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
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Name:	Dubrovnik
Namesake:	City of Dubrovnik
Ordered:	1929
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down:	10 June 1930
Launched:	11 October 1931
Commissioned:	May 1932
Fate:	Captured by Italian forces on 17 April 1941
Kingdom of Italy
Name:	Premuda
Namesake:	The island of Premuda
Acquired:	17 April 1941
Commissioned:	February 1942
Fate:	Captured by German forces on 9 September 1943
Nazi Germany
Name:	TA32
Acquired:	9 September 1943
Commissioned:	18 August 1944
Fate:	Scuttled on 24 April 1945
General characteristics
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 × Škoda 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 put in to Genoa for repair and a refit. Premuda was the most important and effective Italian war prize ship of World War II.