 In the 1890s , the Austro @-@ Hungarian Navy began building large , modern cruisers , beginning with the protected cruisers of the Kaiser Franz Joseph I class . The Marinesektion , the executive committee of the Navy , decided to follow the Kaiser Franz Joseph I @-@ class ships with a more powerful vessel , a larger , better armed armored cruiser , as the type had begun to gain prominence in foreign navies . The Austro @-@ Hungarians requested design proposals from five British shipyards , though none of them were awarded the contract . The Navy gave the contract for " torpedo @-@ ram cruiser C " , as it was provisionally titled , to Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino , the Austrian dockyard in Trieste . The two subsequent armored cruisers , Kaiser Karl VI and Sankt Georg , were improved versions of this design . 
