The Temes class was a class of originally Austro-Hungarian river monitor warships used during World War I. A notable member was Bodrog (later the Yugoslav monitor Sava).

A model of SMS Temes at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien
Class overview
NameTemes class
BuildersUnited Schoenichen-Hartmann Shipyard
Operators Austro-Hungarian Navy
Built1903–1904
In service1904–1962
Completed2
Retired2
Scrapped1
Preserved1
General characteristics
TypeRiver monitor
Displacement440 tonnes (430 long tons)
Length57.7 m (189 ft 4 in)
Beam9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
Draught1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement86 officers and enlisted
Armament
  • 2 × 120 mm (4.7 in)/L35 guns (2 × 1)
  • 1 × 120 mm (4.7 in)/L10 howitzer
  • 2 × 37 mm (1.5 in) guns
Armour

Description

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They were armed with two 120 mm (4.7 in)L/35[a] guns in single gun turrets, a single 120 mm (4.7 in)L/10 howitzer in a central pivot mount, and two 37 mm (1.5 in) guns.[1] The maximum range of the Škoda 120 mm guns was 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), and the howitzer could fire its 20 kg (44 lb) shells a maximum of 6.2 km (3.9 mi).[2] The armour consisted of belt, bulkheads and gun turrets 40 mm (1.6 in) thick, and deck armour 25 mm (0.98 in) thick. The armour on the conning tower was 75 mm (3.0 in) thick. The gun turrets also had armour 75 mm (3.0 in) thick.

Ships

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Ship name Renamed Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
SMS Temes Drina, then Ardeal 26 March 1904 November 1904 November 1918 Assigned to Yugoslavia as Drina, December 1918; Transferred to Romania as Ardeal, April 1920
SMS Bodrog Sava 12 April 1904 August 1904 November 1918 Sold to Yugoslavia as Sava, April 1920; currently a museum ship as of early 2019.

History

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Notes

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  1. ^ L/35 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/35 gun is calibre, meaning that the gun was 35 times as long as the diameter of its bore.

References

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Bibliography

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  • Frampton, Viktor; Sieche, Erwin & Stewart, Charles L. (2006). "Question 22/04: Austro-Hungarian Danube River Monitors". Warship International. XLIII (3): 239–243. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0623-2.
  • Pawlik, Georg; Christ, Heinz; Winkler, Herbert (1989). Die K.u.K. Donauflottille 1870–1918 [The K.u.K. Danube Flotilla 1870–1918] (in German). Graz, Austria: H. Weishaupt Verlag. ISBN 978-3-900310-45-5.