Yugoslav torpedo boat T4

T4

One of T4's sister ships, T3
History
Austria-Hungary
Name	79 T then 79
Builder	Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Laid down	1 December 1913
Launched	30 April 1914
Commissioned	1 October 1914
Out of service	1 November 1918
Fate	Assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Name	T4
Acquired	March 1921
Commissioned	1923
Out of service	1932
Fate	Stranded then scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	250t-class, T-group sea-going torpedo boat
Displacement	262 t (258 long tons) 267.3 t (263 long tons) (full load)
Length	57.84 m (189 ft 9 in)
Beam	5.75 m (18 ft 10 in)
Draught	1.54 m (5 ft 1 in)
Installed power	5,000–5,700 shp (3,700–4,300 kW) 2 × Yarrow water-tube boilers
Propulsion	2 × shafts 2 × Parsons steam turbines
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	41 officers and enlisted
Armament	2 × Škoda 66 mm (2.6 in) L/30 guns 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes 1 × 8 mm (0.31 in) machine gun 10–12 naval mines

T4 was a seagoing torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1932. Originally 79 T, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1914, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, anti-submarine operations and shore bombardment missions. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 79. Underway during the short-lived mutiny by Austro-Hungarian sailors in early February 1918, her captain realised the danger and put her crew ashore. She was part of the escort force for the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Szent István during the action that resulted in the sinking of that ship by Italian torpedo boats in June 1918.

Following Austria-Hungary's defeat in 1918, 79 was allocated to the Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamed T4. At the time, she and the seven other 250t-class boats were the only modern sea-going vessels of the fledgling maritime force. During the interwar period, T4 and the rest of the navy were involved in training exercises and cruises to friendly ports, but activity was limited by reduced naval budgets. In 1932, she ran aground on the island of Drvenik Mali off the central Dalmatian coast and the hull broke in half. The bow remained on the island, and the stern was towed to the Tivat Arsenal in the Bay of Kotor. As a result, it became a standing joke among Yugoslav sailors that this made T4 the "world's longest torpedo boat". Eventually both sections were scrapped where they were.