Yugoslav destroyer Dubrovnik

Yugoslav destroyer Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik (left) and Beograd (right) photographed in the Bay of Kotor in 1941 after being captured by Italian forces.
History
Yugoslavia
Name	Dubrovnik
Namesake	City of Dubrovnik
Ordered	1929
Builder	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down	10 June 1930
Launched	11 October 1931
Sponsored by	Princess Olga
Commissioned	May 1932
Fate	Captured by Italian forces on 17 April 1941
Italy
Name	Premuda
Namesake	The island of Premuda
Acquired	17 April 1941
Commissioned	February 1942
Fate	Captured by German forces on 9 September 1943
Germany
Name	TA32
Acquired	9 September 1943
Commissioned	18 August 1944
Fate	Scuttled on 24 April 1945
General characteristics
Type	Flotilla leader
Displacement	Standard: 1,880 long tons (1,910 t) Full: 2,400 long tons (2,439 t)
Length	113.2 m (371 ft 5 in)
Beam	10.67 m (35 ft 0 in)
Draught	3.58–4.1 m (11 ft 9 in – 13 ft 5 in)
Propulsion	Two shafts; 2 × Parsons steam turbines (48,000 shp (36,000 kW)) 1 × Curtis steam turbine for cruising (900 shp (670 kW)) 3 × Yarrow water-tube boilers
Speed	Maximum: 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) Cruising: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Range	7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	20 officers and 220 enlisted
Armament	4 × Škoda 140 mm (5.5 in) naval guns 2 × Škoda 83.5 mm (3.29 in) AA guns 6 × Škoda 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns 2 × Česká zbrojovka 15 mm (0.59 in) machine guns 6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes 40 × naval mines

Dubrovnik was a flotilla leader built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow in 1930 and 1931. She was one of the largest destroyers of her time. Resembling contemporary British designs, Dubrovnik was a fast ship with a main armament of four Czechoslovak-built Škoda 140 mm (5.5 in) guns in single mounts. She was intended to be the first of three flotilla leaders built for Yugoslavia, but was the only one completed. During her service with the Royal Yugoslav Navy, Dubrovnik undertook several peacetime cruises through the Mediterranean, the Turkish Straits and the Black Sea. In October 1934, she conveyed King Alexander to France for a state visit, and carried his body back to Yugoslavia following his assassination in Marseille.

During the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Dubrovnik was captured by the Italians. After a refit, which included the replacement of some of her weapons and the shortening of her mainmast and funnels, she was commissioned into the Royal Italian Navy as Premuda. In Italian service she was mainly used as an escort and troop transport. In June 1942, she was part of the Italian force that attacked the Allied Operation Harpoon convoy attempting to relieve the island of Malta. In July 1943, she broke down and was brought to Genoa for repair and a refit. Premuda was the most important and effective Italian war prize ship of World War II.

At the time of the Italian surrender to the Allies in September 1943, Premuda was still docked in Genoa, and was seized by Germany. Plans to convert her into a radar picket for night fighters were abandoned. In August 1944, following the replacement of her armament, she was commissioned into the German Navy as a Torpedoboot Ausland (foreign torpedo boat) with the designation TA32. The ship saw action shelling Allied positions on the Italian coast and laying naval mines. In March 1945, she took part in the Battle of the Ligurian Sea against two Royal Navy destroyers, during which she was lightly damaged. She was scuttled the following month as the Germans retreated from Genoa.