SMS Temes

It was a monitor of the Danube flotilla. It was delivered in Újpest in 1904 and put into service in same year. On the first day of the Great War, on July 29, it participated in the shelling of Belgrade. On October 23, 1914, it hit a mine near Grabovica and sank. After the defeat of Serbia, it was raised in 1916, repaired and modernized in Budapest. It was put into service again in 1917. In 1918, it first became a British, then Yugoslav, and later, from 1920, Romanian property. It was dismantled in 1955. The model exhibited in the Vienna Museum of Military History shows this ship, delivered in 1904.

The history of the Temes is particularly interesting because in 1915, another, newer monitor was delivered under the same name. More precisely, this ship was named SMS Temes 2. The photo attached to the post shows this ship. The biggest difference is that on the previous ship, the two 120 mm guns were placed in separate turrets built on both sides of the ship. On the Temes 2, the two guns were installed in one turret on the ship’s centerline.

After the Temes was raised, the Temes 2 was renamed Bosna. The Temes’ superstructure changed greatly with the modernization. Its armament was supplemented with two 9 mm dual-purpose (water-air) guns, which were placed on the stern in two new turrets on the centerline. The length of the ship also changed, becoming 3 m longer. The ship’s armament also included a 120 mm howitzer, two 37 mm cannons, and two machine guns. The ship’s armor was 40 mm, and the bridge and turrets were protected by 75 mm steel plate. The cap badge is crudely depicted, but judging by the tall funnel, its ship is definitely the 1904 version.