The Yugoslav Navy, in 1941, was manned by some 625 officers and 5,700 enlisted men, with a further 400 officers and 720 enlisted men in the naval reserves. The capital ships of the Navy were one cruiser, four destroyers, four submarines, four obsolete heavy torpedo boats, and eight modern motor torpedo boats; for inland waters, there were four river monitors.

The cruiser, the Dalmacija, was an obsolete German light cruiser of 2,360 tons, mounting six 3.4 inch guns, four 20mm flak guns, and two 19.7 inch torpedos.

The destroyer Dubrovnik was a French built ship of 1,850 tons with four 4.5 inch guns, two 3.4 inch guns, six 40mm and two 20mm flak guns, and six 21 inch torpedoes.

The Beograd and the Zagreb were domestically built destroyers of 1,210 tons, armed with four 4.7 inch guns, four 40mm flak guns, and six 21 inch torpedos.

The Ljubljana, of the same class, had been wrecked in Split harbor on 24 January 1940.

The fourth operational destroyer was the Razarac, a 1,845 ton Yugoslav built ship mounting five 5.5 inch guns, ten 40mm flak guns, eight machine guns, and six 21 inch torpedos.

The Yugoslav Submarine Flotilla consisted of the following: the Hrabi and the Nebojsa, each built in Britain and having six 21 inch torpedos and two 4 inch guns, and the Sneli and the 0svetnik, each built in France and having six 21.7 inch torpedos and a 3.9 inch gun.

The torpedo boats were of considerably varying age. Four were preWorld War I Austrian 260 ton boats equipped with two 66mm guns, one machine gun, and four 18 inch torppedos; they were designed as T-1 through T-4. In the late 1930's, Yugoslavia had built eight 60 ton boats, each mounting a 47mm gun, a machine gun, and two 18 inch torpedos. They were named the Orien, Velebit, Dinara, Triglav, Suvobor, Rudnik, Kaimakcalan, and Durmitor.

The river monitors were the Vardar, Drava, Sava, and Morava. All were preWorld War I Austrian vessels, mounting from two to five 4.7 inch guns, one or two 66mm flak guns, and two to seven machine guns. Tonnage ranged from 380 for the Sava and Morava up to 530 for the Vardar.

The Yugoslav Navy had virtually no participation in the 1941 campaign, being confined to harbor by the far superior Italian Navy. Only one submarine and two motor torpedo boats managed to escape to Allied bases, and the Razarac was blown up by two of her officers to prevent its capture. The remaining ships, captured in port, were absorbed into the Italian Navy. When Italy surrendered in September of 1943, the Dalmaciia, Dubrovnik, Beograd, Velebit, Dinara, Triqlav, Rudnik, and one surviving Austrian torpedo boat were incorporated into the Mediterranean forces of the German Navy.

More Yugoslav Army of WWII

Introduction
Infantry and Border Units
Cavalry and Artillery
Mechanized Units and AA
Navy
Air Force (with OOB)
Army OOB
Yugoslavia Map (slow: 75K)