v2.0 updated 1 August 08 with new darker and more accurate skin (original skin still included)... all screenshots are of v2.0 skin.
This ship, made by primarily by General Matt with a little help from The Coyote and Wolfshanze, is an Austrian Dreadnought, based on the Tegetthoff-class.
The Tegetthoff class (sometimes called Viribus Unitis class) was the sole class of dreadnought battleship built for the Austro-Hungarian navy. Four ships were built, SMS Viribus Unitis, SMS Tegetthoff, SMS Prinz Eugen and SMS Szent Istvan.
The Austrian government ordered the construction of a new fleet in 1908 following the announcement of the start of construction of first dreadnought for the Regia Marina (the Italian navy): the RN Dante Alighieri. The chief designer of the Austro-Hungarian navy, Siegfried Popper, was nearly blind at this stage (he was retired before the ships were launched), and some have blamed this for design deficiencies of the class of ships. The ships of this class were among the first ships to utilise triple gun turrets for its main armament, the first one being the Italian battleship Dante Alighieri whom the Austrian ships were supposed to act against in a war; as for the Italian ship, this choice made it possible to deliver a heavier broadside than other dreadnoughts of a similar size. The triple turret was built at the Škoda Works, in Plzeň, Bohemia, and was available at short notice because Škoda were already working on a design for an order for the Russian navy.
The design of the class had some weaknesses. The absence of a raised forecastle deck, left out to decrease weight, gave the ships worse maritime capabilities than ships equipped with it. A more serious problem was the weak armor below the waterline. The Tegetthoff class had only 2.45 meters between the outer hull and the inner anti-torpedo bulkhead. German battleships from the same period had 4.5 meters. The Tegetthoff also had a complicated, and in emergencies impractical, system of watertight doors between compartments below the waterline.
The Austro-Hungarian navy saw little action during the First World War, spending much of its time in its base at Pola (now Pula, Croatia), but the mere fact of its existence tied up the Italian and French navies in the Mediterranean for the duration of the war. The navy's general inactivity was partly caused by a lack of coal, which as the war progressed became a problem, and partly by a fear of mines in the Adriatic, which also kept the Italian navy in port for most of the war. Two of the four were casualties during WWI.
The Szent Istvan was sunk in-action by two torpedoes from an Italian torpedo boat during a fleet sortie. The Szent Istvan survived for nearly three hours before capsizing, taking 89 of her crew with her. The last half-hour of the sinking was filmed in stages from the Tegetthoff (one of only two battleship sinkings on the high seas to ever be filmed).
On 6 October 1918 the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (SCS) was founded in Zagreb. On 29 October the Council cut all political and diplomatic links between Croatia and Austria and Hungary. Emperor Charles I took the decision to give the entire Austro-Hungarian navy and merchant fleet, with all harbours, arsenals and shore fortifications to the Council of SCS. On 31 October in Pola harbour the Emperor's Hymn, Gott erhalte unseren Kaiser was played for the last time and the Austro-Hungarian flag was replaced by the Croatian flag. At 5 p.m. on 31 October 1918 the commander of Viribus Unitis, Janko Vukovich de Podkapelski took command of the entire fleet. The National Council of SCS promoted him to rear admiral, and sent diplomatic notes to the governments of France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States of America and Russia, to notify them that the State of SCS was not at war with any of them and that the Council had taken over the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet.
Later that night, while the crews were celebrating on their brightly lit ships, at 10:13 p.m. an Italian torpedo boat delivered two divers and two 200 kg (400 lb) mines to the Croation harbor of Pola, successfully planting them on the flagship Viribus Unitis.
The mines detonated well below the water-line but, as the ship's coal bunkers were empty coal dust instantly ignited and caused a further explosion. The design features intended to minimize the effect of explosions had not worked. The ship rapidly took in water and at 6:10 a.m. 1 November 1918, the flagship Viribus Unitis, with the Croatian flag on her mast, capsized and sank quickly with around 300 members of her crew aboard. Admiral Vukovich, who commanded the Croatian fleet for barely twelve hours was last seen standing peacefully on the stern, waiting for death to come.
On 4 November Italian troops entered Pola and seized Tegetthoff and Prinz Eugen. Tegetthoff was kept by Italy and Prinz Eugen by France. They were expended by scrapyards and as a target ship respectively in the 1920s.
All needed files, including a button and custom animation files are included in the download.
Visit the Thread
This ship, made by primarily by General Matt with a little help from The Coyote and Wolfshanze, is an Austrian Dreadnought, based on the Tegetthoff-class.
The Tegetthoff class (sometimes called Viribus Unitis class) was the sole class of dreadnought battleship built for the Austro-Hungarian navy. Four ships were built, SMS Viribus Unitis, SMS Tegetthoff, SMS Prinz Eugen and SMS Szent Istvan.
The Austrian government ordered the construction of a new fleet in 1908 following the announcement of the start of construction of first dreadnought for the Regia Marina (the Italian navy): the RN Dante Alighieri. The chief designer of the Austro-Hungarian navy, Siegfried Popper, was nearly blind at this stage (he was retired before the ships were launched), and some have blamed this for design deficiencies of the class of ships. The ships of this class were among the first ships to utilise triple gun turrets for its main armament, the first one being the Italian battleship Dante Alighieri whom the Austrian ships were supposed to act against in a war; as for the Italian ship, this choice made it possible to deliver a heavier broadside than other dreadnoughts of a similar size. The triple turret was built at the Škoda Works, in Plzeň, Bohemia, and was available at short notice because Škoda were already working on a design for an order for the Russian navy.
The design of the class had some weaknesses. The absence of a raised forecastle deck, left out to decrease weight, gave the ships worse maritime capabilities than ships equipped with it. A more serious problem was the weak armor below the waterline. The Tegetthoff class had only 2.45 meters between the outer hull and the inner anti-torpedo bulkhead. German battleships from the same period had 4.5 meters. The Tegetthoff also had a complicated, and in emergencies impractical, system of watertight doors between compartments below the waterline.
The Austro-Hungarian navy saw little action during the First World War, spending much of its time in its base at Pola (now Pula, Croatia), but the mere fact of its existence tied up the Italian and French navies in the Mediterranean for the duration of the war. The navy's general inactivity was partly caused by a lack of coal, which as the war progressed became a problem, and partly by a fear of mines in the Adriatic, which also kept the Italian navy in port for most of the war. Two of the four were casualties during WWI.
The Szent Istvan was sunk in-action by two torpedoes from an Italian torpedo boat during a fleet sortie. The Szent Istvan survived for nearly three hours before capsizing, taking 89 of her crew with her. The last half-hour of the sinking was filmed in stages from the Tegetthoff (one of only two battleship sinkings on the high seas to ever be filmed).
On 6 October 1918 the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (SCS) was founded in Zagreb. On 29 October the Council cut all political and diplomatic links between Croatia and Austria and Hungary. Emperor Charles I took the decision to give the entire Austro-Hungarian navy and merchant fleet, with all harbours, arsenals and shore fortifications to the Council of SCS. On 31 October in Pola harbour the Emperor's Hymn, Gott erhalte unseren Kaiser was played for the last time and the Austro-Hungarian flag was replaced by the Croatian flag. At 5 p.m. on 31 October 1918 the commander of Viribus Unitis, Janko Vukovich de Podkapelski took command of the entire fleet. The National Council of SCS promoted him to rear admiral, and sent diplomatic notes to the governments of France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States of America and Russia, to notify them that the State of SCS was not at war with any of them and that the Council had taken over the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet.
Later that night, while the crews were celebrating on their brightly lit ships, at 10:13 p.m. an Italian torpedo boat delivered two divers and two 200 kg (400 lb) mines to the Croation harbor of Pola, successfully planting them on the flagship Viribus Unitis.
The mines detonated well below the water-line but, as the ship's coal bunkers were empty coal dust instantly ignited and caused a further explosion. The design features intended to minimize the effect of explosions had not worked. The ship rapidly took in water and at 6:10 a.m. 1 November 1918, the flagship Viribus Unitis, with the Croatian flag on her mast, capsized and sank quickly with around 300 members of her crew aboard. Admiral Vukovich, who commanded the Croatian fleet for barely twelve hours was last seen standing peacefully on the stern, waiting for death to come.
On 4 November Italian troops entered Pola and seized Tegetthoff and Prinz Eugen. Tegetthoff was kept by Italy and Prinz Eugen by France. They were expended by scrapyards and as a target ship respectively in the 1920s.
All needed files, including a button and custom animation files are included in the download.
Visit the Thread
