- Dubrovnik (ship)
The "Dubrovnik" (later "Premuda" and "TA 32") was a
destroyer built for theYugoslav Royal Navy in the 1930s. The ship was named after the city ofDubrovnik .She was captured by the Italian Navy in April 1941 following the Axis
invasion of Yugoslavia . The ship was in turn captured by the Germans in September 1943 after the Italian armistice and scuttled in April 1945.Design
The ship was built by
Yarrow Shipbuilders inGlasgow and was the largest destroyer yet built. The Yugoslavs demanded a destroyer that was faster and better armed than any likely Italian opponent. The guns were supplied by the Czech companySkoda and the ship had a heavy anti-aircraft armament for the time.The ship was laid down on 10 June 1930, launched 12 October 1931 and commissioned in May 1932.
Yugoslav Navy service
The ship took King Alexander of Yugoslavia on a state visit to France in 1934. She then had the sad task of returning his body home after he was assassinated. The ship was captured at
Kotor on 17 April 1941.Italian Navy service
The ship was renamed "Premuda" by the Regia Marina and re-fitted. The 84 mm guns were removed and replaced by 37 mm guns and a new director/rangefinder was fitted. She served on convoys to North Africa and was involved in opposing Operation Harpoon. The Premuda was under refit in
Genoa at the time of the Italian Armistice and was captured by the Germans on 8 September 1943.Kriegsmarine service
The Germans re-armed the ship with three 105 mm guns and converted her into a radar picket or fighter control ship with a large Freya type radar installation aft. The radar was later replaced by a fourth 105 mm gun and torpedo tubes. The ship was renamed "TA 32" and was the flagship of the 10th Flotilla based in Genoa and active in the
Ligurian Sea . She fought an action with British destroyers in March 1945 and was scuttled on 25 April 1945 shortly before Genoa was captured by the Allies.References
*cite book|first=M.J.|last=Whitley|title=Destroyers of World War 2|year=1988|publisher=Cassell Publishing|id=ISBN 1-85409-521-8
* [http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/captured/torpedoboats/ta/ta32/index.html german-navy.de]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
