Galeb-class minelayer
The Galeb" class were minelayers originally built as minesweepers for the Imperial German Navy between 1918 and 1919. In July 1921, the six unarmed vessels were purchased as "tugs" for the navy of the newly created Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (from 1929, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Re-armed with two Škoda L/45 guns and two machine guns, they could carry 24 naval mines. Also known as the Orao" class, they all served until April 1941, when they were captured by the Italians during the World War II German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. They  were then put into service by the "Regia Marina" (Italian Royal Navy) under new names. Five of the ships were lost or sunk during the war, the remaining vessel was put into service by the Yugoslav Navy after the war, and was finally disposed of in 1962. Description and construction. The "Galeb" class was built as wartime s by three German shipbuilding yards during 1917–1919. Their German designations and builders were: "M 97", "M 100" and "M 112" — Joh. C. Tecklenborg, Geestemünde; "M 106" — Reiherstieg, Hamburg; "M 121" and "M144" — Neptun, Rostock. The "M 1" class comprised 137 ships built  between 1914 and 1918, divided into three sub-classes, "M1914", "M1915" and "M1916", each with progressive improvements. The six ships of the "Galeb" class were all of the M1916 sub-class. The ship hulls were of transverse steel frame construction with a box keel. They had a raised forecastle and a round tug stern, a single tall funnel and two masts. The fore-mast was encircled by the bridge, and the main-mast was located immediately forward of the aft gun mount. The ships had a waterline length of , an overall length of , a beam of , and a normal draught  of . They had a designed displacement of , and at deep load. The overall length and deep load displacement of the Yugoslav vessels varied slightly due to their construction by different shipyards. They used steam generated by two coal-fired marine boilers to drive two three-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines driving two propeller shafts, each with a single diameter propeller. A single rudder was located between the propellers. The boilers were located in separate boiler rooms, and the engines were installed in a single engine room. Their engines were rated at and were designed to propel the ship at a  top speed of . They carried of coal, which gave them a range of at . The crew consisted of 40 officers and men. The ships of the class had good seakeeping characteristics, were responsive to ship controls, and had a good turning circle. With their minesweeping gear extended, they could maintain a maximum speed of . They were equipped to two yawls as ship's boats. They were armed with two SK L/45 naval guns, and carried 120 rounds for each gun. They could carry 30 naval mines. In Yugoslav service. In Royal Yugoslav Navy service, the highest recorded speed of any  of the ships was . When they were acquired by the Royal Yugoslav Navy, the ships were not armed. In RM service, their official crew numbered 19, but as they were training ships, this was supplemented with instructors and students, and shortly before the Axis invasion in April 1941 their complement was increased to 40. After delivery they were fitted with two Škoda L/45 guns. The 90 mm guns weighed each, and together with the mount, . The shells weighed , and could be fired at a rate of between three and eleven rounds per minute to a maximum range of . The ships  were also equipped with two Zbrojovka Brno ZB-60 anti-aircraft machineguns. Sources vary on the number of naval mines that could be carried by the ships while in Yugoslav service, with sources stating either 24 or 30. In 1931, at least four ships of the class had their guns re-lined to to use the same ammunition as the dual-purpose guns fitted to the Yugoslav light cruiser "Dalmacija". The remainder were fitted with new guns in the same calibre. The combined gun and mount weighed . The shells weighed , and the guns could be fired at a rate of twelve  rounds per minute, to a horizontal maximum range of and a vertical maximum range of . In Yugoslav Navy service following World War II, the engines of the surviving ship were rated at and her top speed remained 15 kn. With a load of of coal, she achieved a range of at 15 kn and at . Her crew was increased to 68. Her armament was replaced by two Vickers QF 2-pounder naval guns, one twin German Flak 38 and two twin Browning machine guns. She could carry either 22 SAG-1 or 34 SAG-2 naval mines. Service history. The six minesweepers  were bought as unarmed "tugs" by the government of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) on 20 July 1921, for 1,400,000 marks each. Their German designations were "M97", "M100", "M106", "M112", "M121" and "M144". Taken into service in the navy of the new kingdom, they were initially classified as mining tenders, or mine carriers (). They were renamed "Orao" (Eagle), "Galeb" (Seagull), "Gavran" (Raven), "Jastreb" (Hawk), "Kobac" (Sparrow Hawk), and "Sokol" (Falcon), respectively. They were utilised as training ships for the fledgling navy, and engaged in show the flag cruises along the Adriatic coast and islands, introducing the  navy to the populace. They also exercised alongside the eight s the navy had acquired from defeated Austria-Hungary after World War I, as a means of assessing training standards. In 1923, "Gavran" was renamed "Labud" (Swan). In 1932, the British naval attaché reported that Yugoslav ships were engaging in little gunnery training, and few exercises or manoeuvres, due to reduced budgets. In August 1935, the seaplane carrier accompanied by "Galeb", "Labud" and "Kobac" visited the Greek island of Corfu. By 1936, the class had been re-classified as minelayers. In 1938–39 "Jastreb" was refitted for oil-firing only. After  World War II broke out, the ships were brought to a heightened state of readiness, although Yugoslavia remained neutral. In the weeks prior to the April 1941 German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, the ships of the class laid several protective minefields along the coast. It is likely that mines laid near the island of Zlarin off the port of Šibenik by "Labud" and "Kobac" resulted in the loss of the passenger steamer "Prestolonaslednik Petar" and the passenger steamer "Karađorđe" on 2 April, when they were directed to make port at Šibenik instead of the Bay of Kotor. During the  invasion, which commenced on 6 April, the ships of the class were captured in port by the Italians. "Kobac"s crew defected with their ship to the newly-created fascist puppet state the Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) at Šibenik on 10 April, but she was soon after seized by the Italian navy. The crews of "Galeb" and "Labud" also sailed to Šibenik in an attempt to join the NDH navy, but were intercepted and captured by the Italians on 17 and 21 April respectively. Also on 17 April, "Sokol" and "Orao" were captured at Split while undergoing repairs. During the  chaos of the surrender, "Orao" was sabotaged by an explosive charge in a boiler. "Jastreb" was captured at the Bay of Kotor. They were soon put into commission in the Italian navy as follows: "Zirona" was damaged and beached near Benghazi on 24–25 November 1941 after a British air raid, and was destroyed by the Italians on 28 November. "Selve" was damaged by a Royal Air Force air raid at Benghazi on 6 November 1942, and burned out, finally being broken up in 1948. "Eso" was torpedoed by Royal Navy aircraft east of Djerba Island off the Tunisian coast on  19 January 1943, while on escort duty with the "San Martino" and two other vessels. "Unie" was destroyed by an explosion at Bizerta following an air raid by the United States Army Air Forces on 30 January 1943. The last of the class to be sunk during the war was "Zuri", which had been renamed "Oriole" in June 1942. She was scuttled by her crew on 10 July 1943 at Augusta, Sicily, in the face of advancing British troops, following damage sustained in an air attack south of Messina. The surviving vessel, "Vergada", was recovered and handed back to the  Royal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile at Malta on 7 December 1943. She remained in service through the rest of the war, and became part of the post-war Yugoslav Navy, serving as "Pionir" from August 1945, and as "Zelengora" from 1955. She was finally disposed of in 1962.