page_title: Yugoslav gunboat Beli Orao
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Yugoslav gunboat Beli Orao / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Josip Broz Tito
context_page_description: Beli Orao was a royal yacht built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy in 1939–1940, with the intention she would serve as an escort in wartime. She was captured by the Italians during the World War II Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, and was re-armed and saw service as a gunboat in the Royal Italian Navy, briefly as Alba then Zagabria, undertaking harbour protection and coastal escort duties. After the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, she was handed back to the Royal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile in December of that year. After the war she remained in Yugoslav hands under the names Biokovo then Jadranka, serving as a naval yacht and as a presidential yacht for the President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito, and also as a dispatch boat. In 1978, she was still in service as a private yacht.
context_section_description: When Beli Orao was completed, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had not yet been drawn into World War II. This changed with the April 1941 German-led Axis invasion of the country. At the time of the invasion, Beli Orao was located at the main Royal Yugoslav Navy fleet base at the Bay of Kotor. She was captured there by the Italians during the invasion, and was put into service with the Royal Italian Navy as Alba. She was quickly renamed Zagabria, and during her service with the Italians her two 40 mm guns were replaced by two Oerlikon 20 mm (0.79 in) L/70 guns. At the time, she was one of the largest gunboats operated by the Italians. Like other Italian gunboats, she was employed only on harbour protection and coastal escort duties. In September 1943, the Italians negotiated an armistice with the Allies, and on 7 December of that year, Beli Orao was returned by them to the Royal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile. She continued in service until the end of the war.
  After the war, she was renamed Biokovo and later Jadranka, serving as a Yugoslav Navy yacht and also as a presidential yacht for the President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. In 1969–1970 she was serving as a dispatch boat. In 1978, she was in private hands, still serving as a yacht.
caption: The ship was used as a presidential yacht by Josip Broz Tito after World War II
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