Drache-class ironclad

Drache at anchor after her 1867 refit
Class overview
Builders	Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, Trieste
Operators	Austria–Hungary
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Kaiser Max class
Built	1861–1862
In commission	1862–1883
Completed	2
Scrapped	2
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Ironclad armored frigate
Displacement	Normal: 2,824 long tons (2,869 t) Full load: 3,110 long tons (3,160 t)
Length	70.1 m (230 ft)
Beam	13.94 m (45 ft 9 in)
Draft	6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Installed power	2,060 ihp (1,540 kW) 4 Boilers
Propulsion	1 Shaft, 1 Steam engine
Sail plan	Barque-rigged
Speed	10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph)
Complement	346
Armament	1862: 10 × 48-pounder smoothbore guns 18 × 24-pounder rifled, muzzle-loading guns 1867: 10 × RML 7-inch (178 mm) guns 2 × RML 2-inch (51 mm) guns
Armor	Waterline belt: 115 mm (4.5 in)

The Drache-class ironclads were a pair of wooden-hulled armored frigates built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1860s, the first ironclads built for Austria-Hungary. Ordered in response to a pair of Italian ironclads in 1860, Drache and Salamander were laid down in early 1861, launched later that year, and completed in 1862. They participated in the Austrian victory over the Italians in the Battle of Lissa, where Drache destroyed the coastal defense ship Palestro, one of two Italian ships sunk in the action. Both ships were withdrawn from front-line service in 1875. Drache's hull was in poor condition, so she was discarded and eventually broken up in 1883, and Salamander became a harbor guard ship. She was hulked in 1883 and converted into floating storage for naval mines before being scrapped in 1895–1896.