User:Saxum/Yugoslav Navy

The Yugoslav Navy (Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica – JRM) was the naval branch of the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslovenska narodna armija – JNA). Primarily organized as a coastal defence force tasked with preventing enemy landings along its long and indented coastline, the navy's inventory reflected the countries foreign relations as well as the growing ship-building capabilities of its domestic shipyards and scientific institutions. This list includes all large sea-going ships such as destroyers and frigates, small surface combatants such as torpedo and missile boats, submarines and minewarfare vessels. The list also covers the majority of auxiliary ships, although ceertain small harbour vessels may have been left out du to a lack of reliable sources.

Historical context
The immediate post-war period was at first marked by an ambitious naval programme which called for the building of four cruisers, twenty destroyers, 140 submarines, 200 motor torpedo boats (MTB), 100 patrol boats and 100 minesweepers. However, the 1948 Tito-Stalin split left communist Yugoslavia isolated from the rest of the Eastern Bloc, devastating its already war-torn economy and unable to acquire Soviet weaponry. Thus, the first naval programme was abandoned and the JRM relied on vessels which were captured during the Second World War, salvaged after the war, acquired through reparations from Italy or inhereted from the former Royal Yugoslav Navy. A consenquence of the 1948 split was improved relations with the West, which revived the Yugoslav economy with credits. This in turn reflected itself on the modernisation of the JRM which began equipping itself with domestically built MTBs based on the US Higgins MTBs, Kraljevica-class patrol boats, landing craft, mine warfare vessels and the acquisition of two British W-class destroyers and three Sirius-class minesweepers from France.

Following Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union began a process of rapprochement. This led to the ability to once again purchase Soviet equipment which materialized in the form of ten Osa-class missile boats and four Shershen-class torpedo boats delivered during the 1960s, with an additionl ten torpedo boats of the same type being built in the Tito's Shipyard in Kraljevica. The 1960s were also a period in which the Yugoslav shipbuilding industry matured and was capable of producing sophisticated warships. The early 1960s saw the completion of the Sutjeska-class submarines which were based on the Italian pre-war Sirena-class, while the late 1960s were marked by the completion of the three Heroj-class boats which represented a significant technological leap over their predecessor and were the first submarines to be fully designed in Yugoslavia.

The 1970s and 80s were marked by further reliance on domestically built warships, with a noteworthy exception being two Koni-class frigates acquired during the early 1980s. The majority of the of vintage World War II vessels were deleted during the 1970s, while at the same time the Končar-class missile boats were introduced, followed by numerous designs such as the Sava-class submarines, DJČ-type landing-assult craft and Mirna-class patrol boats. The last vessels to be completed for the JRM during the late 1980s were the Una-class midget submarines and the Kotor-class frigates The dissolution of Yugoslavia coincided with the start of the construction of the new Kobra-class missiles boats, while other planned projects such as a the 900 ton Lora-class submarines never materialized.

In 1990, a year before its demise, the JRM operated four frigates, 13 submarines, 16 missile boats, 14 torpedo boats, around 20 patrol boats, eight minesweepers, dozens of landing craft and numeruous auxiliary vessels such as tugs, transports and tankers. The JRM came to its de facto end in 1991 as Yugoslavia began a process of violent disintegration against ethnic lines. Following the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence the JRM retained a large portion of its fleet. However, because the newly independent Croatia controlled 98% of Yugoslavias coastline, the Navy found itself in a situation where it had lost access to almost all of its facilities with the exception of the Bay of Kotor in SR Montenegro.

the majority of the JRM inventory was relocated to JNA-controlled Montenegro where they were eventually commissioned in the Navy of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia consisting of Serbia and Montenegro. A small number of vessels was retained by the newly formed Croatian Navy; these were either captured by Croatian forces in ports and shipyards, or was damaged in combated and later salvaged.

https://tehnika.lzmk.hr/ratna-mornarica/

Listing order explanation
This list follows an overall listing order found in established naval compendiums such as Jane's Fighting Ships. This includes listing major surfaces warships first, followed by submarines, fast attack craft and patrol boats. The middle section covers various mine warfare vessels and landing craft while lastly numerous auxiliary vessels are listed. This order stems from the particular vessels role and overall firepower with frontline vessels having precedent over support vessels. As explained in the 1989/90 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships:

"The distinction between major and minor depends upon editorial judgement and is primarily a function of firepower. The age of the ship of class and its relative importance within the Navy concerned is also taken into account."

Within each of those sections, vessels and classes are first grouped by type in an alphabetical order; for example, the section Major Surface Warships containts subsections: Corvette, Destroyers, Destroyer Escorts an Frigates. Each of those subsections contains various ship classes and their individual ships organized in a chronological order. For example, the subsection frigates, contains entries on the Koni and Kotor class frigates with the Koni-class being listed first as ships of this class were in JRM service years before the Kotor-class ships were built.

Ariete class
The sole survivor of the Ariete-class destroyer escorts, the homonymous Ariete, was transferred to Yugoslavia as part of war reparations on 30 April 1949 and commissioned in the JRM as Durmitor (RE-53). Two ships, the Balestra and Fionda, were laid down in 1942 for the Regia Marina by the "Cantieri Navali del Quarnaro" shipyard in Fiume. Following the Italian Armistice in September 1943, the unfinished ships were taken over by Nazi Germany and renamed TA 47 and TA 46 respectively. Both ships were severely damaged on slip by Allied aerial bombing on 20 February 1945. As control of Fiume, now known as Rijeka, passed to Yugoslavia, work on the unfinished Balestra resumed in 1948. It was finally completed in 1949 and commissioned in the JRM as Učka (RE-54). Work on Fionda, now named Velebit, also resumed in 1948 but was never completed.

Ciclone class
Two Ciclone-class destroyer escorts were acquired from Italy through war reparations and transferred on 28 April 1949. These were the Indomito and Aliseo, commissioned in the JRM as Triglav (RE-51) and Biokovo (RE-52) respectively.

Koni class
During the early 1980s, the JRM commissioned two Koni-class frigates built by the Zelenodolsk Shipyard in the Soviet Union. Classified as "Large Patrol Boats" (Veliki Patrol Brod - VPBR),



Una class
The last submarines to be built for the JRM before the breakup of Yugoslavia were the six Una-class midget submarines, commissioned between 1986 and 1989. The first midget sumbarines to be operated by the JRM since the decommissioning of Mališan in the 1950s, the Una-class was built with an electric-only propulsion and were thus dependent on external power sources for battery recharging.

Osa class
Ten Osa-class missile boats were transferred from the Soviet Union over a span of five years; per one in 1965, 1966 and 1967, four in 1968 and three in 1969. All ten were named after World War II People's Heroes and recieved pennant numbers RČ-301–310 with "RČ" standing for Raketni Čamac, lit. "Rocket Boat". By the late 1980s, the boats were nearing the end of their service life and were expected to be replaced by the Yugoslav-built Kobra-class boats.

Following the outbreak of the Yugoslav wars, eight boats were retained by the JRM and relocated to Montenegro where they were commissioned in the RMVJ. All eight were decommissioned during the 1990s. Five of these, Stevo Filipović, Žikica Jovanović-Španac, Nikola Martinović, Josip Mažar-Šoša and Karlo Rojc, were eventually purchased by Egypt in 2004. All five underwent a major overhaul at the "Sava Kovačević" Naval-Technical Overhaul Center, which included, among other things, the replacement of their worn out propulsion with new M-504B engines. The work was completed by 2007, and all five were handed over to the Egyptian Navy designated 647, 649, 651, 653 and 655 respectively.

Two boats, Mitar Acev and Velimir Škorpik, were captured by Croatian forces. Mitar Acev was decomissioned by the JRM in 1990 and was thus never commissioned in the HRM; instead, it was used as a target ship. Velimir Škorpik was commissioned in the HRM as Dubrovnik. In 1995 it was modified and used as a fast patrol boat and minelayer designated Dubrovnik (OBM-41) until it was decommissioned in 2000.

Končar class


During the early 1970s, the JRM embarked on a process of modernization by developing and building a domestically produced missile-armed warship. The result was the six-strong Končar-class built from 1974 until 1979 at the Tito's Shipyard in Kraljevica. Developed by the "Brodarski institut" from Zagreb and "Brodoprojekt" from Rijeka, the Končar-class was modeled after the Swedish Spica-class missile boats, featuring a mixture of equipment of Western and Soviet origin, including German diesel engines, British gas turbines, Swedish naval guns and Soviet anti-ship missiles. The boats were planned to be equipped with French-built Exocet anti-ship missiles, however, due to the asking price being too high, they were instead armed with two Soviet P-20 missiles.

Following the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars, all boats except for Vlado Ćetković were retained by the JRM and subsequently commissioned in the RMVJ. Vlado Ćetković was captured by Croatian forces in Šibenik and commissioned in the HRM as Šibenik (RTOP-21). As of 2020, it remains in active service. During the mid-1990s, the major overhaul of Ramiz Sadiku was stopped and the boat was decommissioned; in 2007 it was sold for scrap. Rade Končar and Hasan Zahirović-Laca were decommissioned in 2006 shortly after Montenegro declared independence. Jordan Nikolov-Orce and Ante Banina were commissioned in the Montenegrin Navy in 2006. Jordan Nikolov-Orce was modified as a patrol boat and remains in active service as Durmitor (P-105). The same modification is planned for Ante Banina.

Kobra class


During the 1980s, the "Brodarski institut" began work on a new class of missile boats which were expected to replace the aging Soviet-built Osa-class missile boats. Dubbed the Kobra-class, the first boat was laid down in the Tito's Shipyard in Kraljevica as Sergej Mašera (RTOP-501).

Higgins class
https://tehnika.lzmk.hr/torpedni-camac/

https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=4635

"Toèno je da je u SSSR-u kupljena serija raketnih i torpednih èamaca, ali to æe nakon podrobnijeg pojašnjenja dobiti sasvim drugaèiji kontekst od sugeriranoga. Èinjenica je da je za JRM od 1949. do 1955. na Korèuli izgraðeno 76 torpednih èamaca nalik amerièkom tipu Higgins, od kojih je 18 kasnije preinaèeno u motorne topovnjaèe"

Shershen class
A total of 14 Soviet-designed Shershen-class torpedo boats were operated by the JRM from the 1960s until its dissolution in 1992. Four boats, Pionir, Partizan, Topčider and Ivan, were transferred from the Soviet Union while an additional ten boats were licence built by the Tito's Shipyard in Kraljevica. The first Yugoslav-built boat was Proleter (TČ-213) delivered in 1968, followed by three boats each year for the next three years: Jadran, Kornat and Biokovac in 1969, Streljko, Crvena Zvijezda and Partizan III in 1970 and Partizan II, Napredak and Pionir II in 1971.

Galeb class
The JRM operated a single Galeb-class minelayer/minesweeper, the Zelengora (M-21). It was the first ship of a six-strong class originally built for the Imperial German Navy, all of which were sold to the JKRM during the early 1920s. The sole ship of its class to survive World War II, it was transferred from the JKRM-in-exile in 1945 and commissioned in the JRM as Pionir and renamed Zelengora in 1952.

Landing craft
https://tehnika.lzmk.hr/desantni-brod/

WW II prize craft
Following the end of the Second World War, at least four former Axis landing craft were captured by Yugoslav forces and commissioned in the JRM. These were the German Marinefährprahm (MFP) and their Italian licence-built equivalent, the Motozattera (MZ). D-206 (ex-MZ-713) and D-219 (ex-MZ-717) were operated by the JRM but their service history and fate is unknown. These would later serve as a template for similar craft built in Yugoslav shipyards.

DTM, DSM and PDS types
During the 1950s, the "3. maj" Shipyard in Rijeka constructed over thirty DTM type (desantni tenkonosac-minopolagač - Landing Craft Tank-Minelayer) crafts.

The service histories of the majority of these vessels is either unknown or incomplete with exceptions being: according to the 1989/90 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships, fourteen DTMs were in service, these being: DTM-213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 222, 223, 226, 228, 229, 232, 233, 234, and 237. 217 was captured by Croatian forces in Šibenik and sunk in 1994 as a target ship during the "Posejdon 94" excercise. 219 was captured by Croatian forces in 1991, commissioned and operated by the HRM until 2002 when it was decommissioned,

https://slobodnadalmacija.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/smrt-u-sudaru-izletnickog-broda-i-broda-jna-milijunske-kamate-za-nerad-sudaca-platit-ce-gradani-274749

Similarily, during the 1950s the "Uljanik" Shipyard constructed several PDS and DSM type catamaran-syle landing craft, many of of which were later converted to civilian ferries.

   

DSM - 509, 513 and 514.

DJČ type
Beggining in the second half of the 1970s, the JRM began operating domestically-built landing craft of the DJČ type (Desantno jurišni čamac - Landing Assault Craft). Developed by the "Brodarski institut" and built by the "Greben" Shipyard in Vela Luka, a total of 32 landing craft were built in three series; twelve craft in 1975-77 (the 11 series), eight craft in 1978-80 (the 21 series) and twelve craft in 1983-85 (the 22 series). Series 11 and 21

https://hrvatski-vojnik.hr/prica-o-prvom-ratnom-brodu-hrm-a-djb-103/

http://www.vs.rs/sr_lat/o-vojsci/naoruzanje/snage-i-sredstva-plovnih-jedinica

Harbour
The JRM operated a number of small harbour tugboats of the LR-type built by the "3. Maj" Shipyard in Rijeka during the 1950s. These were designated by the prefex "LR" which stood for Lučki Remorker, lit. "harbour tugboat".

Accoring to the 1989/90 edition of Jane's Fighting ships, nine ships were in service shortly before the breakup of Yugoslavia, these being LR-71-79.

Coastal
PR-36

Cipal / Zubatac (PR-37)

Tunj (PR-38)

PR-39

PR-38 Tunj (http://www.radiodux.me/naslovnica/4210-na-vezu-u-blizini-perasta-potonuo-rashodovani-vojni-remorker-)

https://tehnika.lzmk.hr/tegljac/

Books






Other


R-2 Mala HV https://hrvatski-vojnik.hr/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/hv_002_95-04.pdf