The Habsburg class was a group of pre-dreadnought battleships built by Austria-Hungary at the turn of the 20th century.

They were armed with three 24 cm (9.4 in) guns in two turrets and were capable of slightly better than 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph) at full speed.

Babenberg and Árpád bombarded the Italian port of Ancona in 1915, but the three battleships were largely inactive for the remainder of their service.

All three ships were ultimately ceded to Great Britain following the end of the war; they were sold to Italian ship-breakers and scrapped in 1921.

Habsburg's powerplant was rated at 15,063 indicated horsepower (11,232 kW), which produced a top speed of 19.62 knots (36.34 km/h; 22.58 mph).

Árpád's system was slightly less efficient, at 14,307 ihp (10,669 kW), though it achieved a comparable speed of 19.65 knots (36.39 km/h; 22.61 mph) on trials.

Babenberg had the most powerful engines of the three, which ran at 16,000 ihp (12,000 kW) and provided a top speed of 19.85 knots (36.76 km/h; 22.84 mph).

All of these guns were emplaced in single mounts, either on the upper decks and superstructure, or in casemates at the bow and stern.

[1] With the exception of the main battery 24 cm weapons, all of the guns carried on the ships were manufactured by Škoda Works in Pilsen.

[3] The main armored belt was 220 mm (8.7 in) in the central portion of each ship, where the ammunition magazines, machinery spaces, and other critical areas were located.

[1] The main battery turrets were protected by armor plate that was 210 mm (8.3 in) thick on the sides and faces of the gun mounts.

[10] At the outbreak of World War I in late July 1914, Habsburg was serving as the flagship of the III Battleship Division of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, under the command of Captain Miklós Horthy, alongside her two sisters.

At around the same time, she was mobilized along with her sister ships Árpád and Babenberg and the remainder of the Austro-Hungarian Navy to support the flight of SMS Goeben and Breslau.

The two German ships were stationed in the Mediterranean and were attempting to break out of the strait of Messina, which was surrounded by British troops and vessels and make their way to Turkey.

[12] After Italy entered the war on the side of France and England, the Austro-Hungarian navy bombarded several Italian installations; Babenberg took part in the attack on Ancona in 1915.