Albona-class minelayer

The Albona class were mine warfare ships used by the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) and Royal Yugoslav Navy (KJRM). Fourteen ships were originally laid down between 1917 and 1918 for the Austro-Hungarian Navy as the MT.130 class. However, the end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary left them incomplete until 1920, when three ships were finished for the Regia Marina. An additional five ships were completed for the KJRM in 1931 as the Malinska class.

Marjan photographed in 1939
Class overview
Builders: Jadranska Brodogradilišta, Kraljevica, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Operators:
Built: 1920–1931
In commission: 1920–as late as 1978
Planned: 14
Completed: 8
Cancelled: 6
Lost: 5
Retired: 3
General characteristics
Displacement: 128 tonnes (126 long tons) (standard)
Length: 31.1 m (102 ft) (oa)
Beam: 6.7 m (22 ft)
Draught: 1.4–1.7 m (4 ft 7 in–5 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:
Speed: 9–11 knots (17–20 km/h; 10–13 mph)
Complement: 27
Armament:

The five ships in KJRM service were captured by Italian forces during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and commissioned in the Regia Marina as the Arbe class. Following the Italian Armistice in 1943, the three Albona-class ships were captured by German forces with all three being lost or scuttled later in the war. Of the five former KJRM ships, one was seized and operated by the Kriegsmarine until it was lost; a second one was handed over to the Navy of the Independent State of Croatia and lost in 1944. The remaining three were returned to the KJRM-in-exile and were later commissioned in the new Yugoslav Navy.

Background

Fourteen ships were laid down at the Ganz & Danubius shipyard at Porto Re (now Kraljevica) between October 1917 and September 1918 as the MT.130 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: Kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine; k.u.k. Kriegsmarine). The vessels were originally designed as minelayers, but the Navy ordered six of them completed as minesweepers. All were eventually fitted for minesweeping during construction. By September 1918, only the first three had been launched, and even they had not been fully completed. The end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary left the ships in various stages of completion, the shipyard itself now part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed Yugoslavia in 1929). With the creation of the new kingdom, the Ganz & Danubius shipyard became Jadranska Brodogradilišta.[1]

Description and construction

The first three ships of the class, MT.130–132, were completed by the shipyard for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) in 1920 as the Albona class, and were commissioned as Albona, Laurana and Rovigno, respectively. Five other ships, MT.133–137, were completed in 1931 for the Royal Yugoslav Navy (Serbo-Croatian: Kraljevska jugoslavenska ratna mornarica; KJRM) as the Malinska class, and were commissioned as Malinska, Marjan, Meljine, Mljet and Mosor, respectively. The hulls of MT.138–MT-143 were 45% complete by October 1918 but were never completed.[1][2]

They had a length overall of 31.1 metres (102 ft), a length between perpendiculars of 29.4 m (96 ft 5 in), a beam of 6.7 m (22 ft), and a draught of 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) as a minesweeper and 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) as a minelayer. As a minesweeper they had a displacement of 115 tonnes (113 long tons), but as a minelayer they had a standard displacement of 128 tonnes (126 long tons) and displaced 145 tonnes (143 long tons) at deep load. The crew consisted of 27 officers and enlisted men. They had two triple-expansion steam engines, with steam provided by a single oil-fired Yarrow boiler. Their engines were rated at 280 indicated horsepower (210 kW), with a maximum speed of 11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph). The armament planned for the class consisted of a single 47 mm (1.9 in) L/44 gun,[lower-alpha 1] two 8 mm (0.31 in) machine guns and 24–39 naval mines.[1] In Italian service, the Albona-class vessels had a maximum speed of about 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph), were armed with a single 76 mm (3 in) L/40 gun,[4] and could carry 34 mines.[5] In Yugoslav service, the Malinska-class ships had a maximum speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph),[2][6] and were armed with a single 66 mm (2.6 in) L/30 anti-aircraft gun and one machine gun.[2][7]

Ships
Austro-Hungarian
designation		 Builder Laid down Launched Completed Completed for Name upon completion
MT.130
Jadranska Brodogradilišta, Kraljevica,
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Yugoslavia
27 October 1917
20 July 1918
3 January 1920
Regia Marina
Albona
MT.131
30 October 1917
24 August 1918
7 February 1920
Laurana
MT.132
3 November 1917
28 September 1918
16 July 1920
Rovigno
MT.133
6 November 1917
Unknown
1931
Royal Yugoslav Navy
Malinska
MT.134
7 December 1917
Unknown
1931
Marjan
MT.135
8 December 1917
Unknown
1931
Meljine
MT.136
29 December 1917
Unknown
1931
Mljet
MT.137
29 December 1917
Unknown
1931
Mosor
MT.138
11 February 1918
—
45% complete by October 1918
Never completed
—
MT.139
23 February 1918
—
MT.140
August 1918
—
MT.141
September 1918
—
MT.142
September 1918
—
MT.143
September 1918
—

Source: [1]

Service history

Albona class

In 1941, Laurana was fitted with smoke apparatus to assist in the defence of Venice. Following the Italian Armistice in early September 1943, Albona and Rovigno were captured by the Germans at the island of Syros in the Aegean Sea on 10 September. They were renamed Netztender 57 and Netztender 56 respectively, and their armament was improved. Laurana was captured at Venice on 11 September, and was commissioned by the Germans under her Italian name on 30 September, after which she served as a minelayer in the Adriatic.[8] She retained her Italian armament.[9] Netztender 57 and Netztender 56 were scuttled by the Germans at Salonika on 31 October 1944 as they withdrew from the city, and Laurana was sunk at Trieste by Allied aircraft bombs on 20 February 1945.[8]

Mljet and Meljine (left) with the light cruiser Dalmacija (right), photographed in Kotor after being captured by Axis forces.

Malinska class

By 1936, the Malinska class were classified as minelayers.[10] At the start of the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, the five Malinska-class ships were assigned to the Coast Defence Command and spread over three sectors; Malinska in Selce (North Sector), Mosor and Marjan in Šibenik (Central Sector), and Mljet and Meljine in Kotor (South Sector).[11] All five were soon captured by Italian forces, including Malinska which had been scuttled by its crew, but was raised by the Italians and commissioned as Arbe, along with Ugliano (ex-Marjan), Solta (ex-Meljine), Meleda (ex-Mljet) and Pasman (ex-Mosor).[2] In Italian service they were known as the Arbe class, and could carry 30 mines.[5] Following the Italian Armistice, Ugliano was taken over by German forces and probably lost in their hands. Pasman was also captured by the Germans, who handed it over to the Navy of the Independent State of Croatia. This ship was stranded on the Island of Ist on 31 December 1944, but was not scrapped until 1954.[2]

Solta and Meleda were returned by the Italians to the KJRM-in-exile on 7 December 1943 and Arbe was returned on 16 February 1944; all reverted to their previous names. After the war, all three were commissioned in the Yugoslav Navy as M1 (ex-Solta), M2 (ex-Arbe) and M3 (ex-Meleda). They were later renamed M31 (ex-M1), M32 (ex-M2) and M33 (ex-M3).[2] All three were re-armed with a single 47 mm (1.9 in) gun.[12] M32 was still in service in 1978.[2]

See also

Notes
  1. L/44 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/44 gun is 44 calibre, meaning that the gun was 44 times as long as the diameter of its bore.[3]

Footnotes
  1. Greger 1976, p. 92.
  2. Chesneau 1980, p. 358.
  3. Friedman 2011, p. 294.
  4. Gardiner 1985, p. 280.
  5. Brescia 2012, p. 178.
  6. Jane's Information Group 1989, p. 314.
  7. Vego 1982, p. 356.
  8. Gardiner 1985, pp. 280–281.
  9. Lenton 1975, p. 372.
  10. Vego 1982, p. 350.
  11. Niehorster 2019.
  12. Gardiner 1995, p. 643.

References
  • Brescia, Maurizio (2012). Mussolini's Navy. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59114-544-8.
  • Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. London, United Kingdom: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
  • Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921. London, United Kingdom: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-605-7.
  • Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London, United Kingdom: Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0623-2.
  • Jane's Information Group (1989) [1946/47]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. London, United Kingdom: Studio Editions. ISBN 978-1-85170-194-0.
  • Lenton, Henry Trevor (1975). German Warships of the Second World War. London, United Kingdom: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 978-0-356-04661-7.
  • Niehorster, Leo (2019). "Balkan Operations Order of Battle, Coast Defense Command, Royal Yugoslav Navy, 6th April 1941". Leo Niehorster. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  • Vego, Milan (1982). "The Yugoslav Navy 1918–1941". Warship International. Toledo, Ohio: International Naval Research Organisation. XIX (4): 342–361. ISSN 0043-0374.
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