Yugoslav destroyer Beograd

Description and construction

The Beograd class was developed from a French design, and the name ship of the class, Beograd, was built by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire at Nantes, France. The ship had an overall length of 98 m (321 ft 6 in), a beam of 9.45 m (31 ft 0 in), and a normal draught of 3.18 m (10 ft 5 in). Her standard displacement was 1,210 tonnes (1,190 long tons), and she displaced 1,655 tonnes (1,629 long tons) at full load. The crew consisted of 145 officers and enlisted men. The ship was powered by Curtis steam turbines driving two propellors, using steam generated by three Yarrow water-tube boilers. Her turbines were rated at 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) and she was designed to reach a top speed of 38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph). She carried 120 tonnes (120 long tons) of fuel oil, which gave her a radius of action of 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km; 1,200 mi).

Her main armament consisted of four Škoda 120 mm (4.7 in) L/46 superfiring guns in single mounts, two forward of the superstructure and two aft, protected by gun shields. Her secondary armament consisted of four Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns in two twin mounts, located on either side of the aft shelter deck. She was also equipped with two triple mounts of 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes and two machine guns. Her fire-control system was provided by the Dutch firm of Hazemayer. As built, she could also carry 30 naval mines. She was launched on 23 December 1937, and was commissioned into the Royal Yugoslav Navy (Serbo-Croatian: Kraljevska Jugoslovenska Ratna Mornarica, KJRM) on 28 April 1939.

Yugoslavia

On 20 May 1939, Beograd arrived at Portsmouth, England, with a large part of Yugoslavia's gold reserve, 7,344 ingots, to be lodged with the Bank of England for safekeeping. At the time of the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Beograd and her sister ships were allocated to the 1st Torpedo Division at the Bay of Kotor. When the invasion commenced, to prevent a bridgehead being established at Zara, an Italian enclave on the Dalmatian coast, Beograd, four 250t-class torpedo boats and six motor torpedo boats were dispatched to Šibenik, 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the south of Zara, in preparation for an attack. The attack was to be coordinated with the 12th Infantry Division Jadranska and two combined regiments (Serbo-Croatian: odredi) of the Royal Yugoslav Army attacking from the Benkovac area, supported by the Royal Yugoslav Air Force's 81st Bomber Group. The Yugoslavs launched their attack on 9 April, but the naval prong of the attack faltered when Beograd was damaged by near misses from Italian aircraft off Šibenik when her starboard engine was put out of action, after which she limped to the Bay of Kotor for repairs, escorted by the remainder of the force. She was captured there by Italian forces on 17 April.

Italy

She was refitted and repaired, a new director was fitted on her bridge, and 20 mm (0.79 in) L/65 Breda Model 35 guns were added to her armament. She was commissioned in the Royal Italian Navy (Italian: Regia Marina) under the name Sebenico in August 1941, and served as a convoy escort on routes between Italy and the Aegean and North Africa, completing more than 100 missions over a two-year period. On 18 October 1941, off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the British submarine HMS Ursula sank a steamer that was under escort by a force that included Sebenico. On 29 March 1942, Sebenico and three torpedo boats were escorting a convoy off Brindisi when the British submarine HMS Proteus sank one of the escorted freighters. She retained her searchlight amidships and her aft director until at least mid-1942. It is likely that her aft torpedo tubes were removed towards the end of her time in Italian hands in order to augment her anti-aircraft armament.

Germany

When the Italians capitulated in September 1943, the German Navy (German: Kriegsmarine) seized Sebenico in the port of Venice on 9 September and renamed her TA43 (German: Torpedoboot Ausland 43). The term Ausland and prefix TA referred to the fact that she was a captured vessel put into German service. At the time of her capture she was either damaged or had been made unserviceable by her crew. While in German service her anti-aircraft armament was improved using space provided by removing one of the triple torpedo mounts. She was fitted with seven 37 mm (1.5 in) guns in one double-mount and five single-mounts, as well as two single-mount 20 mm (0.79 in) guns. In February 1945 she was allocated to the 9th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, which consisted entirely of captured destroyers and torpedo boats. She was used for escort work and on minelaying duties in the northern Adriatic. As late as 1 April 1945, TA43 was still in commission and available to fight, although she saw little action. Sources differ on her final fate. According to Roger Chesneau, she was sunk at Trieste by Yugoslav Army artillery fire on 30 April 1945, and was raised in June 1946, probably to remove her as a navigation hazard, only to be scuttled a month later. David Brown records that she was scuttled at Trieste on 1 May 1945. Maurizio Brescia states she was scuttled by the Germans at Trieste on 1 May 1945 and was broken up in 1947.