Yugoslav torpedo boat T7

T7
a black and white photograph of a small ship underway
T7's sister ship, T3. The only significant external difference was that T7 had two funnels.
History
Austria-Hungary
Name96 F then 96
BuilderGanz & Danubius
Laid down24 February 1915
Launched8 July 1916
Commissioned10 November 1916
Out of service1918
FateAssigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
NameT7
AcquiredMarch 1921
Out of serviceApril 1941
FateCaptured by Italian Royal Navy
Italy
NameT7
AcquiredApril 1941
Out of serviceSeptember 1943
Independent State of Croatia
NameT7
Acquiredearly 1944
FateRun aground by British MTB/MGBs on 24 June 1944 and then destroyed
General characteristics
Class and type250t-class, F-group sea-going torpedo boat
Displacement
  • 243.9 t (240 long tons)
  • 267 t (263 long tons) (full load)
Length58.76 m (192 ft 9 in)
Beam5.84 m (19 ft 2 in)
Draught1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed28–29 kn (52–54 km/h; 32–33 mph)
Range1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement41
Armament

T7 was a sea-going torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally 96 F, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1915–1916, 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 escort, patrol, and minesweeping tasks, and anti-submarine operations. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 96.

Following Austria-Hungary's defeat in 1918, 96 was allocated to the Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamed T7. 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, T7 and the rest of the navy were involved in training exercises and cruises to friendly ports, but activity was limited by reduced naval budgets. The boat was captured by the Italians during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. After her main armament was modernised, she served with the Royal Italian Navy under her Yugoslav designation, conducting coastal and second-line escort duties in the Adriatic Sea. Following the Italian capitulation in September 1943, she was handed over by the Germans to the Navy of the Independent State of Croatia. While sailing to Rijeka for a refit, she was attacked and driven aground by British Royal Navy small high-speed craft in June 1944 and then destroyed by the British Army to prevent her salvage. She was broken up in situ in 1953.


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