Hrabri-class submarine

Hrabri class
a black and white photograph of a submarine underway on the surface
Hrabri underway in 1934
Class overview
Builders: Vickers-Armstrong Naval Yard, River Tyne, United Kingdom
Operators:  Royal Yugoslav Navy
 Yugoslav Navy
Succeeded by: Osvetnik class
Built: 1925–1927
In commission: 1928–1954
Completed: 2
Retired: 2
Scrapped: 2
General characteristics
Type:diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:
  • 975 long tons (991 t) (surfaced)
  • 1,164 long tons (1,183 t) (submerged)
Length:72.05 m (236 ft 5 in)
Beam:7.32 m (24 ft)
Draught:3.96 m (13 ft)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × shafts
  • 2 × diesel engines 2,400 bhp (1,800 kW)
  • 2 × electric motors 1,600 shp (1,200 kW)
Speed:
  • 15.7 knots (29.1 km/h; 18.1 mph) (diesel)
  • 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (electric)
Range:5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Test depth:60 metres (200 ft)
Complement:45
Armament:
  • 6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (bow)
  • 12 × torpedoes
  • 2 × 102 mm (4 in) guns
  • 1 × machine gun

The Hrabri class consisted of two submarines built by the Vickers-Armstrong Naval Yard, River Tyne, United Kingdom, for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) and were both launched in 1927. Named Hrabri (Brave) and Nebojša (Fearless), their design was based on that of the British L-class submarine of World War I, and they were built using parts originally assembled for L-class submarines that were never built. The Hrabri-class were the first submarines to serve in the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and the class was joined by the two smaller French-made Osvetnik-class submarines to make up the pre-war Yugoslav submarine force. They were armed with six bow-mounted 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes, two 102 mm (4 in) guns and one machine gun, and could dive to 60 metres (200 ft).

Prior to World War II both submarines participated in cruises to Mediterranean ports. Hrabri was captured by Italian forces in April 1941 during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. She was given the number N3 but was never commissioned and was subsequently scrapped. Nebojša evaded capture, and served with British submarine forces in the Mediterranean in a training role until the end of the war. Following the war, she served in the Yugoslav Navy as Tara until 1954 when she was stricken.

Description and construction

The Hrabri-class was built for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) by the Vickers-Armstrong Naval Yard, River Tyne, United Kingdom.[1] Their design was based on that of the British L-class submarine of World War I, and they were built using parts originally assembled for HMS L-67 and HMS L-68 which were never built.[2] They had an overall length of 72.05 m (236 ft 5 in), a beam of 7.32 m (24 ft), and a surfaced draught of 3.96 m (13 ft). Their surfaced displacement was 975 tonnes (960 long tons) (1,164 tonnes (1,146 long tons) submerged), and their crews consisted of 45 officers and enlisted men. They had an operational depth of 60 metres (200 ft).[3]

They had two shafts driven by two diesel engines or two electric motors. The diesel engines were rated at 2,400 bhp (1,800 kW) and the electric motors at 1,600 shp (1,200 kW), and they were designed to reach a top speed of 15.7 knots (29.1 km/h; 18.1 mph) under diesel power and 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) on their electric motors. The Hrabri-class were armed with six bow-mounted 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes and carried twelve torpedoes.[4] They were also equipped with two 102 mm (4 in) guns (one forward and one aft of the conning tower), and one machine gun.[1] Her radius of action was 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph).[5]

Service history

The two submarines were both launched in 1927,[1] and left the Tyne in late January 1928.[6] In company with the Yugoslav submarine tender Hvar, the submarines arrived in the Bay of Kotor on the southern Adriatic coast on 8 April 1928.[7] In May and June 1929, Hrabri, Nebojša, Hvar and six torpedo boats accompanied the light cruiser Dalmacija on a cruise to Malta, the Greek island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea, and Bizerte in the French protectorate of Tunisia. The ships and crews made a very good impression while visiting Malta.[8] In June and July 1930, Hrabri, Nebojša and the fleet auxiliary Sitnica again cruised the Mediterranean, visiting Alexandria and Beirut.[9] In 1932, the British naval attaché reported that Yugoslav ships engaged in few exercises, maneuvers or gunnery training due to reduced budgets.[10]

Hrabri

The first of the class, Hrabri visited Valletta in Malta and the Kelibia Roads off the coast of Tunisia in 1934,[11] and in August 1935, she again visited Malta, this time in company with the more modern French-designed submarine Osvetnik.[12] In August and September 1937, Hrabri, along with Osvetnik's sister submarine Smeli and the depot ship Zmaj visited Greece, including the port of Piraeus, and the islands of Crete and Corfu.[13]

When the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, she was located in the Bay of Kotor along with the three other submarines of the flotilla.[14] On 10 April, Hrabri and Osvetnik received orders for an operation against the Italian enclave of Zara on the Dalmatian coastline, but the mission did not proceed.[15] She was later captured by the Italian XVII Corps at the Bay of Kotor.[16][17] She was given the number N3, but was not commissioned and was scrapped later that year due to her poor condition.[1][4]

Nebojša

Nebojša was the second and last of the class. On 16 May 1930, Nebojša was exercising her crew at periscope depth near the entrance to the Bay of Kotor when she collided with a Yugoslav steamship. The damage was not serious and there were no injuries, but her forward 102 mm gun was lost overboard. The necessary repairs were carried out at the dockyard in the Bay of Kotor.[18] In September 1933, Nebojša and Osvetnik cruised the southern part of the central Mediterranean.[19] In August 1936, Nebojša and Osvetnik visited Corfu.[20]

During the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, she evaded capture by Italian forces at the Bay of Kotor, arriving at Suda Bay, Crete on 23 April,[21] after eight days at sea.[22] The Italians had claimed they had sunk all the Yugoslav vessels.[5] She subsequently sailed to Alexandria, but the Royal Navy considered her unfit for combat duties. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill suggested her crew might be retrained and used on the recently captured German Type VIIC U-boat U-570, but this idea was soon abandoned.[23] She served with the British 2nd Submarine Flotilla in 1942 and the British 3rd Submarine Flotilla in 1943,[1] and she continued serving in the Mediterranean until the end of the war,[16] but this appears to have only been in a training role.[24]

After the war she served with the Yugoslav Navy as Tara until 1954 when she was stricken.[1][4] One of her guns was removed at the end of her career,[25] and she was eventually scrapped in 1958.[26]

See also

Footnotes

References

Books

  • Akermann, Paul (2002). Encyclopedia of British Submarines 1901–1955. Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 978-0-907771-42-5.
  • Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-962-7.
  • Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-boat War: The Hunters, 1939–1942. New York, New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-297-86621-3.
  • 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.
  • Fontenoy, Paul E. (2007). Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-563-6.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1983). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1947–1982 The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 165766596.
  • Jane's Fighting Ships 1963–64. London, England: Jane's Publishing. 1963. OCLC 35864977.
  • Jarman, Robert L., ed. (1997). Yugoslavia political diaries 1918–1965 2. Slough, Berkshire: Archives Edition. ISBN 978-1-85207-950-5.
  • Shores, Christopher F.; Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola (1987). Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete, 1940–41. London, England: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-07-6.
  • Terzić, Velimir (1982). Slom Kraljevine Jugoslavije 1941 : uzroci i posledice poraza [The Collapse of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941: Causes and Consequences of Defeat] (in Serbo-Croatian) 2. Belgrade, Yugoslavia: Narodna knjiga. OCLC 10276738.
  • Thomas, Nigel (1991). Foreign volunteers of the Allied Forces, 1939-45. London, England: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-85532-136-6.
  • Willmott, H.P. (2010). The Last Century of Sea Power: From Washington to Tokyo, 1922–1945. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35214-9.

Periodicals

  • "Official Reports". The Ottawa Journal 56 (121) (Ottawa, Ontario: The Ottawa Evening Journal). 1 May 1941. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  • Hood, A.G. (1928). "The Jugo-Slavian Submarines Hrabri and Nebojsa". The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder 35 (London, England: Shipbuilder Press).

Websites