- SMS Leopard
SMS "Leopard" was a so-called "torpedo ram cruiser" ("Torpedo-Rammkreuzer)" of the
Austro-Hungarian Navy . She and her sister ship, SMS "Panther", were part of a program to build up Austria-Hungary's fleet of torpedo craft in the 1880s.Design
The Austro-Hungarian Navy Commander ("
Marinekommandant "), ViceAdmiral Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck , outlined in a memorandum of8 September 1884 the requirements for a torpedo ram cruiser. Such a vessel should have a reinforced bow forramming as well as torpedoes for attacks on larger warships. The cruisers would also be small and fast enough to undertake patrol andreconnaissance duties.When funds for two vessels were approved by the Austro-Hungarian Reichstag, bids were solicited from British builders. The order went to the firm of
W.G. Armstrong of Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, and its chief designer,William White (afterwards the British Director of Naval Construction from 1885 to 1902).As designed by White, "Leopard" was a steel-hulled vessel of 1,557 tons
displacement . She measured 240 feet nine inches in length with a beam of 34 feet 11 inches and a draft (as completed) of 14 feet five inches.Propulsion was supplied by twocompound steam engines with four cylindricalboilers , giving a maximum speed of 19.4 knots. The crew numbered 186 officers and men.Original
armament of "Leopard" comprised two 12cm Krupp guns, four 4.7cm quick-firing guns, six 4.7cm revolver cannon and four 14-inch torpedo tubes. The torpedo tubes were located singly, in the bow,stern , and at either beam. Leopard was built with as pronounced a ram bow as the larger Austro-Hungarian warships of the time.ervice
"Leopard" was launched 10 September 1885. The Austro-Hungarian supervising naval architect,
Siegfried Popper , found that the ship's draft aft was four feet 11 inches deeper than intended.After lengthy disagreement, White (by now DNC) and theshipyard admitted the error, which was partly offset through a redistribution a weight, reducing the excessive draft to two feet five inches.Upon completion, "Leopard" was leader of a
torpedo boat flotilla . She and "Panther" represented Austria-Hungary at theBarcelona World's Exposition in 1888. In 1891 "Leopard's" four 4.7cm quick-firing guns were replaced with ten 4.7cm guns. She was reclassified as a 3rd Class cruiser in 1903 and as a small cruiser ("Kleiner Kreuzer ") in 1909. Also in 1909, the aft torpedo tube was removed and four 6.6cm guns were added to her armament."Leopard" was taken out of service and placed in reserve in 1910. The "Panther", however, was used for shore bombardment and as a seagoing training ship during the First World War, andwas decommissioned only weeks before Austria-Hungary's collapse. In the spring of 1915 "Leopard" briefly served as a training ship for the torpedo school. She was employed for subsidiary local defense at
Pola from May 1915 to November 1918. Both ships were then allocated to Britain as a war reparation in 1920, but subsequently sold and scrapped in Italy.References
* Jane's Fighting Ships 1914.
* Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921
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