|
Shternek Maximilian (14.02.1829– 05.12.1897)
Born in Klagenfurt. His ancestors, people from Bohemia, moved to Austria in 1620. Shternek received a naval education, in 1859 received the rank of lieutenant commander. He became famous in the battle of Lisse in 1866, where the Austro-Hungarian fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthof defeated the Italian fleet superior to him quantitatively and qualitatively. Shternek commanded the flagship "Archduke Ferdinand Max", rammed the flagship Italian battleship "Re d'Italia", which, having received a terrible hole, turned over and quickly sank. For service in battle, Shternek was awarded the military order of Maria Theresa. The battle of Lisse raised the question of the need to reorganize and modernize the fleet, and in solving this problem the role AT In 1869, Shternek with the rank of full captain was appointed commander of the port of Paul. During this period, he began developing a coastal defense system.
In 1872, already in the rank of Rear Admiral Sternek, took part in the historic Austro-Hungarian expedition of J. Payer and C. Weyprecht, who discovered the Franz Josef Land archipelago in 1873. He commanded the auxiliary vessel “Isbjörn”, which laid food depots on Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya. From 1883 with the rank of vice-admiral, and from 1888 full admiral until his death, Sternek commanded the Austro-Hungarian fleet, making efforts to modernize it.
He died in Vienna. His body was buried in the Catholic Sea Church, the construction of which was initiated by Shternek, and his heart was placed in the family crypt in the castle of Krastovice. An islet near the north coast of the island of West Spitsbergen. Strait between the island of Greeley and the islands of Kuna and Kane in the archipelago of Franz Josef Land. Discovered in 1874 by Y. Paier during the second expedition toboggan. |
