,_jugoslawische_Schiffe.jpg) Dubrovnik (left) and Beograd (right) photographed in the Bay of Kotor in 1941 after being captured by Italian forces.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Yugoslavia | |
| Name | Dubrovnik |
| Namesake | City of Dubrovnik |
| Ordered | 1929 |
| Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Laid down | 10 June 1930 |
| Launched | 11 October 1931 |
| Sponsored by | Princess Olga |
| Commissioned | May 1932 |
| Fate | Captured by Italian forces on 17 April 1941 |
 Italy | |
| Name | Premuda |
| Namesake | The island of Premuda |
| Acquired | 17 April 1941 |
| Commissioned | February 1942 |
| Fate | Captured by German forces on 9 September 1943 |
 Germany | |
| Name | TA32 |
| Acquired | 9 September 1943 |
| Commissioned | 18 August 1944 |
| Fate | Scuttled on 24 April 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Flotilla leader |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 113.2 m (371 ft 5 in) |
| Beam | 10.67 m (35 ft 0 in) |
| Draught | 3.58–4.1 m (11 ft 9 in – 13 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
|
| Range | 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 20 officers and 220 enlisted |
| Armament |
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Dubrovnik was a flotilla leader built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow in 1930 and 1931. She was one of the largest destroyers of her time. Resembling contemporary British designs, Dubrovnik was a fast ship with a main armament of four Czechoslovak-built Škoda 140 mm (5.5 in) guns in single mounts. She was intended to be the first of three flotilla leaders built for Yugoslavia, but was the only one completed. During her service with the Royal Yugoslav Navy, Dubrovnik undertook several peacetime cruises through the Mediterranean, the Turkish Straits and the Black Sea. In October 1934, she conveyed King Alexander to France for a state visit, and carried his body back to Yugoslavia following his assassination in Marseille.
During the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Dubrovnik was captured by the Italians. After a refit, which included the replacement of some of her weapons and the shortening of her mainmast and funnels, she was commissioned into the Royal Italian Navy as Premuda. In Italian service she was mainly used as an escort and troop transport. In June 1942, she was part of the Italian force that attacked the Allied Operation Harpoon convoy attempting to relieve the island of Malta. In July 1943, she broke down and was brought to Genoa for repair and a refit. Premuda was the most important and effective Italian war prize ship of World War II.
At the time of the Italian surrender to the Allies in September 1943, Premuda was still docked in Genoa, and was seized by Germany. Plans to convert her into a radar picket for night fighters were abandoned. In August 1944, following the replacement of her armament, she was commissioned into the German Navy as a Torpedoboot Ausland (foreign torpedo boat) with the designation TA32. The ship saw action shelling Allied positions on the Italian coast and laying naval mines. In March 1945, she took part in the Battle of the Ligurian Sea against two Royal Navy destroyers, during which she was lightly damaged. She was scuttled the following month as the Germans retreated from Genoa.