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Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino

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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.

Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Company typeDefunct (merged 1929)
IndustryNaval and commercial shipbuilding
Founded1857
Headquarters
Trieste
,
Austria (later Italy)
ServicesShip repair

After World War I, Trieste was annexed by Italy and the firm built naval and commercial vessels for its new host country. STT was merged with another Italian shipbuilding firm, Cantiere Navale Triestino, in 1929 to form Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CRDA). As CRDA Trieste, its shipyards remained active well into the postwar period, becoming part of the Fincantieri group in 1984.

History

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Austro-Hungarian ownership

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SMS Viribus Unitis, a dreadnought built by STT for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1911

Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino had its origins in a private shipyard founded by Gaspare 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 Habsburg class, all three of the Radetzky class, and three of the four Tegetthoff class.[2] It also built the three coastal defence battleships of the Monarch class.

In 1909 Rudolf Montecuccoli, chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, pressured STT (together with Škoda) to start work on two dreadnoughts, Viribus Unitis and Tegetthoff, even though approval of the budget for them was held up in the Austro-Hungarian Reichstag – being concerned about Italy and France embarking on dreadnought projects of their own. Montecuccoli was compelled to resort to an intricate web of propaganda and deception to camouflage the fact that the new ships did not have Reichstag approval. He asserted that industry was financing the construction of two dreadnoughts on speculation; this was completely untrue, and both STT and Skoda were extremely nervous about the subterfuge. In the event, the two ships could not be laid down until after Montecuccoli took an expensive 32 million crown credit in 1910 upon his own responsibility. The parliamentary approval was only granted in March 1911, when the dreadnoughts were already under construction. STT then also got the contract for the Prinz Eugen.

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.

Italian ownership

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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 SS Conte di Savoia was also constructed there 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]

Production

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STT (Austria-Hungary)

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The following table lists the capital ships built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. An asterisk denotes a unique ship.

Capital ships
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 Italy in 1919,[8] scrapped 1921
Erzherzog Albrecht Centre-battery * 1874 6,500 To Italy in 1920, scrapped 1955
Laudon Screw frigate Radetzky 1875 4,000 To SHS 1919, to Italy in 1921, scrapped 1924
Custoza Centre-battery * 1875 7,700 To Italy in 1919, scrapped after collision, 1925
SMS 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
SMS Tegetthoff Centre-battery Tegetthoff[9] 1881 8,000 To Italy in 1919, scrapped after 1921
SMS Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie Battleship * 1887 5,631 To Italy in 1919, scrapped 1926
SMS Tiger Torpedo cruiser * 1888 1,683 To Italy in 1919, scrapped 1920
SMS Kaiser Franz Joseph I Torpedo/ram cruiser Kaiser Franz Joseph I 1890 4,500 Capsized and sank, Oct 1919
SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth Torpedo/ram cruiser Kaiser Franz Joseph I 1892 4,500 Scuttled Nov 1914 at Qingdao, China
SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia Armoured cruiser * 1895 6,000 To United Kingdom in 1919, scrapped 1921
SMS Monarch Coastal defence Monarch 1898 5,878 To United Kingdom in 1919, scrapped 1921
SMS Wien Coastal defence Monarch 1898 5,878 Torpedoed 1916, salvaged 1925, fate unknown
SMS Budapest Coastal defence Monarch 1898 5,878 To United Kingdom in 1919, scrapped 1921
SMS Kaiser Karl VI Armoured cruiser * 1900 7,000 To United Kingdom in 1919, scrapped 1922
SMS Habsburg Battleship Habsburg 1902 N/A To United Kingdom in 1919, scrapped 1922
SMS Árpád Battleship Habsburg 1903 N/A To United Kingdom in 1919, scrapped 1922
SMS Babenberg Battleship Habsburg 1904 N/A To United Kingdom in 1919, scrapped 1922
SMS Erzherzog Karl Battleship Erzherzog Karl 1906 11,000 To France in 1919, scrapped 1921
SMS Erzherzog Friedrich Battleship Erzherzog Karl 1907 11,000 To France in 1919, scrapped 1921
SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max Battleship Erzherzog Karl 1907 11,000 To United Kingdom in 1919, scrapped 1921
SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand Battleship Radetzky[10] 1908 15,000 To Italy in 1918, scrapped 1922
SMS Radetzky Battleship Radetzky 1911 16,000 To South Slavic 1918, scrapped 1922
SMS Zrínyi Battleship Radetzky 1911 16,000 To South Slavic 1918, scrapped 1922
SMS Tegetthoff Battleship Tegetthoff[11] 1913 21,000 To South Slavic in 1918, to Italy in 1918, scrapped in 1924
SMS Viribus Unitis Battleship Tegetthoff 1912 21,000 To South Slavic in 1918, scrapped 1920-1922
SMS Prinz Eugen Battleship Tegetthoff 1914 21,000 To South Slavic in 1918, to Italy in 1919, to France in 1920, sunk as target 1922
SMS Ersatz Monarch Battleship Ersatz Monarch N/A 25,000 Cancelled 1915
SMS 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

STT (Italy)

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The following table lists ships built by STT after the Italian takeover.[12]

Production
Ship Type Class Built Disp. Notes
Trieste Cruiser Trento 1926 13,545 Sunk by bombing, 1943
SS Conte Grande Ocean liner N/A 1928 25,661 Scrapped 1961

Reference: Winklareth p. 292

CRDA Trieste

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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]

Production
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 Light cruiser Condottieri 1931 7,113 Scrapped, 1951
SS Conte di Savoia Ocean liner N/A 1932 48,502 Scuttled 1943
Muzio Attendolo Light cruiser Montecuccoli 1935 8,994 Sunk by bombing, 1942
Giuseppe Garibaldi Light cruiser Duca degli Abruzzi 1937 11,735 Converted to guided missile cruiser, 1957, scrapped 1972
Vittorio Veneto Battleship Littorio 1940 45,752 Scrapped 1946?
Roma Battleship Littorio 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
MS Augustus Ocean liner N/A 1952 27,090 operating as restaurant ship, MS Philippines, in 1999. Sold for scrap in 2012
SS Raffaello Ocean liner N/A 1965 45,933 Sold to Iran and converted as floating barracks, 1977, sunk by bombing in 1983

Reference: Winklareth pp. 292–293

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Winklareth, p. 292.
  2. ^ Preston, p. 65—Extract. (the Tegetthoff class was also known as the Viribus Unitus class).
  3. ^ Vego, p. 30—Extract.
  4. ^ Winklareth, p. 293.
  5. ^ Disp.=displacement in tons. For commercial vessels (ie ocean liners), it represents gross tonnage (GRT).
  6. ^ Asterisk indicates that this is the only ship in its class.
  7. ^ Not to be confused with the Radetzky-class battleship.
  8. ^ Most of Austria-Hungary's ships were confiscated as part of war reparations by the victorious Allies after World War One.
  9. ^ Not to be confused with the Tegetthoff-class battleships, which came later.
  10. ^ Also known as the Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand class.
  11. ^ Also known as the Viribus Unitis class.
  12. ^ a b List may be incomplete.

References

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  • 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 0-85177-133-5, pp. 267–277. Extract.
  • Preston, Antony (2002): The World's Worst Warships, Conway Publishing, ISBN 0-85177-754-6, p. 65.
  • Vego, Milan N. (1996): Austro-Hungarian Naval Policy, 1904–14, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-7146-4209-6, p. 30.
  • 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.
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