The battleship or ship of the line Viribus Unitis was named after the motto With United Forces of Emperor and King Francis Joseph I, also a legendary person whose reign lasted from 1848 to 1916 and most of the subjects of the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Monarchy did not know any other ruler. The ship itself did not long outlive Francis Joseph and his empire, and its sinking also symbolized the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the separation of the once united states and peoples of that complex empire and kingdom. Szent István also represented the pinnacle of shipbuilding in the Hungarian-Croatian part of the Monarchy, it was the newest battleship of the Imperial and Royal Fleet, and it was sunk by torpedoes fired by Italian motor torpedo boats, small Davids compared to the Austro-Hungarian Goliath, which proved that the big battleships, however, did not meet the requirements of the Adriatic front.