Albona-class minelayer (Redirected from Malinska-class minelayer)

Marjan photographed in 1939
Class overview
BuildersJadranska Brodogradilišta, Kraljevica, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Operators
Built1920–1931
In commission1920–as late as 1978
Planned14
Completed8
Cancelled6
Lost5
Retired3
General characteristics
Displacement128 tonnes (126 long tons) (standard)
Length31.8 m (104 ft) (oa)
Beam6.7 m (22 ft)
Draught1.4–1.7 m (4 ft 7 in – 5 ft 7 in)
Propulsion
Speed9–11 knots (17–20 km/h; 10–13 mph)
Complement29
Armament

The Albona class were mine warfare ships used by the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) and Royal Yugoslav Navy (KM). 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 KM in 1931 as the Malinska class or Marjan class.

The five ships in KM 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 KM 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 KM-in-exile and were later commissioned in the new Yugoslav Navy.

Background

The Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: Kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine; k.u.k. Kriegsmarine) was relatively slow to acquire specialist mine warfare vessels. It mainly utilised destroyers and torpedo boats for these tasks, but during World War I it ordered some classes of small mine warfare vessels, some of which were completed before the end of the war. A class of larger mine warfare ships was ordered from the Ganz & Danubius shipyard at Porto Re (now Kraljevica). A total of fourteen ships were laid down between October 1917 and September 1918 as the MT.130 class. They were originally designed as minelayers, but the navy ordered the first six 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.

Description and construction

The ships had a raised forecastle on which a gun was to be mounted. The Austro-Hungarian design called for a 47 mm (1.9 in) L/44 gun,, but the actual guns that were fitted when the ships were completed varied between those completed for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) and those completed later for the Royal Yugoslav Navy (Serbo-Croatian: Kraljevska mornarica; KM). Aft of the gun on the rear section of the forecastle were arranged the captain's cabin on the starboard side and the pantry on the port side. Between the two was the galley, directly below the enclosed steering bridge, which was topped with an open navigation bridge on which a searchlight was mounted. The foremast with a crow's nest was attached to the forward edge of the navigation bridge. Immediately aft of the bridge was the funnel, which was taller in the original design and on the ships completed for the Regina Marina and shorter on the ships completed for the KM. Aft of the funnel was a wide quarterdeck that reached to the stern where a mine crane was installed. On the ships completed for the KM, a deckhouse for the ship's office was added to the forward section of the quarterdeck and a mainmast was installed in the centre of the quarterdeck. The ships completed for the Regia Marina did not have a deckhouse or mainmast, and a winch was installed in the centre of the quarterdeck. Two ship's boats were secured on davits on either side of the quarterdeck.

Below deck, the bow contained the drinking water tanks, aft of which were cabins for the petty officers on either side of the anchor chain locker. Immediately aft of the petty officer's cabins were the sailor's bunks, underneath of which the boiler water and fuel tanks were located. A transverse bulkhead between the sailor's accommodation spaces provided support for the gun. The space containing the boiler and engines was located under the galley, separated from the hold by a bulkhead that supported the deckhouse on the KM ships. A workshop was located in the stern.

The ships of the class had a length overall of 31.8 metres (104 ft), a length between perpendiculars of 29.4 m (96 ft 5 in), a beam of 6.52 m (21.4 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. At full load they had a displacement of 128 tonnes (126 long tons) as a minesweeper, and 145 tonnes (143 long tons) as a minelayer. The crew consisted of 29 officers and enlisted men. They had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines driving one shaft each, 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), and those built for the Regia Marina could achieve a top speed of 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph), and those completed later for the KM could only manage a maximum speed of 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph).

As none of the ships were completed before the end of World War I, the planned 47 mm guns were not fitted to any of the ships when built. They were also planned to be fitted with one 8 mm (0.31 in) machine gun mounted aft, and – when completed as minelayers – to carry 24–39 mines, with the number depending on the types of mines loaded. The three ships completed for the Regia Marina – comprising the Albona class – were armed with two Ansaldo Model 1915 76 mm (3 in) L/30 guns, two 8 mm machine guns, and could carry 34 mines. The five ships completed for the KM as the Malinska class were initially armed with a single Škoda 66 mm (2.6 in) L/30 gun – obtained from former Austro-Hungarian Navy stock – and two machine guns. The ships completed as minelayers had mine rails fitted to either side of the quarterdeck all the way to the stern. The KM ships later had their 66 mm guns replaced with the originally planned Škoda 47 mm L/44 guns.

The first three ships of the class, MT.130132, were completed by the shipyard for the Regia Marina in 1920 as RD 58RD 60, and were then converted to minelayers. On 2 July 1921 they were named the Albona class, and were commissioned as Albona, Laurana and Rovigno, respectively. Five other ships, MT.133137, were completed at the shipyard in 1931 for the KM – as the Malinska or Marjan class – and were commissioned as Marjan, Mosor, Malinska, Meljine, and Mljet respectively. The hulls of MT.138MT-143 were 45 per cent complete by October 1918 but were never completed.

Ships

Ships of class
Austro-Hungarian
designation
Builder Laid down Launched Completed Completed for Name upon completion (tactical designation)
MT.130
Jadranska
Brodogradilišta
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
Marjan (MA)
MT.134
7 December 1917
Unknown
1931
Mosor (MO)
MT.135
8 December 1917
Unknown
1931
Malinska (MN)
MT.136
29 December 1917
Unknown
1931
Meljine (ME)
MT.137
29 December 1917
Unknown
1931
Mljet (MT)
MT.138
11 February 1918
Never completed
MT.139
23 February 1918
MT.140
August 1918
MT.141
September 1918
MT.142
September 1918
MT.143
September 1918

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. She retained her Italian armament. 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.

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. 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). 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). In Italian service they were known as the Arbe class, and could carry 30 mines.

On 28 December 1942, the Yugoslav Partisans established their first naval station at Podgora on the Dalmatian coast. From this base, the fledgling Partisan Navy attacked and captured five coastal steamships over the next few days. On 1 January 1943, Ugliano and Pasman, along with the captured Yugoslav torpedo boat T5, a patrol vessel and an armed tug, attacked Podgora from the sea, and an Italian landing party was put ashore. The Italian troops were repelled by the Partisan 4th Dalmatian Brigade. The operation was repeated three days later, with the addition of air support, but a planned second landing was cancelled. In April 1943, Ugliano and Pasman were under command of Maridalmazia (the maritime command of Dalmatia), along with five captured Yugoslav 250t-class torpedo boats and various smaller vessels.

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.

Solta and Meleda were returned by the Italians to the KM-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 new 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). All three were re-armed with a single 47 mm (1.9 in) gun. M32 was still in service in 1978.

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-10-05 03:18 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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