SMS Viribus Unitis was the first Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the Tegetthoff class. Its name was the personal motto of emperor Franz Joseph I.

Viribus Unitis was built at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino yard of Trieste.

After it was clear that Austria-Hungary had lost World War I, the Austrian government decided to give the ship, along with much of the fleet, to the newly-formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. This move would have avoided handing the fleet to the Allies, since the new state had declared neutrality. However, the now-idle Viribus Unitis and the rest of the former Austro-Hungarian fleet were soon targeted by the Italian Regia Marina. Viribus Unitis was sunk at anchor at Pula by a limpet mine attached by the crew of an Italian mignatta human torpedo on 1 November 1918, three days before the end of the war and only hours after command had been assumed by the new Croatian captain.

The command was given to abandon ship and lacking leadership the crew made no attempt to save the vessel. It capsized in 15 minutes. The captain Janko Vukovic, saluting from the hull, went down with the ship.The ship went down with a Croatian flag. The Italian crew were interned until the end of the war.

Two deactivated shells from the ship's main guns form part of the Faro della Vittoria (Victory Lighthouse) built on a hill above Trieste as a war memorial in the 1920s. This also includes the anchor of the torpedo-boat Audace, the first Italian warship to enter Trieste at the end of World War I.

A meticulously detailed cut-away model of SMS Viribus Unitis, about 6 m long, is on display at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna.

The ships anchor, as well as that of her sister ship (Tegetthoff) can be seen at the entrance to the Naval History Museum in Venice Italy. The museum also has, on display, segments of the mignatta human torpedo used to sink Viribus Unitis.

References

See also

• Tegetthoff class battleship
• List of ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy
• List of ship launches in 1911
• List of ship commissionings in 1912
• List of shipwrecks in 1918
• The S.M.S. Viribus Unitis was recently selected as the main motif of a very high value collectors' coin: the Austrian S.M.S. Viribus Unitis commemorative coin, minted in September 13 2006. The obverse side shows the flagship Viribus Unitis as seen from the deck of an accompanying ship in the fleet. Two other ships of an older class can be seen in the background.

External links

• Tegetthoff class drednoughts - the primary online source for this topic since 1998
• Austro-Hungarian Navy
• 3D images