 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Austria-Hungary | |
| Name | 96 F then96 |
| Builder | Ganz & Danubius |
| Laid down | 24 February 1915 |
| Launched | 8 July 1916 |
| Commissioned | 10 November 1916 |
| Out of service | 1918 |
| Fate | Assigned to theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia | |
| Name | T7 |
| Acquired | March 1921 |
| Out of service | April 1941 |
| Fate | Captured byItalian Royal Navy |
 Italy | |
| Name | T7 |
| Acquired | April 1941 |
| Out of service | September 1943 |
 Independent State of Croatia | |
| Name | T7 |
| Acquired | early 1944 |
| Fate | Run aground by British MTB/MGBs on 24 June 1944 and then destroyed |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | 250t-class, F-group sea-goingtorpedo boat |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 58.76 m (192 ft 9 in) |
| Beam | 5.84 m (19 ft 2 in) |
| Draught | 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 28–29 kn (52–54 km/h; 32–33 mph) |
| Range | 1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Complement | 41 |
| Armament |
|
T7 was a sea-goingtorpedo boat operated by theRoyal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally96 F, a250t-class torpedo boat of theAustro-Hungarian Navy built in 1915–1916, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in)torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performingconvoy escort, patrol, andminesweeping tasks, andanti-submarine operations. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as96.
FollowingAustria-Hungary's defeat in 1918,96 was allocated to the Navy of theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamedT7. At the time, she and the seven other 250t-class boats were the only modern sea-going vessels of the fledgling maritime force. During theinterwar period,T7 and the rest of the navy were involved in training exercises and cruises to friendly ports, but activity was limited by reduced naval budgets. The boat was captured by the Italians during theGerman-ledAxisinvasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. After her main armament was modernised, she served with theRoyal Italian Navy under her Yugoslav designation, conducting coastal and second-line escort duties in theAdriatic Sea. Following the Italiancapitulation in September 1943, she was handed over by the Germans to theNavy of the Independent State of Croatia. While sailing toRijeka for arefit, she was attacked anddriven aground by BritishRoyal Navy small high-speed craft in June 1944 and then destroyed by theBritish Army to prevent her salvage. She wasbroken up in situ in 1953.
In 1910, theAustria-Hungary Naval Technical Committee initiated the design and development of a 275-tonne (271-long-ton) coastaltorpedo boat, specifying that it should be capable of sustaining 30knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) for 10 hours.[1][2] At the same time, the committee issued design parameters for a high seas or fleet torpedo boat of 500–550 t (490–540 long tons), top speed of 30 kn and endurance of 480 nautical miles (890 km; 550 mi). This design would have been a larger and better-armed vessel than the existing Austro-Hungarian 400-tonne (390-long-ton)Huszár-classdestroyers.[3] The specification for the high seas torpedo boat was based on an expectation that theStrait of Otranto, where theAdriatic Sea meets theIonian Sea, would beblockaded by hostile forces during a future conflict. In such circumstances, there would be a need for a torpedo boat that could sail from theAustro-Hungarian Navy (German:kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, Hungarian:Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) base at theBocche di Cattaro (the Bocche or Bay of Kotor) to the strait during the night, locate and attack blockading ships and return to port before morning.Steam turbine power was selected for propulsion, asdiesels with the necessary power were not available, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy did not have the practical experience to runturbo-electric boats.[2] Despite having developed these ideas, the Austro-Hungarian Navy then asked shipyards to submit proposals for a 250 t (250-long-ton) boat with a maximum speed of 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph).[1]Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) ofTrieste was selected for the contract to build the first eight vessels, designated as the T-group. Another tender was requested for four more boats, but whenGanz & Danubius reduced their price by ten per cent, a total of sixteen boats were ordered from them, designated the F-group.[2] The F-group designation signified the location of Ganz & Danubius' main shipyard atFiume.[4]
The250t-class F-group boats had short raisedforecastles and an openbridge, and were fast and agile, well designed for service in the Adriatic.[5] They had awaterline length of 58.76 metres (192 ft 9 in), abeam of 5.84 m (19 ft 2 in), and a normaldraught of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). While their designeddisplacement was 243.9 t (240 long tons), they displaced 267 tonnes (263 long tons) fully loaded.[6] The boats were powered by twoAEG-Curtis steam turbines driving twopropellers, using steam generated by twoYarrowwater-tube boilers,[2] one of which burnedfuel oil and the other coal.[4] There were two boiler rooms, one behind the other.[7] The turbines were rated at 5,000shaft horsepower (3,700 kW) with a maximum output of 6,000 shp (4,500 kW) and were designed to propel the boats to a top speed of 28–29 kn (52–54 km/h; 32–33 mph).[6] They carried 20.2 tonnes (19.9 long tons) of coal and 31 tonnes (30.5 long tons) of fuel oil, which gave them a range of 1,200nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph).[7] The F-group had twofunnels rather than the single funnel of the T-group.[2]79 T and the rest of the 250t class were classified as high seas torpedo boats by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, despite being smaller than the original concept for a coastal torpedo boat.[1][8] The naval historian Zvonimir Freivogel states that this type of situation was common due to the parsimony of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.[1] They were the first small Austro-Hungarian Navy boats to use turbines, and this contributed to ongoing problems with them,[2] which had to be progressively solved once they were in service.[5] The crew consisted of three officers and thirty-eight enlisted men.[9] The vessel carried one 4 m (13 ft)yawl as aship's boat.[10]
The boats were armed with twoŠkoda66 mm (2.6 in) L/30[a] guns, with the forward gun mounted on the forecastle, and the aft gun on thequarterdeck.[7] A 40 cm (16 in)searchlight was mounted above thebridge.[12] They were also armed with four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes mounted in pairs, with one pair mounted between the forecastle and bridge, and the other aft of the mainmast.[7] One 8 mm (0.31 in)Schwarzlose M.7/12 machine gun was carried foranti-aircraft work. Four mounting points were installed so that the machine gun could be mounted in the most effective position depending on the expected direction of attack.[13] The boat could also carry 10–12naval mines.[4]
96 F was the second-to-last of the F-group to be completed, and waslaid down at Ganz-Danubius' shipyard atPorto Re on 24 February 1915,launched on 8 July 1916 andcommissioned at Ganz-Danubius' main shipyard at Fiume on 10 November of that year.[14]
The original concept of operation for the 250t-class boats was that they would sail in aflotilla at the rear of a cruising battle formation, and were to intervene in fighting only if thebattleships around which the formation was established were disabled, or in order to attack damaged enemy battleships.[15] When a torpedo attack was ordered, it was to be led by ascout cruiser, supported by two destroyers to repel any enemy torpedo boats. A group of four to six torpedo boats would deliver the attack under the direction of the flotilla commander.[16]
In 1917, one of96 F's 66 mm guns may have been placed on an anti-aircraft mount. According to the naval historian Zvonimir Freivogel, sources vary on whether these mounts were added to all boats of the class, and on whether these mounts were added to the forward or aft gun.[17] On 12–13 March,96 F conducted ananti-submarine patrol between the islands ofOlib andSilba off the northernDalmatian coast. She escorted thearmoured cruiserKaiser Karl VI from theBay of Telašćica on the island ofIsola Lunga to the main Austro-Hungarian Navy base at Pola in the northern Adriatic on 1 May.[18] On 11 May, the BritishsubmarineHMS H1 stalked96 F's T-groupsister ship78 T off Pola, firing two torpedoes at her. The British captain had kept his submarine'speriscope extended too far and for too long, and the tell-tale "feather" had alerted the crew of78 T, allowing her crew to avoid the incoming torpedoes.[19]96 F,78 T and93 F, accompanied by theHuszár-class destroyerCsikós, unsuccessfully pursued the British submarine.[20] That night,Csikós,96 F,78 T and93 F were pursued and briefly engaged in the northern Adriatic by a force of Italian destroyers consisting ofAnimoso,Audace,Ardito,Ardente andGiuseppe Cesare Abba but the Austro-Hungarian force was able to retire to safety behind a minefield.[20][21] On 21 May, the suffix of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats was removed, and thereafter they were referred to only by the numeral.[2] From 19 to 24 May,96 provided cover for thesalvage of the Austro-Hungarian submarineSMU-5 after it had been sunk by a mine.[18] On 3 June, theHuszár-class destroyersWildfang andCsikós, along with96 and another 250t-class boat, had a brief encounter with three ItalianMAS boats off the mouth of theTagliamento river in the far north of the Adriatic.[21]
On 3–4 June,96, along with93, andCsikós,Wildfang and their sister shipVelebit were returning from a seaplane support mission whenWildfang struck a mine and sank about 30 nmi (56 km; 35 mi) southwest of the Pinida lighthouse on the eastern coast ofIstria, with96 assisting with the rescue of 25 of her 74 surviving crew.[22][23] In June and July, Austro-Hungarian aircraft were constantly in action bombing various targets along the east coast of Italy. On a twenty-one seaplane raid targeting the harbour atGrado between Venice and Triest, and the main railway hub in the same area atCervignano,96 was part of the covering force which also included theHuszár-class destroyersScharfschutze,Turul andDinara, and the 250t-class boats76,80 and92.Turul was targeted by an enemy submarine, but evaded the torpedo.[23] From 18 August,96 was based atĐenovići in the Bocche.[18] On 29 November,96,83,97 andCsikós were escorting the steamerDalmatia when theconvoy was attacked by a submarine just west of the mouth of theBojana river, which forms the border between Montenegro and Albania. All four torpedoes missed.[24]
On 1 February 1918,a mutiny broke out among the sailors of some vessels of the Austro-Hungarian Navy at the Đenovići anchorage within the Bocche, largely over poor food, lack of replacement uniforms and supplies, and insufficient leave, although the poor state of the Austro-Hungarian economy and its impact on their families was also a factor.96 was based at Đenovići at the time, and initially her crew was indecisive about joining the revolt, which was suppressed the following day.[25] On 17 March,96 was supporting a seaplanereconnaissance mission, when the seaplane A87 wasforced to land offMuzil nearVenice, and96 towed the aircraft to Pola.[18] On 4 April,96 towed alaunch carrying a detachment of sailors from Pola to near Ancona, with the mission of landing and capturing one or more ItalianMAS motor torpedo boats, but the sailors were landed too far north of Ancona, their beached launch was discovered by an Italian airship and towed to Ancona, and two of the sailors defected. The mission failed and the sailors were captured.[26][27]
By 1918, the Allies had strengthened their ongoing blockade on the Strait of Otranto, as foreseen by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. As a result, it was becoming more difficult for theGerman and Austro-HungarianU-boats to get through the strait and into theMediterranean Sea. In response to these blockades, the new commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy,KonteradmiralMiklós Horthy, decided to launch an attack on the Allied defenders with battleships, scout cruisers, and destroyers.[28] During the night of 8 June, Horthy left Pola in the upper Adriatic with thedreadnought battleshipsViribus Unitis andPrinz Eugen,[29] with an escort that included96.[30] At about 23:00 on 9 June 1918, after some difficulties getting theharbour defence barrage opened, the dreadnoughtsSzent István andTegetthoff,[29] with an escort force, also departed Pola and set course forSlano, north of Ragusa, to rendezvous with Horthy in preparation for a coordinated attack on the Otranto Barrage. About 03:15 on 10 June,[b] while returning from an uneventful patrol off the Dalmatian coast, twoRoyal Italian Navy (Italian:Regia Marina) MAS boats,MAS 15 andMAS 21, spotted the smoke from the Austrian ships. Both boats successfully penetrated the escort screen and split to engage the dreadnoughts individually.MAS 21 attackedTegetthoff, but her torpedoes missed.[32] Under the command ofLuigi Rizzo,MAS 15 fired two torpedoes at 03:25, both of which hitSzent István. Both boats evaded pursuit. The torpedo hits onSzent István were abreast herboiler rooms, which flooded, knocking out power to the pumps.Szent Istváncapsized less than three hours after being torpedoed.[31] This disaster essentially ended major Austro-Hungarian fleet operations in the Adriatic for the remaining months of the war.[33] On 11 June,96's sister91stranded on thePelješac peninsula in southern Dalmatia, and96 towed her to Pola.[34]
On 15 September,96 was transferred south to the Bocche.[35] On 26 September, she escorted a convoy of three coastal steamers from the Bocche to Durazzo, accompanied by79,87,89,Dinara,Scharfschutze and their sisterReka.[36] The steamers were attacked by the British submarineH1 but it was driven off by the escorts.[37] Three days later,96 along with93,82,87 and theErsatz Triglav-class destroyersLika,Dukla andUzsok laid mines in theBay of Drim off northern Albania.[38] On 6 October,96 laid mines off Durazzo.[35] On 19 October,96 escorted two coastal steamers toSan Giovanni di Medua in Albania andAntivari in Montenegro, accompanied by76,87,89 and theHuszár-class destroyerPandur.[36] As the end of the war approached and theAustro-Hungarian Empire broke apart, on 1 November96 was ceded to theState of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs,[39] which was a short-lived fragment of the empire which united with theKingdom of Serbia andKingdom of Montenegro on 1 December, becoming theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (from 1929, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia).[40]
The Austro-Hungarian Empire sued for peace in November 1918, and96 survived the war intact.[2] Immediately after the Austro-Hungarian capitulation, French troops occupied the Bocche, which was treated by the Allies as Austro-Hungarian territory.[41] During the French occupation, the captured Austro-Hungarian Navy ships moored at the Bocche were neglected, and96's original torpedo tubes were destroyed or damaged by French troops.[42] In 1920, under the terms of the previous year'sTreaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye by whichrump Austria officially ended World War I,96 was allocated to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Along with87,93 and97, and four 250t-class T-group boats, she served with theRoyal Yugoslav Navy (Serbo-Croatian Latin:Kraljevska Mornarica, KM; Краљевска Морнарица). Transferred in March 1921,[43] in KM service,96 was renamedT7.[4] When the navy was formed, she and the other seven 250t-class boats were the only modern sea-going vessels in the KM.[44] New torpedo tubes of the same size were ordered from the Strojne Tovarne factory inLjubljana.[7] In KM service it was intended to replace one or both guns on each boat of the 250t class with a longer Škoda 66 mm (2.6 in) L/45 gun, and it is believed that this included the forward gun onT7.[9] She was also fitted with twoZbrojovka 15 mm (0.59 in) machine guns.[7] In KM service, the crew increased to 52,[9] and she was commissioned in 1923.[45]
In 1925, exercises were conducted off the Dalmatian coast, involving the majority of the navy.[46] In May and June 1929, six of the eight 250t-class torpedo boats – includingT7 – accompanied the light cruiserDalmacija, thesubmarine tenderHvar and the submarinesHrabri andNebojša, on a cruise toMalta, the Greek island ofCorfu in the Ionian Sea, andBizerte in theFrench protectorate of Tunisia.[47] The ships and crews made a very good impression while visiting Malta.[48] In 1932, the British navalattaché reported that Yugoslav ships engaged in few exercises, manoeuvres or gunnery training due to reduced budgets.[49] By 1939, the maximum speed achieved by the 250t class in Yugoslav service had declined to 24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph).[9]
In April 1941, Yugoslavia enteredWorld War II when it wasinvaded by theGerman-ledAxis powers. At the time of the invasion,T7 was assigned to the 3rd Torpedo Division located atŠibenik, which also included her sistersT3,T5 andT6. On the first day of the invasion, 6 April, they were anchored across the entrance of theSt. Anthony Channel that links Šibenik Bay to the Adriatic, on a line betweenJadrija on the northern side of the channel and Zablaće on the southern side, when aircraft of theRegia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) attacked Šibenik.[45] On the same day,Kapetan bojnog broda[c]Ivan Kern arrived to take command of the division and choseT7 as hisflagship.[51] The four boats sailed up the channel towards Šibenik then north toZaton where they were again attacked unsuccessfully by Italian bombers.[52]T3 incurred boiler damage and was sent south toPrimošten for repairs to be undertaken.[45]
On 8 April more unsuccessful Italian air attacks on the three boats occurred, and the only effective anti-aircraft gun between them – the 40 mm (1.6 in) gun onT6 – malfunctioned. The three vessels then sailed east acrossLake Prokljan toSkradin where the population begged them to leave the harbour to avoid the town being bombed by the Italians. Their request was rebuffed, and during an Italian bombing raid some of the boats along with thewater carrierPerun were slightly damaged.[53] On the following morning, Italian aircraft attempted to sinkPerun usingaerial torpedoes, but all missed. In response, Kern orderedT6 to escortPerun to the Bay of Kotor, and the two vessels arrived there the next day without incident, whereT6's malfunctioning gun was repaired and she was loaded with weapons, supplies and extra men and sent to Šibenik. On the return journey she stopped atMakarska and learned of the declaration of the creation of the Axis puppetfascist state, theIndependent State of Croatia (NDH).[54] On the same day, the division, along with other vessels, were tasked to support an attack on the Italian enclave ofZara on the Dalmatian coast, which was quickly cancelled as soon as the establishment of the NDH was declared.[55][56] On the evening of 11 April,T6 met withT7 and the rest of the division near Šibenik. Kern orderedT6 to deliver her load to Šibenik then meet the rest of the division atMilna on the island ofBrač, which she did on 12 April. Kern was unable to obtain orders from Šibenik Command by telephone, so took theUskok-class torpedo boatUskok to try to obtain some. His second-in-command was unable to maintain order, and a third of the crews deserted. When Kern returned, he gave orders to sail to the Bay of Kotor,[54] but the crews of the division refused to follow his orders.[57] He retrieved his personal gear fromT7 and taking command ofUskok, sailed to the Bay of Kotor.[54] Eventually Kern fled into exile with other KM vessels.[58] On 13 April, theOrjen-class torpedo boatTriglav arrived with orders that the division should return to Šibenik to evacuate the staff of Šibenik Command. The first order was complied with, but upon arrival at Šibenik the boat crews were given the choice of returning to their homes or sailing toSplit to join the nascentNavy of the Independent State of Croatia. The boats then sailed to nearby Divulje, to follow through on an intention to join the NDH navy,[52] but all four boats of the division were then captured by the Italians.[59]
T7 was then operated by the Italians under her Yugoslav designation, conducting coastal, second-line escort, and anti-Partisan duties in the Adriatic. Her main guns were replaced by two 76.2 mm (3 in) L/30 anti-aircraft guns,[60] she was fitted with one or twoBreda 20 mm (0.79 in) L/65 anti-aircraft guns,[61] her bridge was enclosed,[5] and one pair of torpedo tubes may have also been removed.[62] In Italian hands, her crew was increased to 64.[9] She was allocated toMaridalmazia, the military maritime command of Dalmatia (Comando militare maritime della Dalmatia), which was responsible for the area from the northern Adriatic island ofPremuda south to the port of Bar (formerly Antivari) in theItalian governorate of Montenegro.T7 was captured at Šibenik when the Italianscapitulated in September 1943,[63] and once under German control, it was initially intended for her to remain so with the new designation ofTA34 (German:Torpedoboot Ausland34),[d] although this designation does not appear to have been formally applied and she continued to be referred to asT7.[65] On 10 October,T7 was still located at Šibenik, was rated as "operational", and her maximum speed was recorded as 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph).[66] In February 1944 it was decided thatT7 would be transferred from Šibenik to Rijeka (formerly Fiume) for arefit. It was then decided thatT7 would be handed over to the NDH navy and a Croatian crew was allocated prior to her transfer to Rijeka and the planned refit. It seems unlikely that her armament was modified before the handover, although one set of torpedo tubes may have been removed.[51] On the night of 13/14 June, eleven crew membersdefected to the Partisans after their plan to take the boat with them was discovered.[65] The remaining crew were detained,[67] a fresh crew was brought aboard, and the voyage to Rijeka was set for the night of 24 June. The commander of the Šibenik Naval District,Kapetan fregate[e] Omer Azabagič, was a Partisan sympathiser and warned them of the date of the planned transfer. They passed this information on to BritishRoyal Navy elements operating in the Adriatic.[65]
In the evening of 24 June,T7 departed Šibenik with the GermanS-boatsS 154 andS 157 of the 7th S-Boat Flotilla providing cover from a distance.[65]T7 was intercepted by the Royal NavyFairmile D motor torpedo boatMTB 670 andmotor gunboatsMGB 659 andMGB 662 near the island of Kukuljari, south ofMurter Island.[65] The British were accompanied by their Partisan liaison officer, retired KMKontraadmiral[f] Ivan Preradović, now a Partisan colonel.[67] ConsideringT7 was one of the few significant threats to British vessels in the region, the British commander orderedMTB 670 to launch a torpedo attack.[68] The two torpedoes missed and exploded on the shore of Kukuljari, probably because their depth settings were too low,[67] so the British boats pursued and approached the ship fromabaft the beam.T7 opened fire at 150 yards (140 m). The British boats returned fire with their forward and port guns, and within 30 seconds they had disabledT7's weapons and set her ablaze. At a speed of about 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph),T7 suddenly veered to starboard, narrowly avoiding a collision withMGB 662 (it is not known whether her steering was damaged or if her crew was attempting to perform a ram) before running aground on Murter Island.[68] The German S-boats were too far away to intervene. The British rescued and captured five crew members fromT7 and learning that the S-boats were in the area, left the wreck to locate and attack them.[67] The German S-boats withdrew, but returned later to rescue a few more crew. Of the crew of 35, 14 were killed or reported missing in action, including the boat's commander.[65] The British later examined the wreck, capturing five more sailors and leaving her flooded and burning. ABritish Army demolition team destroyed the hulk to ensure it could not be salvaged.[68] After the British interceptedT7, Azabagič defected to the Partisans. The boat was scrapped in situ in 1953.[35][65]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)| Coastal defence ship |  | |
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