1913.{{sfn|Sieche|1985|p=334}} During her gunnery trials, a discharge from one of the main guns of ''Tegetthoff'' damaged the staterooms of the ship's officers.{{sfn|Gill|1914|p=191}} ''Prinz Eugen'' was commissioned on 8 July 1914, ten days after [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand|Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination in Sarajevo]].{{sfn|Sieche|1985|p=334}} Expansion of the Graz-Danubius shipyards in Fiume delayed the [[Ceremonial ship launching|launching and christening]] of ''Szent István'' until 17 January 1914. Though it was customary for either the Emperor or his heir to be present at the launching of a major warship, Franz Joseph was too feeble and his heir, Franz Ferdinand, refused to be there due to his anti-Hungarian attitudes. Franz Joseph sent a telegram of congratulations to avoid controversy, and the ceremony was presided over by [[Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1862–1933)|Archduchess Maria Theresa]] who launched it with the words: "Slip out and may the protection of the Almighty be with you on all your ways!"{{sfn|Sieche|1991|p=116}} Also present at the ceremony was Hungarian Prime Minister Tisza, Minister of Finance [[János Teleszky]], and Minister to the Imperial Court [[Stephan Burián von Rajecz]]. As the German cruiser {{SMS|Breslau||2}} had recently been refitted at Trieste, her officers also attended the ceremony.{{sfn|Sieche|1991|p=116}}

During the launching itself there was an accident when the starboard anchor had to be dropped to prevent the ship from hitting a ship carrying spectators of the celebrations, but the anchor chain had not been shackled to the ship and it struck two dockworkers, killing one and crushing the left leg of the other. The following day, the navy had to raise the anchor out of {{convert|48|m|ft|sp=us}} of water and re-attach it to the ship.{{sfn|Sieche|1991|pp=116, 120}} Her [[fitting out]] was further delayed by the start of World War&nbsp;I six months later, and she was commissioned as the final battleship of the ''Tegetthoff'' class on 13 December 1915.{{sfn|Sieche|1991|p=133}}