Orjen-class torpedo boat

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Velebit photographed in 1939
Class overview
BuildersLürssen, Vegesack, Germany
Operators
Built1936–1937
In commission1936–1963
Completed8
Lost6
Retired2
General characteristics
(as completed)
TypeMotor torpedo boat
Displacement61.7 tonnes (60.7 long tons) (full)
Length28 m (91 ft 10 in) (o/a)
Beam4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Draught1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Installed power2,850–3,000 bhp (2,130–2,240 kW)
Propulsion
Speed34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Complement19
Armament

The Orjen class were

submarine chasers of the VAS
class.

At the time of the

Salonika in September 1944 as the Germans withdrew from Greece. The two boats that had escaped to the Allies in 1941 returned to Yugoslavia after the war. They were commissioned in the new Yugoslav Navy
and remained in service until the early 1960s.

Background

Following its creation in 1921, the

sea trials and crew training, combined with the advent of the Great Depression in 1929.[3] During the early 1930s, Yugoslavia faced an economic recession which was further complicated by internal political instability.[4] In the mid-1930s, the Yugoslav government sought to improve relations with Italy and Germany to create new economic opportunities for the country.[5] Such cooperation resulted in the acquisition of new German-constructed ships for the KM, which had previously obtained ships from France and Great Britain. In 1936 the KM ordered eight MTBs (Serbo-Croatian Latin: motorna torpiljarka) that were to be built by the Lürssen shipyard in Vegesack, Germany, based on the existing German design of the S–2 class.[6]

Description and construction

The Orjen-class boats were an improved version of the S–2 class, designed with round-

deckhouse above the crew accommodation, which also supported the aft gun mount.[7]

The boats were larger and heavier than the original S-2 class, measuring 27.7 metres (90 ft 11 in) at the

kW), giving the boats a maximum speed of 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph). At full load displacement generating 2,805 bhp (2,092 kW) without using the compressors, the boats could achieve a top speed of only 31 kn (57 km/h; 36 mph), but with the compressors and the Lürssen effect, the maximum speed could be achieved. A six-cylinder Maybach S5 auxiliary cruising engine rated at 100 bhp (75 kW) was coupled to the central shaft with a chain, and powered the boats to a maximum speed of 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph). The boats carried 5.8 t (5.7 long tons) of gasoline, which gave them a range of 265 nautical miles (491 km; 305 mi) at 33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph), 350 nmi (650 km; 400 mi) at 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) and 950 nmi (1,760 km; 1,090 mi) at 7 kn.[9] The Orjen-class boats had a crew of four officers, eleven petty officers and four sailors, but there was not sufficient accommodation on the boats for the whole crew. The officers and higher-rated petty officers had their accommodation aft of the engine rooms and on either side of the aft magazine, and the lower-rated petty officers and sailors had their accommodation located forward on either side of the forward magazine.[11]

The primary armament of the boats consisted of two 550 mm (21.7 in)

anti-aircraft defence a single Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) gun was mounted on the aft deckhouse,[2][11][12] for which 200 rounds were carried aboard. This gun supplemented by a single Zbrojovka Brno Model 60 15 mm (0.59 in) machine gun mounted forward between the torpedo tubes. Two depth charge racks were also installed.[11]

The boats were built in 1936 and 1937, with the eighth boat delivered in late 1937. Included in the contract were three replacement engines, two spare auxiliary engines and spare parts. In the late 1930s the Francophile faction of the KM proposed that all KM warships be re-equipped with French 21 in torpedoes, and the torpedo officer responsible for the Orjen class was sent to Saint-Tropez in France in 1937–1938 to supervise production of forty torpedoes for the KM. Delays meant that by 31 July 1938 only five had been delivered, meaning that most of the Orjen-class boats were not fully armed more than a year after they had been delivered. Diplomatic pressure resulted in faster production, but the last torpedoes were only delivered immediately prior to the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939. In 1938, four more boats were ordered, probably to be powered by MB 500 diesel engines rather than the petrol engines fitted to the first eight boats, for a sum of 3.7 million Reichsmarks, but the contract was cancelled due to the outbreak of war.[7]

Boats

The boats were named after Yugoslav mountains, and had their tactical numbers stencilled on their bows.[14]

Name Tactical No. Namesake Builder Laid down Launched Completed First Italian designation
(1941) 		Second Italian designation
(1942) 		German designation
(September 1943) 		First Yugoslav designation Second Yugoslav designation
Orjen
1
 Orjen Lürssen, Vegesack, Nazi Germany
1936
1936
1936
MAS 3 D
MS 41
MS 41/S 605
 —
 —
Velebit
2
 Velebit
1936
1936
1936
MAS 4 D
MS 42
S 601
 —
 —
Dinara
3
 Dinara
1936
1936
1936
MAS 5 D
MS 43
S 602
 —
 —
Triglav
4
 Triglav
1936
1937
1937
MAS 6 D
MS 44
S 603
 —
 —
Suvobor
5
 Suvobor
1936
1937
1937
MAS 7 D
MS 45
 —
 —
 —
Rudnik
6
 Rudnik
1936
1937
1937
MAS 8 D
MS 46
S 604
 —
 —
Kajmakčalan
7
 Kajmakčalan
1936
1937
1937
 —
 —
 —
TČ 6
TČ 392
Durmitor
8
 Durmitor
1936
1937
1937
 —
 —
 —
TČ 5
TČ 391

Sources: Fraccaroli (1974, pp. 176–177), Chesneau (1980, p. 359), Paterson (2015, p. 216), Freivogel (2020, p. 142)[a]

Service history

Royal Yugoslav Navy service

Prior to the outbreak of war, and during the war until the April 1941

Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, all eight Orjen-class boats served with the 2nd Torpedo Division. When the invasion began on 6 April, Velebit – as division leader with the divisional commanding officer Kapetan corvette[b] Niko Kosović aboard, Kajmakčalan, Durmitor, Dinara, Triglav and Suvobor were deployed at Šibenik on the central Dalmatian coast, along with the two Uskok-class MTBs – also allocated to the 2nd Torpedo Division, and four 250t-class torpedo boats of the 3rd Torpedo Division. At the time, Orjen was being refitted at the Naval Arsenal at Tivat in the Bay of Kotor, and Rudnik had also been sent to the Bay of Kotor, possibly as an escort for the tanker Perun.[11]

On 8 April, the combined 2nd and 3rd Torpedo Divisions were tasked to support an attack on the Italian enclave of Zara (Zadar) on the Dalmatia coast,[11] which the Yugoslav High Command feared would be used as a bridgehead during the invasion.[16][17] They were subjected to three Italian air attacks and, after the last one, sailed from the area of Zaton into Lake Prokljan, where they remained until 11 April.[18] On 10 April, the establishment of an Axis puppet state carved out of Yugoslavia – the Independent State of Croatia – was announced, and the attack on Zara was cancelled. The divisional commander of the 3rd Torpedo Division, Kapetan bojnog broda[c] Ivan Kern, found that the crews of his division were refusing to follow orders, so he left his command and led the boats of the 2nd Torpedo Division to the Bay of Kotor, where they arrived on 13 April.[11][16][19] The following day the crews became aware that a general Yugoslav surrender was imminent, and they were ordered not to provoke the invading forces. On 16 April, the Yugoslav submarine Nebojša evaded the Italians and escaped from the Bay of Kotor.[11] Some officers and crew of the 2nd Torpedo Division also wished to evade capture by the Axis and continue their fight alongside Allied forces.[20], but the crews of Suvobor, Velebit and Rudnik were opposed. By 17 April, the complete collapse of Yugoslav defences and the general surrender were imminent, prompting Kern to lead Durmitor, Kajmakčalan, Triglav and Dinara out of the Bay of Kotor that day. A fire in Triglav's engine room – sabotaged by one of her officers – caused her to turn back, and Dinara sailed to her assistance. Upon docking, both crews deserted.[11][21] These two boats were later seized by the Italians, along with Suvobor, Velebit, Rudnik and Orjen.[11]

Elsewhere in the Bay of Kotor,

Navarino Bay in southern Greece on 19 April, arriving at Souda Bay on the north-west coast of the island of Crete on 20 April. All three primary engines on Kajmakčalan broke down, and she sailed on her auxiliary engine, first to the village of Myrta on the island of Cephalonia off the west coast of Greece, then Argostoli, the main town on the island. There she encountered the Nebojša. The two vessels then sailed together to join Durmitor at Souda Bay. The three Yugoslav vessels accompanied several British and Greek ships to Alexandria in Egypt, arriving there on 27 April.[23]

Once in Alexandria, they joined with other KM vessels and aircraft that had managed to escape, forming the KM-in-exile.

laid up at Alexandria. In March 1945, Durmitor and Kajmakčalan were transferred to Malta.[23]

Axis service

The remaining six boats were captured by Italian forces and commissioned in the

submarine chasers of the VAS class.[29]

MAS 3–5 D formed the 24th MAS Squadron and were deployed in the

Breda Model 35 L/65[d] guns, one each fore and aft. On these boats, the high masts were removed and replaced with shorter masts. On MS 45–46, the original armament and masts were retained. The boats were also re-equipped with Italian mine racks and could carry 12 to 20 depth charges.[26][27][31] In Italian service the crew numbers remained the same,[11] and they were painted in a camouflage scheme.[28] The Germans tried to convince the Italians to hand over the Orjen-class boats to them, but the Italians refused. In turn, the Italians tried to convince the Germans to supply them with the new diesel engines they were installing in their newer S-boats, but the Germans needed all their output for their own boats. The Italians therefore installed high-quality Isotta Fraschini petrol engines – producing 3,300 bhp (2,500 kW) – in their new CRDA boats, and the engines of MAS 4 D/MS 42 (ex-Velebit) were also replaced with these engines. In Italian service, the boats operated mainly in the Aegean, and clocked up 568 missions and 6,300 operating hours.[28]

When the

Italian armistice was announced on 8 September 1943, MS 41 was damaged by them at the CRDA shipyard at Monfalcone where she was undergoing repairs, and was captured there by the Germans on 11 September.[28] On 18 September, MS 45 was scuttled by her crew off Cattolica.[32] MS 42 was captured by the Germans at Piraeus, and the remaining three boats were captured at Souda Bay.[28] The four boats that were captured intact, MS 42–44 and MS 46, were designated by the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) as S 601–604 respectively.[33] They formed part of the 24th S-Boat Flotilla,[34] which was to consist of nine captured MTBs, including the five remaining Orjen-class boats. At the time of their capture they were split between the Adriatic and the Aegean, and only eight became operational. While operated by the Germans, all of the boats retained the armament they had carried under the Italians,[28] and the crew numbers remained the same.[11]

In December 1943, MS 41 was transferred to the National Republican Navy of the Italian Social Republic, the fascist rump puppet state in northern Italy that was established by the Germans after the armistice.[32][35] S 601 and S 603 had engine problems at the time of their capture, and after repairs were commissioned on 6 December 1943 and 24 January 1944. On 25 January, the two boats departed the island of Salamis near Piraeus for the Adriatic. They passed through the Corinth Canal and reached Patras, west of Athens, to refuel. At this point, S 603 developed engine problems and S 601 towed her towards the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea.[35] As they neared the island, the two boats were attacked by four Supermarine Spitfire fighter-bombers of the Royal Air Force. One of the attackers was shot down by S 601, but both boats were damaged, two of her crew were killed, and several more were wounded or both boats. They put into Corfu for repairs.[34][36]

On 22 February 1944, S 601 and S 603 attempted to continue their voyage to the Adriatic, but two carburetter fires on S 603 forced a return to port.

advances in the Balkans.[2][32][36] S 601 was sunk by Allied aerial torpedoes after she was stricken, and S 602 and S 603 were scuttled by the Germans as they withdrew. S 604 had been commissioned on 14 November 1943, but like her sister boats she suffered from engine problems and was rarely operational. She was transferred to Salonika after her sisters, and was also stricken on 18 September and scuttled.[34][36] On 27 September 1944 MS 41/S 605 struck a mine near Porto Corsini – the harbour of Ravenna – and sank the following day during a gale off the mouth of the Montone River, with seven of her crew lost.[32][35]

Post-war service

After the end of the war, Durmitor and Kajmakčalan, along with other KM ships and personnel in exile, returned to Šibenik in May 1945.

auxiliary vessel, the JRM having ordered new MTBs of a Soviet design.[23] Both boats were stricken and scrapped in 1963.[38]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Fraccaroli and Chesneau provide their German designations as S 2–S 5, but Paterson and Freivogel are the more recent and detailed sources on their service in the KM and Kriegsmarine, so where details differ they have been used in preference to Fraccaroli and Chesneau.
  2. ^ The rank of Kapetan corvette was roughly equivalent to a contemporary junior British Royal Navy commander.[15]
  3. ^ The rank of Kapetan bojnog broda was equivalent to a contemporary British Royal Navy captain.[15]
  4. ^ L/65 denotes the length of the gun's barrel. In this case, the barrel of an L/65 gun is 65 calibre, meaning that the barrel is 65 times as long as the diameter of its bore.[30]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Freivogel 2020, p. 130.
  2. ^ a b c d Chesneau 1980, p. 359.
  3. ^ Freivogel 2020, p. 131.
  4. ^ Lampe 2000, pp. 171–176.
  5. ^ Lampe 2000, pp. 182–184.
  6. ^ Chesneau 1980, p. 356.
  7. ^ a b Freivogel 2020, pp. 136–137.
  8. ^ Freivogel 2020, pp. 136, 142.
  9. ^ a b Freivogel 2020, p. 137.
  10. ^ Saunders 1957, p. 586.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Freivogel 2020, p. 138.
  12. ^ a b Paterson 2015, p. 215.
  13. ^ Freivogel 2020, pp. 137, 347.
  14. ^ Freivogel 2020, p. 136.
  15. ^ a b Freivogel 2020, p. 348.
  16. ^ a b Divine 1944, p. 205.
  17. ^ Rahten 2010, p. 104.
  18. ^ Terzić 1982, p. 333.
  19. ^ Tucker 2012, p. 819.
  20. ^ Rahten 2010, p. 106.
  21. ^ Rahten 2010, pp. 106–107.
  22. ^ Rahten 2010, p. 107.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h Freivogel 2020, p. 139.
  24. ^ a b c d Divine 1944, pp. 207–211.
  25. ^ Thomas & McCouaig 1991, p. 35.
  26. ^ a b c Fraccaroli 1974, p. 176.
  27. ^ a b c Brescia 2012, p. 156.
  28. ^ a b c d e f Freivogel 2020, p. 140.
  29. ^ Freivogel 2020, pp. 139–140.
  30. ^ Friedman 2011, p. 294.
  31. ^ Freivogel 2020, pp. 138, 142.
  32. ^ a b c d e Fraccaroli 1974, pp. 176–177.
  33. ^ Paterson 2015, pp. 215–216.
  34. ^ a b c d Paterson 2015, pp. 220–221.
  35. ^ a b c d Freivogel 2020, pp. 140–141.
  36. ^ a b c Freivogel 2020, p. 141.
  37. ^ Vujičić 4 May 2014.
  38. ^ a b Gardiner 1995, p. 643.

References

Books

Other sources


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