The Dubrovnik (later Premuda and TA 32) was a destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 built for the Yugoslav Royal Navy

Yugoslav Royal Navy

The Royal Yugoslav Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.This navy existed since the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, which was changed in 1929 to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia...

 in the 1930s. The ship was named after the city of Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...

.

She was captured by the Italian Navy

Regia Marina

The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...

 in April 1941 following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia

Invasion of Yugoslavia

The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...

. 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

Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Limited , often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde...

 in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 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 company Skoda

Škoda Works

Škoda Works was the largest industrial enterprise in Austro-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia, one of its successor states. It was also one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Europe in the 20th century...

 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

Alexander I of Yugoslavia

Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...

 on a state visit to France in 1934. She then had the task of returning his body home after he was assassinated. The ship was captured at Kotor

Kotor

Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....

 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

Operation Harpoon (1942)

Not to be confused with Operation Harpoon Operation Harpoon was one of two simultaneous Allied convoys sent to supply Malta in the Axis-dominated Mediterranean Sea in mid-June 1942, during the Second World War. One convoy, Operation Vigorous, left Alexandria. The other, Operation Harpoon, travelled...

. The Premuda was under refit in Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 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

Seetakt radar

The shipborne Seetakt radar was developed in the 1930s and was used by the German Navy during World War II.In Germany during the late 1920s, Hans Hollmann began working in the field of microwaves, which were to later become the basis of almost all radar systems. In 1935 he published Physics and...

 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

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 and active in the Ligurian Sea

Ligurian Sea

The Ligurian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, between the Italian Riviera and the island of Corsica. The sea is probably named after the ancient Ligures people.-Geography:...

. 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.

Specification (as refitted)

• Displacement: 2400 tons
• Length: 113.2 m
• Beam: 10.7m
• Draught: 4.1 m
• Speed: 37 knots
• Armament:
  • 4 - 105 mm guns (4x1)
  • 4 -37mm guns
  • 28 - 20mm guns
  • 3 x 553mm torpedo tubes (1x3)
  • 4 depth charge racks