Editing Tegetthoff-class battleship (section)

=== Austro-Italian naval arms race ===
[[File:SMS Viribus Unitis2.jpg|thumb|300px|''Viribus Unitis'' at anchor in 1914|alt=A large battleship sits motionless in the water with smoke coming out of its funnels and three small boats moving beside her in the foreground.]]

As late as 1903 the Italian advantage in naval arms appeared so large that the difficulty of Austria-Hungary catching up to the Italian Navy, much less surpassing it, appeared insurmountable. Events changed, however, with the revolution in naval technology created by the launch of the British {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6}} in 1906 and the [[Anglo-German naval arms race]] that followed. The value of pre-dreadnought battleships declined rapidly and numerous ships in European navies were rendered obsolete, giving Austria-Hungary an opportunity to make up for past neglect in naval affairs. With an improved financial situation and budget from the [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867]], and with Archduke Ferdinand and Admiral Montecuccoli both supportive of constructing a new class of modern battleships, the stage was set for the development of Austria-Hungary's first and only class of dreadnought battleships.{{sfn|Vego|1996|p=39}}{{sfn|Sokol|1968|p=68}}

Shortly after assuming command as Chief of the Navy, Montecuccoli drafted his first proposal for a modern Austrian fleet in the spring of 1905. It was to consist of 12 battleships, 4 armored cruisers, 8 scout cruisers, 18 destroyers, 36 high seas torpedo craft, and 6 submarines. While these plans were ambitious, they lacked any ships the size of the ''Tegetthoff'' class.{{sfn|Vego|1996|p=39}} Additional proposals came from outside the Naval Section of the War Ministry. The [[Slovenes|Slovenian]] politician and prominent [[Trialism in Austria-Hungary|Trialist]] [[Ivan Šusteršič]] presented a proposal to the ''[[Reichsrat (Austria)|Reichsrat]]'' in 1905 calling for the construction of nine additional battleships.{{sfn|Kiszling|1953|p=234}} The Austrian Naval League also presented its proposals for the construction of a series of dreadnoughts. Petitioning the Naval Section of the War Ministry in March 1909 to construct three dreadnoughts of {{convert|19000|t|LT|0|sp=us}}, the League justified its proposal by arguing that a strong navy would be necessary to protect Austria-Hungary's growing merchant marine, and that Italian naval spending was twice Austria-Hungary's.{{sfn|Vego|1996|p=56}}

Following the construction of Austria-Hungary's last class of pre-dreadnought battleships, the {{sclass|Radetzky|battleship|4}},{{sfn|Sokol|1968|pp=150–151}} Montecuccoli submitted his first proposal for true dreadnought battleships for the Austro-Hungarian Navy.{{sfn|Vego|1996|p=53}} Taking advantage of political support for naval expansion he had obtained in both Austria and Hungary over the course of several years, and Austrian fears of a war with Italy over the [[Bosnian Crisis]] during the previous year, Montecuccoli drafted a new memorandum to [[Emperor of Austria|Emperor]] [[Franz Joseph I]] in January 1909 proposing an enlarged Austro-Hungarian Navy consisting of 16 battleships, 12 cruisers, 24 destroyers, 72 seagoing torpedo boats, and 12 submarines. While this was a modified version of his 1905 plan, one notable change was the inclusion of four additional dreadnought battleships with a displacement of {{convert|20000|t|LT|0|sp=us}} at load. These ships would become the ''Tegetthoff'' class.{{sfn|Sondhaus|1994|p=183}}{{sfn|Vego|1996|pp=62, 69}}

{|class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="6" |Naval strength of Italy and Austria-Hungary in May 1909{{sfn|Vego|1996|p=59}}
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''Type'''
| colspan="2" |'''Italy'''
| colspan="2" |'''Austria-Hungary'''
| rowspan="2" |'''Italian/Austro-Hungarian''' 
'''tonnage ratio'''
|-
|'''Number'''
|'''Tonnage'''
|'''Number'''
|'''Tonnage'''
|-
|Battleships
|10 (2 under construction)
|{{convert|124,112|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|9 (3 under construction)
|{{convert|73,836|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|1.7:1
|-
|Armored cruisers
|8 (2 under construction)
|{{convert|59,869|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|3
|{{convert|18,992|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|3.1:1
|-
|Protected cruisers
|6 (1 under construction)
|{{convert|14,605|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|6
|{{convert|16,727|t|LT|0}}
|0.9:1
|-
|Torpedo vessels
|6
|{{convert|3,110|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|6
|{{convert|2,730|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|1.1:1
|-
|Destroyers
|17 (2 under construction)
|{{convert|5,698|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|8 (4 under construction)
|{{convert|3,200|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|1.8:1
|-
|High seas torpedo boats
|8 (8 under construction)
|{{convert|5,936|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|17 (7 under construction)
|{{convert|3,400|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|1.7:1
|-
|Coastal torpedo boats
|59
|{{convert|5,254|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|28 (14 under construction)
|{{convert|2,410|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|2.1:1
|-
|Submarines
|7 (5 under construction)
|{{convert|1,155|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|2 (6 under construction)
|{{convert|474|t|LT|0|sp=us}}
|2.4:1
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''121 (20 under construction)'''
|'''{{convert|219,759|t|LT|0|sp=us}}'''
|'''79 (34 under construction)'''
|'''{{convert|121,769|t|LT|0|sp=us}}'''
|'''1.8:1'''
|}