"Zrínyi" was 138.8 m (455 ft 4 in) long, and had a beam of 24.6 m (80 ft 8 in) and a draft of 8.1 m (26 ft 9 in). She displaced normally, and up to with a full combat load. She was powered by two-shaft four-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines rated at 19,800 indicated horsepower. The ship had a top speed of . "Zrínyi" was the first warship in the Austro-Hungarian Navy to use fuel oil to supplement her 12 Yarrow-type coal-fired boilers. She had a maximum range of at a cruising speed of .