Royal Yugoslav Navy

Royal Navy
Kraljevska mornarica Краљевска морнарица
Active	1921–1945
Country	Yugoslavia
Type	Navy
Role	Coastal defence[1]
Size	41 combatants 19 auxiliaries 150 seaplanes (1941)
Part of	Royal Yugoslav Armed Forces
Engagements	World War II Invasion of Yugoslavia
Commanders
Commander of the Navy	See list
Notable commanders	Dragutin Prica
Insignia
Naval ensign (1922–1941)
Naval ensign (1918–1922)

The Royal Navy (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Kraljevska mornarica; Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Краљевска морнарица; КМ), commonly known as the Royal Yugoslav Navy, was the naval warfare service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). It was brought into existence in 1921, and initially consisted of a few former Austro-Hungarian Navy vessels surrendered at the conclusion of World War I and transferred to the new nation state under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The only modern sea-going warships transferred to the new state were twelve steam-powered torpedo boats, although it did receive four capable river monitors for use on the Danube and other large rivers. Significant new acquisitions began in 1926 with a former German light cruiser, followed by the commissioning of two motor torpedo boats (MTBs) and a small submarine flotilla over the next few years. When the name of the state was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929, the name of its navy was changed to reflect this. In the late 1920s, several of the original vessels were discarded.

Throughout the interwar period, elements of the fleet conducted visits to ports throughout the Mediterranean, but few fleet exercises occurred due to budget pressures. In 1930, the Maritime Air Force was divorced from Royal Yugoslav Army control, and the naval air arm began to develop significantly, including the establishment of bases along the Adriatic coast. The following year, a British-made flotilla leader was commissioned with the idea that the KM might be able to operate in the Mediterranean alongside the British and French navies. In the same year, five locally-built minelayers were added to the fleet. A hiatus of several years followed, and it was not until 1936 that any further major acquisitions were made, with the purchase of eight German-built MTBs. Over the next two years, the fleet was significantly strengthened by the acquisition of three French-designed destroyers, marking the high point of Yugoslav naval strength. On the eve of World War II, the navy consisted of 611 officers and 8,562 men, operating 41 combatant ships and 19 auxiliaries.

While the KM was largely captured by Italian forces during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, a few of its vessels, aircraft and their crews escaped and served in the Mediterranean under Royal Navy control during the remainder of World War II. When the Italians sued for peace in September 1943, most of the remaining vessels were taken over by the German Kriegsmarine or the Navy of the Independent State of Croatia. Towards the end of the war, the Allies transferred a corvette to Yugoslav control. At the end of the war, the few remaining vessels were transferred to the control of the new Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. As the post-war Yugoslav Navy drew its lineage from the naval forces of the wartime Yugoslav Partisans rather than the KM, few of the customs and traditions of the KM survived in the successor force.