Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 22, 2010

SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand was an Austro-Hungarian Radetzky class pre-dreadnought battleship commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 5 June 1910. Although SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand was laid down and commissioned after the launching of the HMS Dreadnought in 1906, her design was begun before and had the characteristics of a Pre-Dreadnought battleship rather than later Post-Dreadnought battleships. She was named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The first ship of her class to be built, she preceded SMS Radetzky by more than six months. Her armament included four 30.5 cm (12 in) guns in two twin turrets, and eight 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in four twin turrets. She participated in an international naval protest of the Balkan Wars in 1913, during which she helped enforce a blockade of Montenegro. She was also one of the first ships to deploy seaplanes for military use. During World War I, she saw limited service in the 2nd Division of the 1st Battle Squadron, including mobilization to assist the escape of the German ships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau and the bombardment of Ancona in 1915. (more...)

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