Austro-Italian ironclad arms race
In the years after Ferdinand Max's departure from Austria, the Imperial Austrian Navy suffered under further political and budgetary constraints. In April 1864, it was proposed that the naval ministry, which the former Archduke had helped to establish, be disbanded. In January 1865, Emperor Franz Joseph I dissolved the ministry and the Imperial Austrian Navy was again placed under the jurisdiction of the Austrian Ministry of War. Under the 1865 budget, just 7,100,000 Florins were allocated towards naval expenses, but once more, none of the funds were designated for warship construction. In 1866, the naval budget grew slightly to 7,800,000 Florins, but for the third consecutive year there would be no funds for additional ironclads, or other warships. Thus, when the Seven Weeks War began in June 1866, the Imperial Austrian Navy would possess only ships which had been constructed during Ferdinand Max's tenure as "Oberkommandant der Marine".
Erzherzog Ferdinand Max-class ironclad
Both ships were still under construction at the outbreak of the Seven Weeks' War in June 1866; the shipyard workers quickly completed the vessels, albeit with old smooth-bore guns instead of the Krupp rifled breech-loaders that were intended. "Erzherzog Ferdinand Max" served as the flagship of the Austrian fleet under Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff. The two ships saw action at the Battle of Lissa in July 1866, where "Erzherzog Ferdinand Max" rammed and sank the Italian ironclad . This proved to be the turning point of the engagement, forcing the Italian commander, Admiral Carlo Pellion di Persano to withdraw. "Habsburg", however, was not seriously engaged during the battle. Neither ship received significant damage in the battle, and they spent the rest of the war patrolling the Adriatic against a possible sortie from the Italian fleet. After the war, the ships were disarmed and laid up.