 Beli Orao at Trieste, Italy, after being completed | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia | |
| Name | Beli Orao |
| Namesake | The double-headed white eagle on theYugoslav coat of arms |
| Builder | Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico inTrieste |
| Laid down | 23 December 1938 |
| Launched | 3 June 1939 |
| Commissioned | 29 October 1939 |
| Out of service | April 1941 |
| Fate | Captured by Italy |
 Italy | |
| Name |
|
| 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 toYugoslav 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 bhp (1,400 kW) or 2,200 bhp (1,600 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) |
| Complement | Unknown |
| Armament |
|
Beli Orao (Serbo-Croatian for 'White Eagle') was aroyal yacht built in 1938–39 for theYugoslav Royal Navy, which intended her to serve as apatrol boat, escort, orguard ship in wartime. Upon completion, she was pressed into service as the admiralty yacht – used by senior admirals for transport and to review fleet exercises. She was captured in April 1941 by theItalians during the World War IIAxisinvasion of Yugoslavia. TheRegia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) replaced her guns and used her as agunboat for harbour protection and coastal escort duties, briefly asAlba thenZagabria. She was then used to trainanti-submarine warfare specialists from the naval base atLa Spezia.
After theItalian armistice with the Allies in September 1943,Zagabria escaped capture by theGermans and was returned to the Yugoslav Royal Navy-in-exile in December that year. Refitted, and under her original name ofBeli Orao, she became atender for aflotilla ofmotor gunboats that had been loaned to the Yugoslav Royal Navy-in-exile by the BritishRoyal Navy. In this role she operated out of the BritishCrown Colony of Malta, and in theTyrrhenian Sea off the western coast of Italy, and later in theAdriatic Sea off the Yugoslav coast. After the war she remained in Yugoslav hands under the namesBiokovo thenJadranka, serving as anaval yacht and as apresidential yacht for thePresident of YugoslaviaJosip Broz Tito, and also as adispatch boat. In 1978, she was still in service as a yacht, but wasscrapped soon after.
Beli Orao was ordered fromCantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CRDA) atTrieste, Italy, in 1938, originally designed as aguard ship for the Yugoslav Financial Guard. During her construction, the plans were varied several times by theYugoslav government,[1] so that she was completed as aroyal yacht for use by theregentPrince Paul during peacetime.[2] In wartime, she was to be used as apatrol boat,[3] escort,[2] or guard ship. The final design gave her the appearance of amotor yacht or fastpassenger ship.[3]
Sources vary onBeli Orao'slength overall; both 60.45 metres (198 ft 4 in)[1] and 65 metres (213 ft 3 in)[2] are given. She had alength between perpendiculars of 60.08 m (197 ft 1 in),[2] abeam of 7.95 m (26 ft 1 in)[1] or 8.08 m (26 ft 6 in),[2] and adraught of 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)[1] or 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in).[2] She had a standarddisplacement of 567tonnes (558 long tons),[1][2] and displaced around 660 t (650long tons) at full load.[1][2] She was powered by two CRDA-Sulzerdiesel engines driving two propellers.[1][2] Sources vary on the power of her engines.Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946 states that they generated 1,900brake horsepower (1,400 kW),[2] but the naval historian Zvonimir Freivogel gives a higher output of 2,200 bhp (1,600 kW).[1] The engines were designed to drive her at a cruising speed of 17knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) and a top speed of 18.5 kn (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph).[3] The size of her crew is unknown.[1][2] For wartime service she was to be armed with two 40-millimetre (1.6 in)anti-aircraft guns,[1][2] and two 15 mm (0.59 in) or 7.9 mm (0.31 in)machine guns.[1]Beli Orao, named after the double-headed white eagle on theYugoslav coat of arms,[3] was laid down on 23 December 1938, launched on 3 June 1939, and completed on 29 October of that year, afterWorld War II had broken out.[1][4][5]
WhenBeli Orao was completed, Yugoslavia had not yet been drawn into the war, but she was immediately pressed into service to replace the admiralty yachtVila, which was used by senior admirals for transport and to review fleet exercises. This changed with the April 1941German-ledAxisinvasion of the country.[3] At the time of the invasion,Beli Orao was located at the main navy fleet base at theBay of Kotor.[6] When the fleetflagship, the obsoletelight cruiserDalmacija, was tasked to participate in an attack against the Italian enclave ofZara, the fleet staff transferred toBeli Orao.[3] After the Italians capturedKotor, the commander-in-chief of the fleet, Rear AdmiralEmil Domainko, who was aboardBeli 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 theRegia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) regarding the surrender of the fleet.[3] Domainko was allowed to sail inBeli Orao toHerceg Novi at the mouth of the bay, but returned to Kotor to surrender the ship.[7]
She was put into service with theRegia Marina as agunboat, initially asAlba (Dawn), although her name was soon changed toZagabria (the Italian name forZagreb), 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 twoOerlikon 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 theanti-submarine warfare (ASW) school atLa Spezia on theLigurian Sea, where she was equipped withhydrophones for detectingsubmarines. Until theItalian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, she was used to train ASW specialists for service oncorvettes,destroyers andtorpedo boats. At the time of the armistice,Zagabria escaped from impending German capture by sailing toAugusta, Sicily. On 19 September, she departed forValletta in the BritishCrown Colony of Malta with theGabbiano-class corvettesFolaga andGru, but had to turn back to deliver the Italian admiralPrince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, toTaranto in southern Italy, as the terms of the armistice did not allow him to leave the country. On 7 December of that year,Zagabria was returned by the Italians to the Yugoslav Royal Navy-in-exile, and resumed the nameBeli Orao.[3] Soon after her return she was visited at Malta byPeter II, theKing of Yugoslavia, who was living in exile in the UK with his government.[9]
After refitting in Taranto,Beli Orao was used as atender for aflotilla ofmotor gunboats (MGBs) that had been loaned to the Yugoslav Royal Navy-in-exile by the BritishRoyal 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 theYugoslav Communist Party-ledYugoslav Partisans.[3][10] The flotilla was then based atLivorno on the western coast of Italy, while it operated in theTyrrhenian Sea.[3] The flotilla conducted operations in the Adriatic late in the war, under Commander Konstantin Jeremić,[3] based atAncona on the eastern coast of Italy from 1 April 1945. In mid-April, four MGBs from the flotilla supported the capture of the island ofRab by Partisan troops, but distrust remained between the homegrownPartisan 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 renamedBiokovo, and in 1949 she was renamedJadranka, serving as anarmed yacht in theYugoslav Navy and also as apresidential yacht for thePresident of Yugoslavia,Josip Broz Tito. In 1969 she was serving as adispatch boat,[12] and was deleted from the naval register in 1976 or 1977, after which a newJadranka was built as a presidential yacht.[1] In 1978, the originalJadranka was still in service as a yacht,[2] but was scrapped soon after. Hership's bell,wheel and the Yugoslav coat of arms she carried during her service are preserved at theCroatian Maritime Museum inSplit.[1]
| Coastal defence ship |  | |
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| Light cruiser | ||
| Destroyers | ||
| Corvette | ||
| Gunboat/Royal yacht | ||
| Torpedo boats |
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| Motor torpedo boats | ||
| Submarines |
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| Minelayers | ||
| Minesweepers | ||
| River flotilla | ||