| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Austria-Hungary | |
| Name | 97 F then 97 |
| Builder | Ganz & Danubius |
| Laid down | 5 March 1915 |
| Launched | 20 August 1916 |
| Commissioned | 9 December 1916 |
| Out of service | 1918 |
| Fate | Assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia | |
| Name | T8 |
| Acquired | March 1921 |
| Out of service | April 1941 |
| Fate | Captured by Italy |
 Italy | |
| Name | T8 |
| Acquired | April 1941 |
| Out of service | 11 September 1943 |
| Fate | Sunk by German aircraft |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | 250t-class, F-group sea-going torpedo 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 |
|
T8 was a sea-going torpedo boat that was operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally 97 F, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navybuilt 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 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy escort, patrol, and minesweeping tasks, and anti-submarine operations. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 97.
Following Austria-Hungary's defeat in 1918, 97 was allocated to the Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamed T8. At the time, she and the seven other 250t-class boats were the only modern sea-going vessels of the fledgling maritime force. During the interwar period, T8 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 the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. After her main armament was modernised, she served with the Royal Italian Navy under her Yugoslav designation, conducting coastal and second-line escort duties in the Adriatic Sea. Following the Italian capitulation in September 1943, T8 was sunk by German aircraft while attempting to escape to Allied-held southern Italy.