Beograd-class destroyer

The Beograd class of destroyers were built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy in the late 1930s. Zagreb was scuttled to prevent its capture, and the other two were captured by the Italians. The Royal Italian Navy operated the two captured ships as convoy escorts between Italy, the Aegean Sea, and North Africa. One was lost in the Gulf of Tunis in April 1943; the other was seized by the Germans in September 1943 after the Italian surrender. Two more ships of the class were planned, but not built.

About Beograd-class destroyer in brief

The Beograd class of destroyers were built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy in the late 1930s, to a French design. Zagreb was scuttled to prevent its capture, and the other two were captured by the Italians. The Royal Italian Navy operated the two captured ships as convoy escorts between Italy, the Aegean Sea, and North Africa. One was lost in the Gulf of Tunis in April 1943; the other was seized by the Germans in September 1943 after the Italian surrender and was subsequently operated by the German Navy. Two more ships of the class were planned, but not built. The ships had an overall length of 98 m, a beam of 9. 45 m and a normal draught of 3.

18 m. Their standard displacement was 1,210 tonnes, increasing to 1,655 tonnes at full load. They carried 120 koda Škoda 40mm anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts located on either side of the deck. They were also equipped with two triple mounts of 550mm torpedo tubes and two machine guns. In 1967, a French film was made about the scuttling of Zagreb. In 1973, the President of Yugoslavia and wartime Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito posthumously awarded the two officers who scuttle Zag Croatia with the Order of the People’s Hero. The last ship of the Beograd class, Ljubljana, was lost during the final weeks of the war.

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