steam for at a speed of . Armament Constructed at the Škoda Works in Plzeň, Bohemia, the Tegetthoffs main battery consisted of twelve 45-calibre Škoda K10 guns mounted in four triple turrets. Two turrets each were mounted forward and aft of the main superstructure in a superfiring pair. The implementation of triple turrets came about for two reasons: the need to ensure the ships had a more compact design and smaller displacement to conform to Austro-Hungarian naval doctrine and budget constraints, and to counter the implementation of triple turrets on the Italian Dante Alighieri. While the Italians had initiated construction on Dante Alighieri before work had begun on the Tegetthoff class, the shipyards in Trieste were able to construct Viribus Unitis faster than their Italian counterparts and she was commissioned in December 1912, just a month before Dante Alighieri. This made the Tegetthoffs the first dreadnoughts in the world with triple turrets, in which the Austro-Hungarian Navy took great pride. Having three guns on each turret rather than two made it possible to deliver a heavier broadside than other dreadnoughts of a similar size and meant a shorter citadel and better weight distribution. The choice of implementing triple turrets also assisted in the construction speed of the first two ships, as the guns were available at short notice because Škoda had already been working on a triple-turret design ordered by the Imperial Russian Navy when their initial order for the Tegetthoff class arrived. The Tegetthoffs carried a secondary armament which consisted of a dozen 50-calibre Škoda K10 guns mounted in casemates amidships. Additionally, eighteen 50-calibre Škoda K10 guns were mounted on open pivot mounts on the upper deck, above the casemates. Three more Škoda K10 guns were mounted on the upper turrets for anti-aircraft duties. Two additional Schwarzlose M.07/12 anti-aircraft machine guns were mounted atop the armoured cupolas of each ship's rangefinders. Each ship had two Škoda G. L/18 landing guns, and two Škoda SFK L/44 S guns for use against small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and submarines. Each ship was also fitted with four submerged torpedo tubes, one each in the bow, the stern, and each side. Each ship usually carried twelve torpedoes. Armor The Tegetthoff-class ships were protected at the waterline with an armor belt which measured thick in the central citadel, where the most important parts of the ship were located. This armor belt