Eduard Nezbeda, ‘Die Seeschlacht von Lissa, 1866’. oil painting, 1911, private collection, Vienna. Portrayal of the Austrian triple-decker wooden battleship Kaiser (centre of picture) ramming the Italian ironclad Re di Portogallo. The Kaiser suffered substantial damage in the engagement, and the results can be seen in the post-battle photographs reproduced below. Reproduced in A.E. Sokol, Seemacht Österreich. Die Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine 1382-1918 {Austrian Seapower: The Imperial and Royal Navy 1382-1918}, F. Molden, Wien, 1972.
The ram, in retrospect, is one of the most curious features of the ironclad period. Yet the reasoning was quite respectable. For the first time since the heyday of the oared galley, a warship was controllable independently of the wind because it now had steam power, and its adversary being heavily clad with iron was vulnerable to being holed under water. Moreover, the alternative means of defeating an opponent – battering with gunfire – might well be ineffective against armour. Therefore – the ram. The theoretical attractions were enhanced in conditions of smooth water and confined areas. Most of the experience in the American Civil War showed that however good the theory, in practice it did not work very well.
