text: yugoslav destroyer dubrovnik dubrovnik was a flotilla leader built for the royal yugoslav navy by yarrow shipbuilders in glasgow between 1930 and 1931 . she was one of the largest destroyers of her time . resembling contemporary british designs , dubrovnik was a fast ship with a main armament of four czechoslovak - built škoda 140 mm ( 5 . 5 in ) guns in single mounts . intended to be the first of three flotilla leaders built for yugoslavia , she was the only one completed . during her service with the royal yugoslav navy , dubrovnik undertook several peacetime cruises through the mediterranean , the turkish straits and the black sea . in october 1934 , she conveyed king alexander to france for a state visit , and carried his body back to yugoslavia following his assassination in marseille . during the german - led axis invasion of yugoslavia in april 1941 , dubrovnik was captured by the italians . after a refit , which included the replacement of some of her weapons and the shortening of her mainmast and funnels , she was commissioned into the royal italian navy as premuda . in italian service she was mainly used as an escort and troop transport . in june 1942 , she was part of the italian force that attacked the allied operation harpoon convoy attempting to relieve the island of malta . in july 1943 , she broke down and put in to genoa for repair and a refit . premuda was the most important and effective italian war prize ship of world war ii . at the time of the italian surrender to the allies in september 1943 , premuda was still docked in genoa , and was seized by germany . plans to convert her into a radar picket for night fighters were abandoned . in august 1944 , following the replacement of her armament , she was commissioned into the german navy as a torpedoboot ausland ( foreign torpedo boat ) with the designation ta32 . the ship saw action shelling allied positions on the italian coast and laying naval mines . in march 1945 , she took part in the battle of the ligurian sea against two royal navy destroyers , during which she was lightly damaged . she was scuttled the following month as the germans retreated from genoa . development following the demise of the austro - hungarian empire and the creation of the kingdom of serbs , croats and slovenes ( kscs ) , austria - hungary transferred the vessels of the former austro - hungarian navy to the new nation . the kingdom of italy was unhappy with this , and convinced the allies to share the austro - hungarian ships among the victorious powers . as a result , the only modern sea - going vessels left to the kscs were 12 torpedo boats , and they had to build their naval forces from scratch . during the 1920s , many navies were pursuing the flotilla leader concept , building large destroyers similar to the world war i royal navy v and w - class destroyers . in the interwar french navy , these ships were known as contre - torpilleurs , and were intended to operate with smaller destroyers , or as half - flotillas of three ships . the idea was that such a half - flotilla could defeat an italian light cruiser of the - class . the navy of the kscs decided to build three such flotilla leaders , ships that would have the ability to reach high speeds and with a long endurance . the long endurance requirement reflected yugoslav plans to deploy the ships into the central mediterranean , where they would be able to operate alongside french and british warships . at the time the decision was made , french shipyards were heavily committed to producing vessels for the french navy . so , despite its intention to develop a french concept , the kscs engaged yarrow shipbuilders in glasgow , scotland to build the ships . unlike the french , who preferred to install guns of their own manufacture , yarrow was happy to order the guns from the czechoslovak firm škoda . the initial yarrow design was based on an expanded version of the british shakespeare - class , with five skoda 14 cm / 56 naval guns . excessive top weight resulted in the deletion of one of the guns , to be replaced with a seaplane mounting . the final version replaced the seaplane mounting with improved anti - aircraft armament . the intention to build three flotilla leaders was demonstrated by the fact that yarrow ordered a total of 12 škoda 140 mm ( 5 . 5 in ) guns , four per ship . in the late summer of 1929 , the kscs ( the kingdom of yugoslavia from 3 october 1929 ) signed a contract with yarrow for a destroyer named dubrovnik . soon after she was ordered , the onset of the great depression meant that only one ship of the planned half - flotilla was ever built . description and construction dubrovnik was similar in many respects to the british destroyers being manufactured at the same time , having a square box - like bridge , a long forecastle , and a sharp raked stem similar to the later tribal - class . her rounded stern was adapted for minelaying . she had an overall length of 113 . 2 metres ( 371 ft 5 in ) , with a 10 . 67 m ( 35 ft ) beam and a mean draught of 3 . 58 m ( 11 ft 9 in ) ( maximum draught of 4 . 1 m ( 13 ft 5 in ) ) . her standard displacement was 1 , 880 long tons ( 1 , 910 t ) , ( 2 , 400 long tons ( 2 , 439 t ) at full load ) . dubrovnik had two parsons geared steam turbines , each driving a single propeller shaft . steam for the turbines was provided by three yarrow water - tube boilers , located in separate boiler rooms , and the turbines were rated at 48 , 000 shp ( 36 , 000 kw ) . as designed , the ship had a maximum speed of 37 knots ( 69 km / h ; 43 mph ) . in 1934 , under ideal conditions , she achieved a maximum speed of 40 . 3 knots ( 74 . 6 km / h ; 46 . 4 mph ) . a separate curtis turbine , rated at 900 shp ( 670 kw ) , was installed for cruising , with which she could achieve a range of 7 , 000 nautical miles ( 13 , 000 km ; 8 , 100 mi ) at 15 knots ( 28 km / h ; 17 mph ) . she carried 470 tonnes ( 460 long tons ) of fuel oil . her main armament consisted of four škoda 140 mm ( 5 . 5 in ) l / 56 superfiring guns in single mounts , two forward of the superstructure and two aft . for air defence , dubrovnik had twin - mounted škoda 83 . 5 mm ( 3 . 29 in ) l / 55 guns , and six škoda 40 mm ( 1 . 6 in ) / anti - aircraft guns , arranged in two twin mounts and two single mounts . she was also equipped with two triple 533 mm ( 21 in ) torpedo tubes , two depth charge throwers and two depth charge rails , two škoda 15 mm ( 0 . 59 in ) machine guns and 40 mines . her crew comprised 20 officers and 220 ratings . she was laid down on 10 june 1930 , and was launched on 11 october 1931 . service history dubrovnik dubrovnik was completed at the yarrow shipyards in glasgow in 1932 , at which time her main guns and light anti - aircraft guns had been installed . after sailing to the bay of kotor in the southern adriatic , she was fitted with her heavy anti - aircraft guns . she was commissioned with the royal yugoslav navy in 1932 , and her captain was armin pavić . in late september 1933 , the ship left the bay of kotor and sailed through the turkish straits to constanța on the black sea coast of bulgaria , where she embarked king alexander and queen maria of yugoslavia . she then visited in romania and varna in bulgaria , before returning via istanbul and the greek island of corfu in the ionian sea , arriving back at the bay of kotor on 8 october . on 6 october 1934 , king alexander left the bay of kotor on board dubrovnik for a state visit to france , arriving in marseille on 9 october . he was killed that same day by a bulgarian assassin , and dubrovnik conveyed his body back to yugoslavia , escorted by french , italian and british ships . soon after , vladimir replaced pavić as captain . in august 1935 , dubrovnik visited corfu and bizerte in the french protectorate of tunisia . in august 1937 , dubrovnik visited istanbul and the greek ports of mudros in the northern aegean sea and piraeus near athens . in april 1941 , yugoslavia entered world war ii when it was invaded by the german - led axis powers . at the time , dubrovnik was still under the command of and was assigned as flagship of the 1st torpedo division , along with the three smaller beograd - class destroyers , beograd , ljubljana and zagreb . premuda the italians captured dubrovnik in the bay of kotor on 17 april 1941 ; she had been damaged by yugoslav civilians prior to her seizure . dubrovnik was sailed to taranto in southern italy on 21 may , where she underwent repairs and a refit . she was renamed premuda , after the dalmatian island near which an italian motor torpedo boat had sunk the austro - hungarian dreadnought szent istván in june 1918 . her aft deckhouse and emergency bridge was removed and replaced with an anti - aircraft platform , and her mainmast and funnels were shortened . her twin škoda 83 . 5 mm ( 3 . 29 in ) l / 55 anti - aircraft guns were replaced by a 120 mm ( 4 . 7 in ) / howitzer firing star shells for illumination , while the six škoda 40 mm ( 1 . 6 in ) / anti - aircraft guns were replaced by four breda model 35 20 mm ( 0 . 79 in ) / machine guns in single mounts . later in her italian service , the 120 mm ( 4 . 7 in ) howitzer was replaced by a twin breda 37 mm ( 1 . 5 in ) / anti - aircraft gun mount . in italian service , her crew consisted of 13 officers and 191 enlisted ranks . premuda was commissioned in the italian navy ( italian : regia marina ) in february 1942 . later that month she rescued british prisoners of war who survived the sinking of the ss ariosto , an italian ship ferrying them from tripoli to sicily . in early june , the italian submarine alagi fired on premuda , mistaking her for a british destroyer due to her similarities with a british h - class destroyer . the attack missed premuda and struck the navigatori - class destroyer , sinking her . from 12 – 16 june 1942 , premuda took part in operations against the allied operation harpoon convoy attempting to reach the beleaguered island of malta from gibraltar . as part of the 10th destroyer flotilla , premuda supported the italian 7th cruiser squadron , comprising the light cruisers eugenio di savoia and raimondo montecuccoli . the force that attacked the operation harpoon convoy included most of the fighting power of the italian navy , including two battleships and two heavy cruisers . the allied naval escort lost one cruiser , three destroyers and several merchant ships to a combination of air attacks , submarines and naval mines . one italian battleship was damaged , and the trento - class cruiser trento was sunk . one of the other damaged italian ships was the navigatori - class destroyer ugolino vivaldi , and premuda was tasked to tow her to safety in the harbour of pantelleria , an island in the strait of sicily , under escort from the destroyer . on 6 – 7 january 1943 , premuda and 13 other italian destroyers transported troops to the axis - held port of tunis in north africa , completing two more such missions over the next two months . on 17 july , she developed serious engine problems in the ligurian sea near la spezia , and was brought to genoa for a major boiler and engine overhaul . it was decided to rebuild her along the lines of the navigatori - class , including a wider beam to improve her stability . as shells for her škoda - built main guns were in short supply , the decision was made to replace them with italian - made 135 mm ( 5 . 3 in ) / l45 guns in single mounts . the rebuild had not been completed when italy surrendered to the allies , and premuda was seized by germany at genoa on 9 september 1943 . premuda was the most important and effective italian war prize ship of world war ii . ta32 when she was captured by the germans , premuda 's new guns had not been completed . their initial plans called for the ship to serve as a radar picket for night fighters , with three 105 mm ( 4 . 1 in ) / l45 anti - aircraft guns in single mounts , freya early - warning radar , würzburg gun - laying radar and a fumo 21 surface fire - control system . these plans were soon abandoned due to the german lack of destroyers and torpedo boats in the mediterranean , and the decision was made to commission her as a torpedoboot ausland ( foreign torpedo boat ) with a radar instead of the freya and würzburg radar sets . her armament was replaced with four 105 mm ( 4 . 1 in ) / l45 naval guns , eight 37 mm ( 1 . 5 in ) anti - aircraft guns and between thirty - two and thirty - six 20 mm ( 0 . 79 in ) anti - aircraft guns in quadruple and twin mounts . the number of torpedo tubes was reduced from six to three . the number of 37 mm ( 1 . 5 in ) anti - aircraft guns was later increased to ten , in four twin and two single mounts . in german service , she had a total crew of 220 officers and men . she was commissioned in the german navy ( german : kriegsmarine ) on 18 august 1944 , as ta32 , under the command of kapitänleutnant emil . she served in the ligurian sea with the 10th torpedo boat flotilla , and was immediately committed to shelling allied positions on the italian coast , then scouting and minelaying tasks in the western gulf of genoa . on 2 october 1944 , ta32 , along with ta24 and ta29 , sailed towards sanremo to lay mines , where they encountered the destroyer uss gleaves . after exchanging fire , the three ships returned to genoa without being hit . by mid - march 1945 , ta32 , ta24 and ta29 were the only ships of the 10th torpedo boat flotilla that remained operational . on the night of 17 – 18 march 1945 , ta32 placed 76 naval mines off cap corse , the northern tip of corsica , in an offensive minelaying operation , along with ta24 and ta29 . after being detected by a shore based radar , the ships were engaged by the destroyers hms lookout and hms meteor , in what would become known as the battle of the ligurian sea . outgunned , ta24 and ta29 were sunk , while ta32 managed to escape with light damage to her rudder , after firing a few rounds and making an unsuccessful torpedo attack . ta32 was finally scuttled at genoa on 24 april 1945 , as the germans retreated . her wreck was raised and broken up in 1950 . books periodicals