Yugoslav destroyer Beograd
%2C_jugoslawische_Schiffe.jpg) Beograd (right) and Dubrovnik (left) in the Bay of Kotor after being captured by Italy | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia
| |
| Name: | Beograd |
| Namesake: | Belgrade |
| Commissioned: | 23 December 1937 |
| Out of service: | 17 April 1941 |
| Fate: | Captured by Italy |
_crowned.svg.png){kind=small} Italy
| |
| Name: | Sebenico |
| Namesake: | Šibenik |
| Acquired: | 17 April 1941 |
| In service: | August 1941 |
| Out of service: | 9 or 11 September 1943 |
| Fate: | Captured by Germany at Venice |
 Nazi Germany
| |
| Name: | TA43 |
| Acquired: | 9 or 11 September 1943 |
| Fate: | Sunk or scuttled at Trieste on 30 April or 1 May 1945 |
| Notes: | Raised in June 1946, scuttled in July 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Beograd-class destroyer |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: | 98 m (322 ft) |
| Beam: | 9.45 m (31.0 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.18 m (10.4 ft) |
| Installed power: |
|
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft Parsons (Beograd Curtis) steam turbines |
| Speed: | 37–38 knots (69–70 km/h) |
| Complement: | 145 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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The Yugoslav destroyer Beograd was a destroyer built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy during the 1930s. During the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, she was captured by the Royal Italian Navy (Italian: Regia Marina) and completed over 100 convoy escort missions in the Mediterranean under the name Sebenico. Following the Italian capitulation in September 1943, she was captured by the Third Reich's Kriegsmarine (navy) and redesignated TA43. She was sunk or scuttled at Trieste on 30 April or 1 May 1945. She was raised in June 1946, probably to remove her as a navigation hazard, only to be scuttled in either July 1946 or in 1947.
Description and construction
The Beograd-class were developed from the French Simoun-class destroyers, and the first of the class, Beograd, was built by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire at Nantes, France.[1] The ship had an overall length of 98 m (322 ft), a beam of 9.45 m (31.0 ft), and a normal draught of 3.18 m (10.4 ft). According to Roger Chesneau, her standard displacement was 1,210 long tons (1,230 t) and she displaced 1,655 long tons (1,682 t) fully loaded,[1] but Maurizio Brescia lists her full load displacement at 1,800 long tons (1,800 t).[2] The crew consisted of 145 officers and enlisted men. The ship was powered by Parsons (Beograd Curtis) steam turbines driving two propellors, using steam generated by three Yarrow water-tube boilers.[1] According to Lenton, the turbines were rated at 44,000 shp (33,000 kW) and she was designed to reach a top speed of 37 knots (69 km/h), but Chesneau lists her power rating at 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) and a design speed of 38 knots (70 km/h). She carried 120 long tons (120 t) of fuel oil to give her a range of 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi).[3] Beograd was originally armed with four single mount 120 mm (4.7 in) guns, four double mount 40 mm (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns, two machine guns and two triple mount 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes. As built, she could also carry 30 naval mines. She was launched on 23 December 1937.[1]
Career
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.[4]
In April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers, and on 17 April Beograd was captured by the Royal Italian Navy (Italian: Regia Marina). She was refitted and repaired,[5] and 20 mm (0.79 in)/65 Breda Model 35 guns were added to her armament. She was commissioned 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.[2] When the Italians capitulated in September 1943, the Kriegsmarine seized Sebenico in the port of Venice and renamed her TA43 (German: Torpedoboot Ausland 43).[6]
While in German service her anti-aircraft armament was improved using space provided by removing one of the triple torpedo mounts. She subsequently carried seven 37 mm (1.5 in) guns in one double and five single mounts, as well as two single mount 20 mm (0.79 in) guns.[3]
Sources differ on her final fate. According to Roger Chesneau, she was sunk at Trieste by Yugoslav Army artillery fire on 30 April 1945, was raised in June 1946, probably to remove her as a navigation hazard, only to be scuttled a month later.[6] Maurizio Brescia states she was scuttled by the Germans at Trieste on 1 May 1945 and was broken up in 1947.[2]
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 Chesneau 1980, p. 357.
- 1 2 3 Brescia 2012, p. 134.
- 1 2 Lenton 1975, p. 106.
- ↑ Hoptner 1963, p. 156.
- ↑ Chesneau 1980, p. 301.
- 1 2 Chesneau 1980, p. 358.
References
- Brescia, Maurizio (2012). Mussolini's Navy. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59114-544-8.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. London, England: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
- Hoptner, Jacob B. (1963). Yugoslavia in Crisis, 1934–1941. New York, New York: Columbia University Press. OCLC 310483760.
- Lenton, H.T. (1975). German Warships of the Second World War. London, England: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 978-0-356-04661-7.
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