SMS Zrinyi

SMS "Zrínyi" was a "Radetzky"-class pre-dreadnought battleship ("Schlachtschiff") of the Austro-Hungarian Navy ("K.u.K. Kriegsmarine"), named for the Zrinyis, a noble Hungarian family of Croatian origin. She was later briefly designated USS "Zrínyi" of the United States Navy following World War I.

Her keel was laid down on November 15, 1908, at the "Stabilimento Tecnico" of Trieste. She was launched on April 12, 1910, and completed in July 1911.

During World War I, "Zrínyi" served with the Second Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's battleships and took part in the bombardment of the key seaport of Ancona, Italy, on May 24, 1915. However, Allied control of the Strait of Otranto meant that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was, for all intents and purposes, effectively bottled up in the Adriatic. Nonetheless, their presence tied down a substantial force of Allied ships.

After the Habsburg Empire collapsed in 1918, the Austrians wanted to turn the fleet over to the newly-created State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (later to become the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in order to prevent the Italians from getting their hands on the ships. However, the victorious Allies refused to acknowledge the conversations between the Austrians and the south Slavs and, in due course, reallocated the ships.

"Zrínyi" had apparently been turned over to the fledgling south Slav state, as it was a Croat naval officer, "Korvettenkapitän" Marijan Polić, who turned over the ship as a prize of war to representatives of the United States Navy on the afternoon of November 22, 1919 at Spalato (also known as Split) in Dalmatia. Simultaneously she was commissioned as USS "Zrínyi" and Lieutenant E.E. Hazlett, USN, assumed command. The initial American complement consisted of four officers and 174 enlisted men — the latter entirely composed of United States Navy Reserve Force personnel.

"Zrínyi" remained at anchor at Spalato for nearly a year while the negotiations that would determine her ultimate fate dragged on. Only once in fact, did she apparently turn her engines over; and that occurred during a severe gale that struck Spalato on February 9, 1920.

On the morning of November 7, 1920, "Zrínyi" was decommissioned. USS|Chattanooga|CL-18|6 took her in tow and, assisted by USS|Brooks|DD-232|2 and USS|Hovey|DD-208|2, pulled the battleship to Papaja, Italy. Under the terms of the treaties of Versailles and St. Germain, "Zrínyi" was ultimately turned over to the Italian government at Venice. "Zrínyi" was later broken up for scrap.

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