Yugoslav gunboat Beli Orao
Beli Orao at Trieste, Italy, after being completed
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History | |
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Kingdom of Yugoslavia | |
Name | Beli Orao |
Namesake | The double-headed white eagle on the Yugoslav coat of arms |
Builder | Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico in Trieste |
Laid down | 23 December 1938 |
Launched | 3 June 1939 |
Commissioned | 29 October 1939 |
Out of service | April 1941 |
Fate | Captured by Italy |
Italy | |
Name |
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Acquired | April 1941 |
Out of service | September 1943 |
Fate | Returned to Yugoslavia in December 1943 |
Kingdom of Yugoslavia | |
Name | Beli Orao |
Acquired | December 1943 |
Fate | Transferred to Yugoslav Navy post-war |
Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia | |
Name |
|
Acquired | Post-World War II |
Fate | Scrapped after 1978 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | |
Length | |
Beam | 7.95–8.08 m (26 ft 1 in – 26 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 2.8–2.84 m (9 ft 2 in – 9 ft 4 in) |
Installed power | 1,900 kW ) or 2,200 bhp (1,600 kW) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) |
Complement | Unknown |
Armament |
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Beli Orao (
After the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, Zagabria escaped capture by the Germans and was returned to the Yugoslav Royal Navy-in-exile in December that year. Refitted, and under her original name of Beli Orao, she became a tender for a flotilla of motor gunboats that had been loaned to the Yugoslav Royal Navy-in-exile by the British Royal Navy. In this role she operated out of the British Crown Colony of Malta, and in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the western coast of Italy, and later in the Adriatic Sea off the Yugoslav coast. After the war she remained in Yugoslav hands under the names Biokovo then Jadranka, serving as a naval yacht and as a presidential yacht for the President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito, and also as a dispatch boat. In 1978, she was still in service as a yacht, but was scrapped soon after.
Background, description and construction
Beli Orao was ordered from Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CRDA) at Trieste, Italy, in 1938, originally designed as a guard ship for the Yugoslav Financial Guard. During her construction, the plans were varied several times by the Yugoslav government,[1] so that she was completed as a royal yacht for use by the regent Prince Paul during peacetime.[2] In wartime, she was to be used as a patrol boat,[3] escort,[2] or guard ship. The final design gave her the appearance of a motor yacht or fast passenger ship.[3]
Sources vary on Beli Orao's
Service history
When Beli Orao was completed, Yugoslavia had not yet been drawn into the war, but she was immediately pressed into service to replace the admiralty yacht Vila, which was used by senior admirals for transport and to review fleet exercises. This changed with the April 1941 German-led Axis invasion of the country.[3] At the time of the invasion, Beli Orao was located at the main navy fleet base at the Bay of Kotor.[6] When the fleet flagship, the obsolete light cruiser Dalmacija, was tasked to participate in an attack against the Italian enclave of Zara, the fleet staff transferred to Beli Orao.[3] After the Italians captured Kotor, the commander-in-chief of the fleet, Rear Admiral Emil Domainko, who was aboard Beli Orao anchored off Krtole within the bay, was summoned to meet with an Italian general whose troops were occupying Kotor.[7] Beli Orao then hosted the negotiations between the fleet staff and the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) regarding the surrender of the fleet.[3] Domainko was allowed to sail in Beli Orao to Herceg Novi at the mouth of the bay, but returned to Kotor to surrender the ship.[7]
She was put into service with the Regia Marina as a gunboat, initially as Alba (Dawn), although her name was soon changed to Zagabria (the Italian name for Zagreb), probably to compensate for the fact that the Yugoslav destroyer Zagreb had been scuttled by two of her officers instead of being surrendered.[3] Zagabria's two 40 mm guns were replaced with two Oerlikon 20 mm (0.79 in) L/70 guns. At the time, she was one of the largest gunboats operated by the Italians. Like other Italian gunboats, she was employed only on harbour protection and coastal escort duties.[8]
Zagabria was then attached to the
After refitting in Taranto, Beli Orao was used as a tender for a flotilla of motor gunboats (MGBs) that had been loaned to the Yugoslav Royal Navy-in-exile by the British Royal Navy. In 1944 and 1945, she was stationed at Malta where the British Royal Navy purged the remaining "royalists" from the flotilla, replacing those personnel with politically reliable crew loyal to the Yugoslav Communist Party-led Yugoslav Partisans.[3][10] The flotilla was then based at Livorno on the western coast of Italy, while it operated in the Tyrrhenian Sea.[3] The flotilla conducted operations in the Adriatic late in the war, under Commander Konstantin Jeremić,[3] based at Ancona on the eastern coast of Italy from 1 April 1945. In mid-April, four MGBs from the flotilla supported the capture of the island of Rab by Partisan troops, but distrust remained between the homegrown Partisan Navy and the remnants of the Yugoslav Royal Navy-in-exile, and even the British apparently limited the information they would share with the flotilla.[11] Beli Orao continued in service until the end of the war.[2] In the post-war communist era, Yugoslav historians criticised or ignored the operations of the flotilla, and little historical research has been conducted on the subject.[10]
After the war she was renamed Biokovo, and in 1949 she was renamed Jadranka, serving as an armed yacht in the Yugoslav Navy and also as a presidential yacht for the President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. In 1969 she was serving as a dispatch boat,[12] and was deleted from the naval register in 1976 or 1977, after which a new Jadranka was built as a presidential yacht.[1] In 1978, the original Jadranka was still in service as a yacht,[2] but was scrapped soon after. Her ship's bell, wheel and the Yugoslav coat of arms she carried during her service are preserved at the Croatian Maritime Museum in Split.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Freivogel 2020, p. 273.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Chesneau 1980, p. 358.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Freivogel 2020, p. 272.
- ^ Haworth 2016.
- ^ Jane's Information Group 1989, p. 314.
- ^ Niehorster 2017.
- ^ a b Freivogel & Rastelli 2015, p. 101.
- ^ Brescia 2012, p. 175.
- ^ Karađorđević 1954, pp. 47–48.
- ^ a b Freivogel & Rastelli 2015, p. 462.
- ^ Freivogel & Rastelli 2015, pp. 462–463.
- ^ Blackman 1969, p. 576.
Sources
- Blackman, Raymond V. B. (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1969/70. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. ISBN 978-0-354-00050-5.
- Brescia, Maurizio (2012). Mussolini's Navy. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59114-544-8.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
- Freivogel, Zvonimir (2020). Warships of the Royal Yugoslav Navy 1918-1945. Zagreb: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-8218-72-9.
- Freivogel, Zvonimir & Rastelli, Achille (2015). Adriatic Naval War 1940-1945. Zagreb: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-7892-44-9.
- Haworth, R.B. (2016). "Bjeli Orao". Miramar Ship Index. R.B. Haworth. 6110710. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
- Jane's Information Group (1989) [1946/47]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. London: Studio Editions. ISBN 978-1-85170-194-0.
- Karađorđević, Petar (1954). A King's Heritage. New York: Van Rees Press. LCCN 54-10501.
- Niehorster, Leo (2017). "Balkan Operations Order of Battle Royal Yugoslavian Navy 6th April 1941". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017.