Anton von Petz
Anton Freiherr von Petz ( born January 21, 1819 in Venitze, Transylvania, † May 7, 1885 in Trieste ) was an imperial Austro- Hungarian Vice Admiral and Knight of the Order of Maria Theresa.
Life
Petz occurred after completion of the Naval College Venice in 1837 as a cadet in the Imperial Navy one. The allied British- Turkish-Austrian expedition against Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt, in 1840, he made aboard the SMS Guerriera under the command of Archduke Friedrich with. Numerous embarkations followed, including in 1842 a ride on the frigate SMS Bellona to England as adjutant of the Archduke Frederick. Then Petz was three years professor of mathematics at the Naval College. During the blockade of Venice in 1848 he was first lieutenant on the "SMS Vulcan ". In the following years he was entrusted with the command of some smaller ships. During the war in 1859 he was Director of the equipment naval arsenal of Venice and Adlatus the naval commander.
In the Battle of Lissa on 18 July 1866, he led the ship SMS Kaiser of the Second Division of the fleet, which consisted of wooden boats. To cover some of the ships of his division, he rammed the wooden ship SMS Kaiser decided the Italian ironclad RN Rè Porto di Gallo. He damaged the Schanz disguise, but also suffered heavy damage itself. Numerous enemy shellfire led to further destruction, but also heavy losses among the crew. The commodore wanted to be brightly burning ship in the Port of San Giorgio di Lissa in safety, but the Italian ironclad RN Affondatore sought him to stop them. With his last grenade he could fend off the enemy and steer the ship safely into port. After the battle, to the victorious outcome he had contributed to his own, he was awarded on August 29, 1866 Maria Theresa Medal and promoted to Rear Admiral.
From October 1st 1866 to September 27, 1867 he was commander of the Naval Academy of Fiume. Subsequently, he served as a loyal assistant of the port admiral of Pula. In 1869, he was with the command of the expedition to the Far East - entrusted and South America, which mainly had economic backgrounds and should serve to signing agreements with countries of the two regions - Siam, China and Japan. With the frigate SMS Danube and the corvette SMS Archduke Friedrich, he entered on October 16, 1869 the long journey. After fulfilling their orders the expedition early in 1871 returned home. The SMS Danube crossed this, the Pacific and returned through the Strait of Magellan and the South Atlantic on 1 March to Pula back, while the SMS Archduke Friedrich undertook the journey back through the Suez Canal and on January 26 reached the home port. His career ended Petz as a vice admiral and Seebezirkskommandant of Trieste.
Petz was married to Elisabeth Narischkin ( born August 3, 1825 Trieste ). He is buried in the Cemetery (Cimitero Militare ) of Trieste.