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Tegetthoff, Wilhelm von
© Copyright Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, lithograph by J. Kriehuber, 1866 Tegetthoff, Wilhelm von, b. Maribor, Slovenia (then Marburg), Dec. 23, 1827, d. Vienna, April 7, 1871, most important admiral of the Austrian navy. 1840-1845 at the Austrian navy college in Venice; given his first independent command in 1854. Was among the first to call for the introduction of steam ship construction. As commander-in-chief of the Austro-Prussian squadron defeated the Danish navy (German-Danish War) at Helgoland on May 9, 1864. 1866 in the Austro-Prussian War Tegetthoff won the naval battle against an Italian fleet of superior strength at Lissa on July 20, by ramming the enemy´s ships (awarded the military order "Kommandeurkreuz des Militär-Maria Theresien-Ordens"). 1866/67 went on study trips to France, Great Britain and to the USA. 1868 became head of the navy department of the Ministry of War. While reorganizing the Austrian navy he encountered distrust and fierce opposition, yet his reforms remained in force until World War I and formed the basis of the sea power of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Literature: H. H. Sokol and P. Handel-Mazzetti, W. v. T., 1952; U. Schöndorfer, W. v. T., 1958; K. Müller, T. Marsch in die Nordsee, 1991.
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