The Hrabri class consisted of two submarines built for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the Vickers-Armstrong Naval Yard, on the River Tyne, in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1927, the vessels were named Hrabri and Nebojša. Their design was based on that of the British L-class submarine of World War I, and they were built using parts originally assembled for L-class submarines that were never completed. The Hrabri-class were the first submarines to serve in the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and the class was joined by the two smaller French-made s to make up the pre-war Yugoslav submarine force. They were armed with six bow-mounted torpedo tubes, two deck guns and one machine gun, and could dive to. Prior to World War II both submarines participated in cruises to Mediterranean ports. Hrabri was captured by Italian forces in April 1941 during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. She was never commissioned by the Italians and was subsequently scrapped. Nebojša evaded capture, and served with British submarine forces in the Mediterranean as an anti-submarine warfare training boat until the end of the war. Following the war, she served in the Yugoslav Navy as Tara in a training role until 1954, when she was stricken.
Description and construction
Yugoslav naval policy in the interwar period lacked direction until the mid-1920s, although it was generally accepted that the Adriatic coastline was effectively a sea frontier that the naval arm was responsible for securing with the limited resources made available to it. In 1926, a modest ten-year construction program was initiated to build up a force of submarines, coastal torpedo boats, torpedo bombers and conventional bomber aircraft to perform this role. The Hrabri-class submarines were one of the first new acquisitions aimed at developing a naval force capable of meeting this challenge. The Hrabri-class was built for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the Vickers-Armstrong Naval Yard on the River Tyne in the United Kingdom. Their design was based on that of the British L-class submarine of World War I, and they were built using parts originally assembled for the Group III boats HMS L-67 and HMS L-68, which were never completed due to the end of the war. The L-class were designed for operations in the North Sea, but during the interwar period the Royal Navy had deployed them around the world, including in the Mediterranean from 1929 onward. The two Yugoslav boats had an overall length of, a beam of, and a surfaced draught of. Their surfaced displacement was or submerged, and their crews consisted of 45 officers and enlisted men. They had a diving depth of. For surface running, Hrabri-class boats were powered by two diesel engines which were rated at that drove two propeller shafts. When submerged, the propellers were driven by two electric motors generating. They could reach a top speed of on the surface and on their electric motors when submerged. On the surface, the boats had a range of at. The Hrabri-class were armed with six bow-mounted British 21 inch torpedo| torpedo tubes and carried twelve torpedoes. They were also equipped with two QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII| guns, and one machine gun.
Service history
Both submarines were launched in 1927, and left the Tyne in late January 1928. In company with the Yugoslav submarine tender, the submarines arrived in the Bay of Kotor on the southern Adriatic coast on 8 April 1928. In May and June 1929, Hrabri, Nebojša, Hvar and six torpedo boats accompanied the light cruiserDalmacija on a cruise to Malta, the Greek island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea, and Bizerte in the French protectorate of Tunisia. According to the British naval attaché, the ships and crews made a very good impression while visiting Malta. On 16 May 1930, Nebojša was exercising her crew at periscope depth near the entrance to the Bay of Kotor when she collided with a Yugoslav steamship. The damage was not serious and there were no injuries. In June and July 1930, Hrabri, Nebojša and the fleet auxiliary Sitnica again cruised the Mediterranean, visiting Alexandria and Beirut. In 1932, the British naval attaché reported that Yugoslav ships engaged in few exercises, manoeuvres or gunnery training due to reduced budgets. In 1933, the attaché reported that the naval policy of Yugoslavia was strictly defensive, aimed at protecting her more than of coastline. Hrabri was captured in port by the Italians during the German-led Axisinvasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. She was not commissioned by them and was scrapped later that year due to her poor condition. Nebojša evaded capture during the invasion, and was used by the Royal Navy as an anti-submarine warfare training vessel. After the war she was overhauled by the Yugoslavs and renamed Tara, continuing in a training role until she was stricken in 1954.
