Yugoslav torpedo boat T4

Yugoslav torpedo boat T4
a black and white photograph of a small ship underway
One of T4's sister ships
History
Austria-Hungary
Name: 79 T
Builder: Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Laid down: 1 December 1913
Launched: 30 April 1914
Commissioned: 30 September 1914
Out of service: 1918
Fate: Assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Name: T4
Acquired: March 1921
Out of service: 1932
Fate: lost
General characteristics
Class and type: 250t-class, T-group sea-going torpedo boat
Displacement:
  • 262 t (258 long tons)
  • 320 t (315 long tons) (full load)
Length: 58.2 m (190 ft 11 in)
Beam: 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in)
Draught: 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range: 980 nmi (1,810 km; 1,130 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement: 39 officers and enlisted
Armament:

The Yugoslav torpedo boat T4 was a seagoing torpedo boat that was operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1932. Originally built as 79 T, a 250t-class torpedo boat built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1913–1914, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, anti-submarine operations and shore bombardment missions. Following Austria-Hungary's defeat, 79 T was allocated to the Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which became the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamed T4. At the time, she and the seven other 250t-class boats were the only modern sea-going vessels of the fledgling maritime force. During the interwar period, T7 and the rest of the navy were involved in training exercises and cruises to friendly ports, but activity was limited by reduced naval budgets. In 1932, she ran aground on the Dalmatian coast and became a total loss.

Background

In 1910, the Austria-Hungary Naval Technical Committee initiated the design and development of a 275-tonne (271-long-ton) coastal torpedo boat, specifying that it should be capable of sustaining 30 knots (56 km/h) for 10 hours. This specification was based an expectation that the Strait of Otranto, where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea, would be blockaded by hostile forces during a future conflict. In such circumstances, there would be a need for a torpedo boat that could sail from the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine) base at the Bay of Kotor (Bocche di Cattaro) to the Strait during darkness, locate and attack blockading ships and return to port before morning. Steam turbine power was selected for propulsion, as diesels with the necessary power were not available, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy did not have the practical experience to run turbo-electric boats. Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) of Triest was selected for the contract to build eight vessels, ahead of one other tenderer.[1] The T-group designation signified that they were built at Trieste.[2]

Description and construction

The 250t-class T-group boats had a waterline length of 58.2 m (190 ft 11 in), a beam of 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in), and a normal draught of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). While their designed displacement was 262 tonnes (258 long tons), they displaced about 320 tonnes (315 long tons) fully loaded. The crew consisted of 39 officers and enlisted men. The boats were powered by two Parsons steam turbines driving two propellers, using steam generated by two Yarrow water-tube boilers, one of which burned fuel oil and the other coal. The turbines were rated at 5,000 shp (3,700 kW) with a maximum output of 6,000 shp (4,500 kW) and designed to propel the boats to a top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). They carried 18 tonnes (17.7 long tons) of coal and 24 tonnes (23.6 long tons) of fuel oil,[3] which gave them a range of 980 nautical miles (1,810 km; 1,130 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).[2] The T-group had one funnel rather than the two funnels of the later groups of the class. Despite the specifications of the contract being very close to the requirements for the coastal torpedo boat, the STT boats were classified as seagoing. The 250t-class, T-group were the first small Austro-Hungarian Navy boats to use turbines, and this contributed to ongoing problems with them.[1]

The boats were originally to be armed with three Škoda 66 mm (2.6 in) L/30[lower-alpha 1] guns, and three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes,[1] but this was changed to two guns and four torpedo tubes before the first boat was completed, in order to standardise the armament with the following F-group. They could also carry 10–12 naval mines.[2]

The sixth of its class to be completed, 79 T was laid down on 1 December 1913, launched on 30 April 1914 and completed on 30 September 1914.[2] In 1914, one 8 mm (0.31 in) machine gun was added.[1]

Career

World War I

During World War I, 79 T was used for convoy, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, anti-submarine operations,[1] and shore bombardment missions.[4] Due to inadequate funding, 79 T and the rest of the 250t class were essentially coastal vessels, despite the original intention that they would be used for "high seas" operations.[5] On 24 May 1915, 79 T and seven other 250t-class boats participated in the Bombardment of Ancona, which involved shelling of various Italian shore-based targets, with 79 T involved in the shelling of Porto Corsini near Ravenna.[6] During that action, an Italian 120 mm (4.7 in) shore battery returned fire, hitting the light cruiser Novara and damaging one of the other 250t-class boats.[7] In late November 1915, the Austro-Hungarian fleet deployed a force from its main fleet base at Pola to Cattaro in the southern Adriatic; this force included six of the eight T-group torpedo boats, so it is possible that one of these was 79 T. This force was tasked to maintain a permanent patrol of the Albanian coastline and interdict any troop transports crossing from Italy.[8] On the night of 31 May – 1 June 1916, the Tátra-class destroyers Orjen and Balaton, accompanied by 79 T and two other 250t-class boats, raided the Otranto Barrage, an Allied naval blockade of the Strait of Otranto. Orjen sank one drifter, but once the alarm had been raised, the Austro-Hungarian force withdrew.[9]

In 1917, one of her 66 mm guns was placed on an anti-aircraft mount.[2] On 28 November, a number of 250t-class boats were involved in two shore bombardment missions. In the first mission, 79 T and two other 250t-class boats supported the bombardment of Senigallia by three destroyers, before they were joined by five more 250t-class boats and another three destroyers for the bombardment of Porto Corsini, Marotta and Cesenatico.[10] On 10 June 1918, 79 T and another five 250t-class boats were part of the escort force that failed to protect the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Szent István from the Italian MAS boats that sank her.[11][12]

Interwar period

79 T survived the war intact.[1] In 1920, under the terms of the previous year's Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye by which rump Austria officially ended World War I, she was allocated to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (KSCS, later Yugoslavia). Along with three other 250t-class T-group boats, 76 T, 77 T and 78 T, and four 250t-class F-group boats, she served with the Royal Yugoslav Navy (Serbo-Croatian: Kraljevska Jugoslovenska Ratna Mornarica, KJRM; Краљевска Југословенска Ратна Морнарица). Taken over in March 1921,[13] in KJRM service, 79 T was renamed T4.[2] At the outset, she and the other seven 250t-class boats were the only modern sea-going vessels in the KJRM.[14] In 1925, exercises were conducted off the Dalmatian coast, involving the majority of the navy.[15] In May and June 1929, six of the eight 250t-class torpedo boats accompanied the light cruiser Dalmacija, the submarine tender Hvar and the submarines Hrabri and Nebojša, on a cruise to Malta, the Greek island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea, and Bizerte in the French protectorate of Tunisia. It is not clear if T4 was one of the torpedo boats involved. The ships and crews made a very good impression while visiting Malta.[16] In 1932, the British naval attaché reported that Yugoslav ships engaged in few exercises, manoeuvres or gunnery training due to reduced budgets.[17] In the same year, T4 ran aground on the Dalmatian coast and became a total loss.[18]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ L/30 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/30 gun is 30 calibre, meaning that the gun was 30 times as long as the diameter of its bore.

Footnotes

References

  • Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2014). "Action off Pelagosa". In Tucker, Spencer C. World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-965-8.
  • Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2015). "The Naval War in the Adriatic Part I: 1914–1916". In Jordan, John. Warship 2015. London, England: Bloomsbury. pp. 161–173. ISBN 978-1-84486-295-5.
  • Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2016). "The Naval War in the Adriatic Part II: 1917–1918". In Jordan, John. Warship 2016. London, England: Bloomsbury. pp. 62–75. ISBN 978-1-84486-438-6.
  • 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.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921. London, England: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
  • Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London, England: Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0623-2.
  • Halpern, Paul G., ed. (1987). The Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, 1915–1918. Aldershot, England: Temple Smith, Gower Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-566-05488-4.
  • Halpern, Paul G. (2012). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-266-6.
  • Jane's Information Group (1989) [1946/47]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. London, England: Studio Editions. ISBN 978-1-85170-194-0.
  • Jarman, Robert L., ed. (1997a). Yugoslavia Political Diaries 1918–1965. 1. Slough, Berkshire: Archives Edition. ISBN 978-1-85207-950-5.
  • Jarman, Robert L., ed. (1997b). Yugoslavia Political Diaries 1918–1965. 2. Slough, Berkshire: Archives Edition. ISBN 978-1-85207-950-5.
  • O'Hara, Vincent; Worth, Richard & Dickson, W. (2013). To Crown the Waves: The Great Navies of the First World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-61251-269-3.
  • Sieche, Erwin F. (1991). "S.M.S. Szent István: Hungaria's Only and Ill-Fated Dreadnought". Warship International. Toledo, Ohio: International Warship Research Organization. XXVII (2): 112–146. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Sokol, Anthony Eugene (1968). The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: U.S. Naval Institute. OCLC 1912.
  • Vego, Milan (1982). "The Yugoslav Navy 1918–1941". Warship International. Toledo, Ohio: International Naval Research Organisation (4): 342–361. ISSN 0043-0374.
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