Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
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| Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino | |
|---|---|
| Type | Defunct (merged 1929) |
| Founded | 1857 |
| Headquarters | Trieste, Austria (later Italy) |
| Industry | Naval and commercial shipbuilding |
| Services | Ship repair |
Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) (Technical Establishment of Trieste) was a private shipbuilding company based in Trieste from the mid-19th to early 20th century, and the most important naval shipbuilding firm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
After World War I, Trieste was ceded to Italy and the firm built naval and commercial vessels for its new host country. STT was merged with another Italian shipbuilding firm in 1929, but its shipyards remained active well into the postwar period.
[edit] History
[edit] Austro-Hungarian ownership
|
Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino had its origins in a private shipyard founded by Giuseppe Tonello at San Marco, on the coastline west of Trieste, in 1838. In 1857, the shipyard was merged with a local manufacturer of marine engines to become STT. A second shipyard was also acquired, at San Rocco near the town of Muggia just south of Trieste.
STT was the largest and most important shipbuilder in the Austrian Empire and its successor state, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[1] The company built most of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's capital ships, as well as many merchant vessels. In the 1860s and 1870s, STT built five of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's seven centre-battery ships (a forerunner of the battleship), as well as a number of ironclads, cruisers, frigates and corvettes. Between 1884 and 1914, the company built 13 of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's 16 battleships, including all three battleships of the Hapsburg class, all three of the Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand class, and three of the four Tegetthoff class.[2] It also built the three coastal defence battleships of the Monarch class.
By 1914, the San Rocco shipyard had five slipways of between 350 and 500 feet (three of which served to construct battleships) as well as a 350 foot dry dock and a 400 foot floating dock. The company had its own plant in Muggia for the manufacturer of engines and boilers, and a licence from the United Kingdom to produce Parsons steam turbines. In the years prior to World War I, the company's workforce had been gradually expanded from 2,700 to approximately 3,200.[3]
Following Italy's entry into World War I against the Central Powers (which included Austria-Hungary), STT was stripped of its Italian name and given the patriotic German name Austriawerft. Austriawerft was contracted to build two new battleships during the war, but these were cancelled in 1915, probably due to the company's loss of skilled workers, most of whom were Italian. Two submarines contracted to the company later in the war also had to be cancelled due to the lack of experienced submarine technicians.
[edit] Italian ownership
After the Austro-Hungarian Empire broke up at the close of World War I, the region of Trieste was ceded to Italy and Austriawerft became an Italian firm, whereupon its original name, Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, was restored. During the 1920s, STT built the heavy cruiser Trieste for the Italian navy, and the luxury commercial liner SS Conte Grande.
In 1929, STT merged with another Italian company, Cantieri Navale Triestino based at Monfalcone, to form Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico (CRDA) (United Shipbuilders of the Adriatic), and the STT component was named CRDA Trieste. CRDA Trieste built a number of light and heavy cruisers for the Regia Marina Italia (Royal Italian Navy) between the wars, as well as some 27 submarines. The ocean liner Conte di Savoia was also constructed in 1932.
During the Second World War, CRDA Trieste built two battleships for the Regia Marina, Vittorio Veneto and Roma. CRDA Trieste survived the postwar shakeup in the shipbuilding industry and went on to build several more commercial liners in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as a few naval vessels. In 1984, CRDA was sold to the Fincantieri Group, and its Trieste shipyards were no longer considered important ship construction or repair facilities. However, as of 2000, the shipyards still retained three dry docks capable of serving ships up to 25,000, 35,000 and 170,000 tons respectively.[4]
[edit] Production
[edit] STT (Austria-Hungary)
The following table lists only the larger warships built for Austria-Hungary. It does not list the smaller warships built by the company, nor any of the merchant vessels.
| Ship | Type | Class | Built | Disp.[5] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erzherzog Ferdinand Max | Ironclad | Erzherzog Ferdinand Max | 1866 | N/A | Scrapped 1917 |
| Habsburg | Ironclad | Erzherzog Ferdinand Max | 1866 | N/A | Scrapped 1900 |
| Vasilissa Olga | Ironclad | *[6] | 1869 | 2,000 | Built for Greek Navy, scrapped 1925 |
| Zrinyi (or Niclas Zrinyi) | Screw corvette | Zrinyi | 1871 | 1,450 | Scrapped after 1920 |
| Lissa | Centre-battery | * | 1871 | 7,178 | Scrapped 1895 |
| Radetzky | Screw frigate | Radetzky[7] | 1873 | 4,000 | To  1919,[8] scrapped 1921 |
| Erzherzog Albrecht | Centre-battery | * | 1874 | 6,500 | To 1920, scrapped 1955 |
| Laudon | Screw frigate | Radetzky | 1875 | 4,000 | To SHS 1919, to 1921, scrapped 1924 |
| Custoza | Centre-battery | * | 1875 | 7,700 | To 1919, scrapped after collision, 1925 |
| Don Juan d'Austria | Centre-battery | Kaiser Max | 1876 | 4,000 | Sunk, 1919 |
| Kaiser Max | Centre-battery | Kaiser Max | 1878 | 4,000 | To Serbo-Croatia 1920, sunk as breakwater, 1945 |
| Tegetthoff | Centre-battery | Tegetthoff[9] | 1881 | 8,000 | To 1919, scrapped after 1921 |
| Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie | Battleship | * | 1887 | 5,631 | To 1919, scrapped 1926 |
| Tiger | Torpedo cruiser | * | 1888 | 1,683 | To 1919, scrapped 1920 |
| Kaiser Franz Joseph I | Torpedo/ram cruiser | Kaiser Franz Joseph I | 1890 | 4,500 | Capsized and sank, Oct 1919 |
| Kaiserin Elizabeth | Torpedo/ram cruiser | Kaiser Franz Joseph I | 1892 | 4,500 | Scuttled Nov 1914 at Tsingtao, China |
| Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia | Armoured cruiser | * | 1895 | 6,000 | To  1919, scrapped 1921 |
| Monarch | Coastal defence | Monarch | 1898 | 5,878 | To 1919, scrapped 1921 |
| Wien | Coastal defence | Monarch | 1898 | 5,878 | Torpedoed 1916, salvaged 1925, fate unknown |
| Budapest | Coastal defence | Monarch | 1898 | 5,878 | To 1919, scrapped 1921 |
| Kaiser Karl VI | Armoured cruiser | * | 1900 | 7,000 | To 1919, scrapped 1922 |
| Hapsburg | Battleship | Hapsburg | 1902 | N/A | To 1919, scrapped 1922 |
| Árpád | Battleship | Hapsburg | 1903 | N/A | To 1919, scrapped 1922 |
| Babenburg | Battleship | Hapsburg | 1904 | N/A | To 1919, scrapped 1922 |
| Erzherzog Karl | Battleship | Erzherzog Karl | 1906 | 11,000 | To  1919, scrapped 1921 |
| Erzherzog Friedrich | Battleship | Erzherzog Karl | 1907 | 11,000 | To 1919, scrapped 1921 |
| Erzherzog Ferdinand Max | Battleship | Erzherzog Karl | 1907 | 11,000 | To 1919, scrapped 1921 |
| Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand | Battleship | Radetzky[10] | 1908 | 15,000 | To 1918, scrapped 1922 |
| Radetzky | Battleship | Radetzky | 1911 | 16,000 | To South Slavic 1918, scrapped 1922 |
| Zrínyi | Battleship | Radetzky | 1911 | 16,000 | To South Slavic 1918, scrapped 1922 |
| Tegetthoff | Battleship | Tegetthoff[11] | 1913 | 21,000 | To South Slavic 1918, 1918, scrapped 1924 |
| Viribus Unitis | Battleship | Tegetthoff | 1912 | 21,000 | To South Slavic 1918, scrapped 1920s2 |
| Prinz Eugen | Battleship | Tegetthoff | 1914 | 21,000 | To South Slavic 1918, 1919, 1920, sunk as target 1922 |
| Ersatz Monarch | Battleship | Ersatz Monarch | N/A | 25,000 | Cancelled 1915 |
| Ersatz Budapest | Battleship | Ersatz Monarch | N/A | 25,000 | Cancelled 1915 |
References: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905, Historical Handbook of World Navies website, Naval History Flixco website
[edit] STT (Italy)
The following table lists ships built by STT after the Italian takeover.[12]
| Ship | Type | Class | Built | Disp. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trieste | Cruiser | Trento | 1926 | 13,545 | Sunk by bombing, 1943 |
| Conte Grande | Ocean liner | N/A | 1928 | 25,661 | Scrapped 1961 |
Reference: Winklareth p. 292
[edit] CRDA Trieste
The following table lists ships built at the former STT shipyards after the company's 1929 merger with Cantieri Navale Triestino to form CRDA.[12]
| Ship | Type | Class | Built | Disp. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | Submarines | N/A | 1931-40 | N/A | 27 submarines |
| Fiume | Cruiser | Zara | 1931 | 14,530 | Sunk 1941 |
| Luigi Cadorna | Lt. cruiser | Cadorna | 1931 | 7,113 | Scrapped, 1951 |
| Conte di Savoia | Ocean liner | N/A | 1932 | 48,502 | Scuttled 1943 |
| Muzio Attendolo | Lt. cruiser | Montecuccoli | 1935 | 8,994 | Sunk by bombing, 1942 |
| Giuseppe Garibaldi | Lt. cruiser | Duca degli Abruzzi | 1937 | 11,735 | Converted to guided missile cruiser, 1957, scrapped 1972 |
| Vittorio Veneto | Battleship | Vittorio Veneto | 1940 | 45,752 | Scrapped 1946? |
| Roma | Battleship | Vittorio Veneto | 1942 | 45,752 | Sunk by bombing, 1943 |
| Donizetti | Ocean liner | N/A | 1951 | N/A | N/A |
| Rossini | Ocean liner | N/A | 1951 | N/A | N/A |
| Verdi | Ocean liner | N/A | 1951 | N/A | N/A |
| Augustus | Ocean liner | N/A | 1952 | 27,090 | Still operating as restaurant ship, MS Philippines, in 1999 |
| N/A | Frigate | N/A | 1969 | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | Submarine | N/A | 1969 | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | Corvette | N/A | 1979 | N/A | N/A |
Reference: Winklareth p. 292-293
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Winklareth, p. 292.
- ^ Preston, p. 65—Extract. (Tegetthoff class was also known as the Viribus Unitus class).
- ^ Vego, p. 30—Extract.
- ^ Winklareth, p. 293.
- ^ Disp.=displacement in tons. For commercial vessels (ie ocean liners), it represents gross tonnage (GRT).
- ^ Asterisk indicates that this is the only ship in its class.
- ^ Not to be confused with the Radetzky class battleship.
- ^ Most of Austria-Hungary's ships were confiscated as part of war reparations by the victorious Allies after World War One.
- ^ Not to be confused with the Tegetthoff class battleships, which came later.
- ^ Also known as the Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand class.
- ^ Also known as the Viribus Unitis class.
- ^ a b List may be incomplete.
[edit] References
- Capital ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Historical Handbook of World Navies website.
- Ships built by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, Naval History Flixco website.
- Chesneau, Koleśnik & Campbell (1979): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905, Conway, ISBN 0851771335, pp. 267-277. Extract.
- Winklareth, Robert J. (2000): Naval Shipbuilders of the World - From the Age of Sail to the Present Day, Chatham Publishing, ISBN 1 86176 121 X, pp. 292-293.
- Preston, Anthony (2002): The World's Worst Warships, Conway Publishing, ISBN 0851777546, p. 65.
- Vego, Milan N. (1996): Austro-Hungarian Naval Policy, 1904-14, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0714642096, p. 30.
