NAVYPEDIA

Photo

Custoza Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Custoza		79	STT, San Rocco	17.11.1869	20.8.1872	2/1875	TS 1902, accommodation hulk 1914

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	7609
Displacement full, t	7731
Length, m	95.0 oa 92.1 pp
Breadth, m	17.7
Draught, m	7.90
No of shafts	1
Machinery	1 2-cyl HRCR, 8 rectangular boilers
Power, h. p.	4158
Max speed, kts	13.7
Fuel, t	coal 600
Endurance, nm(kts)	2800(10)
Armour, mm	wrought iron; belt: 230, casemates: 175 - 150
Armament	8 x 1 - 263/20 G. L/22 C.73, 6 x 1 - 87/22 G. L/24 M.75, 2 x 1 - 66/16 G. L/18
Complement	548

Standard scale images

Graphics

Project history

Chief Engineer Romako designed two casemate ships, Custoza and Erzherzog Albrecht - the first iron ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy - after studying the results of the Battle of Lissa. He arranged the guns at two levels, so that they could bear forward while the ship was speeding up to ram the enemy. His designs emphasised less speed and fewer guns, in favour of high defensive capability. Originally Custoza was fully-rigged, but the spars were reduced in 1877 to schooner rig with three square sails on the foremast.

Ship protection

229mm(amidships)-152mm-127mm(ends) belt protected all ship length and extended from 1.5m under wl to 2.1m above wl and was backed by 203mm teak layer. Two-deck casemate (16m long) was connected with upper edge of the belt and was backed by 260mm wood. Lower part was protected by 178mm sides and 127mm transverse bulkheads, upper part by 152mm sides and 127mm fwd and 114mm aft transverse bulkheads.

Modernizations

1882: + 4 - 350 TT (1 bow, 2 beam, 1 stern)

1890s: + 4 x 1 - 47/30 SFK L/33 H, 5 x 5 - 47/22 SFK L/25 H, 2 x 5 - 25/41 Nordenfeldt

Naval service

Custoza was named after the Battle of Custozza in northern Italy, but due to a spelling error in the official papers she was christened Custoza.  From 1914 she served as a workers' accommodation ship and in 1920 she was ceded to Italy as a war reparation.

Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.