The riverine monitor, SMS Leitha, launched in 1871, is now a museum ship moored in the Danube River, beside the parliament building in Budapest, Hungary.
Leitha flyer. The location and website, with opening hours and costs, can be found here: www.zoltanalapitvany.hu
The Royal Austro-Hungarian monitor, SMS Leitha and her sister Maros, were Europe's first riverine monitors. They were designed and built in the Austro-Hungarian empire for service on the Danube. Due to the shallowness of the river, they had an extremely low draft of only 1.3 metres. If you visit and tour the ship, you will understand the limitations this made for both the builders and the crew. One way the builders achieved the shallow draft was the make the hull and deck curved. This allowed the ships engines and the turret mechanism to be squeezed into a small space in the centre of the ship. For the poor crew however, there is almost no place in which one can stand without having to stoop.
The Leitha and Maros enjoyed long and active careers. They were first used in anger on the Sava River in 1878 against the Turks during the invasion of Bosnia. They were used again during the Great War in the invasion of Serbia, sailing up the Danube to the confluence of the Sava to shell Belgrade. The Leitha took significant damage during the war, including a direct hit on her main turret, killing the entire gun crew.
The ship survived the war and went to serve in the Hungarian riverine navy until she was retired in 1921. The ship was then disarmed and converted into a floating gravel barge, a function she served until she was recognized for what she was in 1970. The company that operated the barge sold her in 1992 and she was purchased for restoration, which was completed in 2009. She has operated as a museum ship since that time.
The Leitha, in her original layout, was armed with two breech loading Wahrendorf guns in a single twin turret on the foredeck. As the Leitha had a long active service life - much longer that most other monitors - she was rebuilt and rearmed several times (see photos below).
Looking west from the focastle.
The Leitha is moored right in front of Budapest's magnificent parliament building.
The back of the turret
Air vents and open steering position on the flying bridge. Ahead you can see the armored conning tower mounted atop the turret.
A view across the Nordenfeld multi-barrel gun towards Buda. You can see the spire of Matthias Church and the royal palace.
The armored conning tower.
The turret underside, including the ammunition racks.
The lower steering position in the rear gallery. Here you will find an interesting display of three models showing the ship at various points in its career. In the 1880s the original single turret was replaced with two single gun turrets mounted fore and aft. The open deck was also enclosed to provide crew quarters - a very welcome addition in what was an extremely small and cramped ship.
This view better shows the improved secondary armament mounted atop the new armored conning tower and on the rear of the new superstructure. This was the ship's configuration at the beginning of the Great War.
By the end of the Great War, the Leitha had been modernized further. The rear turret was replaced with a trio of quick firing gun turrets. These were more effective weapons that the old 10.2 inch guns she mounted in 1914. The larger superstructure, which had provided more housing and space for a crew in a peacetime navy, was cut back to provide better deck access between the fore and aft sections of the deck. The ship received a new mast with radio receivers and observation tower.
A photo of the Leitha as a gravel elevator barge. She has come a long way.
This very interesting plaque shows some of the surviving monitors around the world. The Dutch monitors, Schorpion and Buffel are missing, but they could possibly be described simply as turret ships and not traditionally low-freeboard monitors. In the bottom left is Australia's contribution to world maritime heritage, the HMVS Cerberus, whose remains lie in Half Moon Bay, south of Melbourne in deplorable condition. The wreck is at extreme risk of destruction through the combined, deliberate actions of the local, state and Federal government, whose plans to 'preserve' the ship by encasing her wreck in concrete defy all logic. For more details, check here: www.cerberus.com.au
The deportees monument, remembering Budapest's Jewish and other residents deported to concentration camps during the Second World War. It's quite evocative.
I have a particular interest in 19th century warships and I'll be posting more stories and photos up shortly. Here are a couple of interesting links:
A very good article about the Leitha and Sava: https://roadstothegreatwar-ww1.blogspot.com/2019/01/austria-hungarys-river-navy.html
Another surviving and restored Austro-Hungarian monitor is the SMS Bodrog (Austrian service) / Sava (Yugoslav service): http://www.doppeladler.com/da/kuk/sms-bodrog-schwimmt-wieder/
The Austro-Hungarian monitor Bodrog went on to Serbian service as the Sava. Here are photos of the ship under restoration: http://www.marineverband.at/berichte/komarno.htm
Museum Ships website: https://museumships.us/hungary/leitha
The tragic tale of neglect that is that HMVS Cerberus: http://cerberus.com.au/
Our visits to -
1. Royal Dutch Monitor Buffel: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/08/hnlms-buffel-rotterdam.html
2. The HMVS Cerberus: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/10/hm-victorian-ship-cerberus-melbourne.html
USS Olympia museum: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2020/01/uss-olympia-independence-seaport.html
3. USS Cairo museum: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/10/uss-cairo-1862-vicksburg-usa.html
4. USS Monitor museum: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/10/uss-monitor-centre-newport-news-usa.html
5. CSS Hunley museum: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/10/hl-hunley-charleston-usa.html
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