Yugoslav destroyer Ljubljana

The Yugoslav destroyer Ljubljana was a destroyer built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy in 1938. During the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, she was captured by the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) and saw active service under the name Lubiana. She was sunk or stranded off the Tunisian coast on 1 April 1943 and declared a total constructive loss.

Description and construction
The Beograd-class were developed from the French Simoun-class destroyers, and the second of class Ljubljana was built by Jadranske Brodogaliste at Split, Yugoslavia, under French supervision. 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. The turbines were rated at 40000 shp and she was designed to reach a top speed of 38 kn.

Ljubljana was armed with four single mount 120 mm guns, four twin 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. Ljubljana was launched on 28 June 1938.

Career
On 24 January 1940, Ljubljana ran into a reef off the Yugoslav port of Šibenik. The hull side was breached and despite efforts to get the ship into the port, it sank close to shore, and some of the crew swam to safety. All but one of the crew survived, but the captain was arrested pending an investigation. In April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers, and Ljubljana was captured by the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) on 17 April, while undergoing major repairs at Šibenik. She was towed to Boka Kotorska then Trieste for refitting and repair, and 20 mm/65 Breda Model 35 guns were added to her armament. She was commissioned under the name Lubiana in October, or November 1942. Sources vary regarding her fate. According to Roger Chesneau, she was sunk off the Tunisian coast by the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1943, but Maurizio Brescia states she was stranded off Cap Bon on the Tunisian coast on 1 April 1943 and declared a total constructive loss.