40 The launch of the Szent István on 17 January 1914
happened. All has gone smoothly, only the leg of one man was wounded by the anchor chain.”295 In the evening a party was given at the Governor’s Palace for the illustrious guests. During this event a congratulating telegram from the Emperor arrived which contained the phrase which had been cancelled by Franz Ferdinand from the archduchess’s speech.296 It was a great satisfaction for the Hungarian government and the representatives of the shipyard. Count Tisza asked Maria Theresia to read aloud the telegram and made publish it in the newspapers. On the order of Fiume’s Governor, István Wickenburg the port was illuminated that evening. From the Launch to the Commissioning At the time of her launch the Szent István was in 66 percent complete. In contrast to her sisters, she was launched with bow and stern armor plates on. After the launch she was towed to Pola where she was examined in the great floating dock of the Navy between 9 and 17 February. Three days after the launch and one day after Pliskovac’s death the
Vienna Social Democrat newspaper “Arbeiter Zeitung” criticized the Danubius shipyard in an article titled “Der Blut-Dreadnought” (The Bloody Dreadnought) stating that many grave accidents had occurred during the construction thanks to the hunger for profit of the owners of the shipyard. The article accused Manfréd Weisz and his (alleged) greed as being the primary cause of the unconscionably high number of accidents. On the basis of the abovementioned article the Navy made an investigation into the yard that resulted in clearing the Danubius of the accusations of the newspaper. It was concluded that the actual number of the accidents was much less than the alleged number published in the article.297 The gravest accident in the Danubius occurred on 26 November 1913 when the 100 ton crane which was under construction collapsed causing the deaths of three workers.298 As mentioned above, because the Navy considered the positioning of the searchlights on the STT built ships less than satisfactory, the searchlight plan of the Szent István was modified. This modification added a surplus weight of 54.4 tons to the superstructure high above the waterline.299
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