SMS Warasdiner was a destroyer launched in 1913 as Lung Tuan, intended for sale to China. She was taken over by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1914, renamed and rearmed. She served in World War I with the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Following the war, the ship was ceded to Italy and scrapped.
Construction and design
In 1912, China placed an order for a single destroyer with the Austrian shipyard Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino of Trieste. The design of the destroyer, to be named Lung Tuan, was based on that of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's, which had entered service between 1905 and 1911. Like the Huszárs, Lung Tuan was to be powered by two triple expansion steam engines, fed by four Yarrow boilers, rated at, driving two shafts, although at, the ship was slightly faster than the Huszár class. The ship's hull was long at the waterline and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of. Displacement was standard and deep load. The ship was to be armed with two 12-pounder QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun| and four 3-pounder QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss| guns, all supplied by Armstrong Whitworth of Great Britain and two torpedo tubes. Lung Tuan was laid down in 1912 and launched in 1913. Although the Huszár class and therefore Lung Tuan were obsolete by 1913, the Chinese government ordered a further 12 destroyers from STT that year, partly due to the low price.
Service
Lung Tuan was virtually complete when Austria-Hungary declared war with Serbia on 28 July 1914, beginning the First World War. Lung Tuan was seized by Austria-Hungary on 1 August and towed to Pola where she was re-armed with Austrian weapons, receiving a gun outfit of two Škoda 7 cm guns| L/45 Skoda guns and four 6.6 cm L/30 guns, together with four 45 cm torpedo tubes. Renamed Warasdiner, the ship entered service with the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 10 September 1914. Warasdiner served for the remainder of the First World War. On 18–19 June 1915, the Austro-Hungarian Navy carried out a series of raids against towns on the Italian Adriatic coast, with Warasdiner shelling Monopoli, south-east of Bari on 19 June. On 5 December 1915 Warasdiner was returning from another raid on the coast of Italy when she sank the, which had run aground off Cattaro. On 2 August 1916Warasdiner and sister ship were returning from bombarding the Italian city ofMolfetta when they encountered the French destroyers and and the Italian destroyers Ardito and Impavido. The French and Italian destroyers set off in pursuit of the Austro-Hungarian ships, but broke off the chase as they neared the Austrian base of Cattaro, when the Austrian cruiser and two torpedo boats sortied in support of Warasdiner and Wildfang. She was ceded to Italy in 1920 and scrapped.
