1/1250th scale SMS Leitha (1894)

The [u]monitor[/u] was an innovation in the history of warship construction. The first European river monitors were constructed by the [u]Austro-Hungarian Monarchy[/u], namely the SMS Leitha and SMS Maros, and since then the river warships of the Monarchy were built in pairs. According to the customs of that time, river warships were named after the rivers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The names were chosen to reflect the dual ([u]Imperial and Royal[/u], Austrian and Hungarian) nature of the monarchy; thus, one of the ships received an Austrian name, the other one a Hungarian. This is the reason why this warship was named after the Austrian river [u]Leitha[/u] (in Hungarian "Lajta"), while her sister ship was named after a Hungarian river, the [u]Maros[/u].

Source: [u]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Leitha[/u]