Yugoslav monitor Vardar
Vardar underway in 1933
| |
History | |
---|---|
Austro-Hungarian Empire | |
Name |
|
Namesake | Temes River |
Builder | Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino |
Laid down | 1914 (Linz) |
Launched | 1915 |
In service | 9 July 1915 |
Out of service | 6 November 1918 |
Fate | Transferred to the Hungarian People's Republic |
Notes |
|
Hungarian People's Republic | |
Name | Bosna |
Namesake | Bosna River |
Acquired | 6 November 1918 |
Out of service | 13 December 1918 |
Fate | Assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (KSCS) |
Kingdom of Yugoslavia | |
Name | Vardar |
Namesake | Vardar River |
Acquired | 1918 |
In service | 1920 |
Fate | Scuttled by her crew on 11/12 April 1941 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Sava-class river monitor |
Displacement | 580 tonnes (570 long tons) |
Length | 62 m (203 ft 5 in) |
Beam | 10.3 m (33 ft 10 in) |
Draught | 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 2 Triple-expansion steam engines |
Speed | 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) |
Complement | 91 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
|
Armour |
|
Vardar was a
During the
Description and construction
Vardar was a Sava-class river monitor built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, and was laid down as Bosna at Linz in 1914,[1] as part of the Austro-Hungarian 1914–15 Naval Program.[2] She was named after the river Bosna, but was renamed Temes (II) during construction, after the sinking of the original SMS Temes by a mine on the Sava River on 23 October 1914.[3][4] Temes (II), like her sister ship Sava, had an overall length of 62 m (203 ft 5 in), a beam of 10.3 m (33 ft 10 in), and a normal draught of 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in). Her displacement was 580 tonnes (570 long tons), and her crew consisted of 91 officers and enlisted men.[1] The ship was powered using steam generated by two Yarrow boilers driving two triple-expansion steam engines,[1] and the ship carried 75 tonnes (74 long tons) of fuel oil.[5] Its engines were rated at 1,750 ihp (1,300 kW) and she was designed to reach a top speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph).[1]
Her main armament was a twin
Career
World War I
Temes (II) was commissioned into the
In November 1915, the other monitors were assembled at Rustschuk, Bulgaria.[8] The geopolitical position of Romania was uncertain, with the Central Powers being aware that the Romanians were negotiating to enter the war on the side of the Entente. To protect the 480-kilometre (300 mi) Danubian border between Romania and Bulgaria, the flotilla established a sheltered base in the Belene Canal.[9] When the Romanians entered the war on 27 August 1916, the monitors were again at Rustschuk, having been joined by Temes (II) after her repairs were completed. The monitors were immediately attacked by three improvised torpedo boats operating out of the Romanian river port of Giurgiu. The torpedoes that were fired missed the monitors, but struck a lighter loaded with fuel. The 1st Monitor Division, including Temes (II), was tasked with escorting supply ships back to the Belene anchorage. This was followed by forays of the Division both east and west of Belene, during which both Turnu Măgurele and Zimnicea were shelled.[10] On 9 May 1917, she was renamed SMS Bosna as the original SMS Temes was due to return to service after a complete rebuild.[1]
In April 1918, Bosna—along with three other monitors, two patrol boats and a tug—were formed into Flottenabteilung Wulff (Fleet Division Wulff) under the command of Flottenkapitän (
Interwar period and World War II
After the Armistice of Villa Giusti signed by the Austro-Hungarians on 3 November 1918, Bosna was operated by the navy of the Hungarian People's Republic between 6 November and 13 December.[12] She was then crewed by sailors of the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (KSCS, later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in 1918–19. Under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye concluded in September 1919, Bosna was transferred to the KSCS along with a range of other vessels, including three other river monitors,[13] but was officially handed over to the KSCS Navy and renamed Vardar in 1920.[14] In 1925–26, Vardar was refitted, but by the following year only two of the four river monitors of the KSCS Navy were being retained in full commission at any time.[15] In 1932, the British naval attaché reported that Yugoslav ships were engaging in little gunnery training, and few exercises or manoeuvres, due to reduced budgets.[16]
On 6 April 1941, the
On 11 April, the two monitors were forced to withdraw from Dubovac towards Belgrade,[22] during which they came under repeated attacks by Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers.[23] Vardar and her fellow monitor were undamaged, and anchored at the confluence of the Danube and Sava near Belgrade about 20:00, where they were joined by the monitor Morava. The three captains conferred, and decided to scuttle their vessels due to the high water levels in the rivers and low bridges, which meant there was insufficient clearance for the monitors to navigate freely. The crews of the monitors were transshipped to two tugboats, but when one of the tugboats was passing under a railway bridge, charges on the bridge accidentally exploded and the bridge fell onto the tugboat. Of the 110 officers and men aboard the vessel, 95 were killed.[22][24]
After the scuttling of the monitors, around 450 officers and men from the Vardar and various other riverine vessels gathered at
Notes
- ^ L/45 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 calibre, meaning that the gun was 45 times as long as the diameter of its bore.
- ^ Equivalent to a United States Navy lieutenant commander.[19]
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g Greger 1976, p. 142.
- ^ Jane's Information Group 1990, p. 251.
- ^ Marshall 1995, p. 41.
- ^ Halpern 2012, p. 265.
- ^ Jane's Information Group 1989, p. 315.
- ^ Greger 1976, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Halpern 2012, p. 273.
- ^ Halpern 2012, p. 274.
- ^ Halpern 2012, p. 275.
- ^ Halpern 2012, p. 277.
- ^ Halpern 2012, pp. 284–286.
- ^ Csonkaréti & Benczúr 1992, pp. 123 & 132.
- ^ Gardiner 1985, p. 422.
- ^ Gardiner 1985, p. 426.
- ^ Jarman 1997a, p. 732.
- ^ Jarman 1997b, p. 451.
- ^ a b Niehorster 2013a.
- ^ Terzić 1982, p. 168.
- ^ Niehorster 2013b.
- ^ Terzić 1982, p. 297.
- ^ Terzić 1982, pp. 333–334.
- ^ a b Terzić 1982, pp. 391–392.
- ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987, p. 222.
- ^ Chesneau 1980, p. 357.
- ^ Terzić 1982, p. 432.
- ^ Terzić 1982, pp. 432 & 405.
- ^ Terzić 1982, p. 457.
References
Books
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
- Csonkaréti, Károly; Benczúr, László (1992). Haditengerészek és folyamőrök a Dunán: a császari (és) királyi haditengerészet dunaflottillájától a magyar királyi honvéd folyamerőkig (1870-1945) [Naval Guards on the Danube River and the Danube Flotilla of the Royal Hungarian Navy (1870–1945)] (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: Zrínyi Kiadó. ISBN 978-963-327-153-7.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0623-2.
- 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: Studio Editions. ISBN 978-1-85170-194-0.
- Jane's Information Group (1990) [1919]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London: Studio Editions. ISBN 978-1-85170-378-4.
- Jarman, Robert L., ed. (1997a). Yugoslavia Political Diaries 1918–1965. Vol. 1. Slough, Berkshire: Archives Edition. ISBN 978-1-85207-950-5.
- Jarman, Robert L., ed. (1997b). Yugoslavia Political Diaries 1918–1965. Vol. 2. Slough, Berkshire: Archives Edition. ISBN 978-1-85207-950-5.
- Marshall, Chris (1995). The Encyclopedia of Ships: The History and Specifications of Over 1200 Ships. New York: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 978-1-56619-909-4.
- Shores, Christopher F.; Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola (1987). Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete, 1940–41. London: 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] (PDF) (in Serbo-Croatian). Vol. 2. Belgrade, Yugoslavia: Narodna knjiga. OCLC 10276738.
Web
- Niehorster, Leo (2013a). "Balkan Operations Order of Battle Royal Yugoslavian Navy River Flotilla 6th April 1941". Dr. Leo Niehorster. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- Niehorster, Leo (2013b). "Royal Yugoslav Armed Forces Ranks". Dr. Leo Niehorster. Retrieved 10 March 2015.