Editing Tegetthoff-class battleship (section)

=== 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}}