Yugoslav torpedo boat T5

Yugoslav torpedo boat T5
a black and white photograph of a medium-sized ship underway
T5's sister ship, T3, the only significant external difference was that T5 had two funnels
History
Austria-Hungary
Name87 F then 87
BuilderGanz & Danubius
Laid down5 March 1914
Launched20 March 1915
Commissioned28 September 1915
Out of serviceNovember 1918
FateAssigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
NameT5
AcquiredMarch 1921
Out of serviceApril 1941
FateCaptured by Italy
Italy
NameT5
AcquiredApril 1941
Out of serviceSeptember 1943
FateReturned to Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
NameT5
AcquiredDecember 1943
Out of serviceMay 1945
Yugoslavia
NameCer (Цер)
NamesakeBattle of Cer (1914)
AcquiredMay 1945
Out of service1963
FateBroken up
General characteristics
Class and type250t-class, F-group sea-going torpedo boat
Displacement
  • 243.9 t (240 long tons)
  • 267 t (263 long tons) (full load)
Length58.76 m (192 ft 9 in)
Beam5.84 m (19 ft 2 in)
Draught1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed28–29 kn (52–54 km/h; 32–33 mph)
Range1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement41
Armament

T5 was a sea-going torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally 87 F, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1914–1915, 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, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, anti-submarine operations and shore bombardment missions. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 87. She was part of the escort force for the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Szent István during the action that resulted in the sinking of that ship by Italian torpedo boats in June 1918, and rescued many of her crew.

Following Austria-Hungary's defeat in 1918, 87 was allocated to the Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamed T5. 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, T5 and the rest of the navy were involved in exercises of training 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, she was returned to the Royal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile and continued serving as T5. At the end of the war, she was transferred to the new Yugoslav Navy and served as Cer in guard ship, patrol ship and training ship roles until she was stricken off the naval register in 1963 and scrapped soon after.