Yugoslav destroyer Beograd

The Yugoslav destroyer Beograd was a destroyer built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy in 1937. During the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, she was captured by the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) and completed over 100 convoy escort missions in the Mediterranean under the name Sebenico. Following the Italian capitulation in September 1943, she was captured by the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) and redesignated TA43. She was sunk or scuttled at Trieste on 30 April or 1 May 1945. She was raised in June 1946, probably to remove her as a navigation hazard, only to be scuttled in either July 1946 or in 1947.

Description and construction
The Beograd-class were developed from the French Simoun-class destroyers, and the first of the class, Beograd, was built by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire at Nantes, France. The ship had an overall length of 98 m, a beam of 9.45 m, and a normal draught of 3.18 m. According to Roger Chesneau, her standard displacement was 1210 LT and she displaced 1655 LT fully loaded, but Maurizio Brescia lists her full load displacement at 1800 LT. The crew consisted of 145 officers and enlisted men. The ship was powered by Parsons (Beograd Curtis) steam turbines driving two propellors, using steam generated by three Yarrow water-tube boilers. According to Lenton, the turbines were rated at 44000 shp and she was designed to reach a top speed of 37 kn, but Chesneau lists her power rating at 40000 shp and a design speed of 38 kn. She carried 120 LT of fuel oil to give her a range of 1000 nmi. Beograd was originally armed with four single mount 120 mm guns, four double mount 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, two machine guns and two triple mount 550 mm torpedo tubes. As built, she could also carry 30 naval mines. She was launched on 23 December 1937.

Career
In April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers, and on 17 April Beograd was captured by the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina). She was refitted and repaired, and 20 mm/65 Breda Model 35 guns were added to her armament. She was commissioned under the name Sebenico in August 1941, and served as a convoy escort on routes between Italy and the Aegean and North Africa, completing more than 100 missions over a two year period. When the Italians capitulated in September 1943, the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) seized Sebenico in the port of Venice and renamed her TA43 (Torpedoboot Ausland 43).

While in German service her anti-aircraft armament was improved using space provided by removing one of the triple torpedo mounts. She subsequently carried seven 37 mm guns in one double and five single mounts, as well as two single mount 20 mm guns.

Sources differ on her final fate. According to Roger Chesneau, she was sunk at Trieste by Yugoslav Army artillery fire on 30 April 1945, was raised in June 1946, probably to remove her as a navigation hazard, only to be scuttled a month later. Maurizio Brescia states she was scuttled by the Germans at Trieste on 1 May 1945 and was broken up in 1947.