Orjen-class torpedo boat

The Orjen class were motor torpedo boats (MTBs) built for the Royal Navy of Yugoslavia in 1936 and 1937. A total of eight boats were built by the Lürssen Shipyard at Vegesack, Germany. They were based on the German S-2 MTBs, and their primary armament was 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes launched from two 550 mm (21.7 in) torpedo tubes, with anti-aircraft protection provided by a 40 mm (1.6 in) gun and a 15 mm (0.59 in) machine gun. At the start of the April 1941 Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, two boats managed to escape to Alexandria in Egypt where they served under the operational command of the British Mediterranean Fleet and under the administrative control of the Yugoslav government-in-exile. Their duties included convoy escort duties and operations against Vichy French forces in Syria. The remaining six boats were captured by Italian forces and commissioned in the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) with modified anti-aircraft armament, and were heavily employed in the Aegean Sea. They were also used by the Italians as the model for the Italian-built CRDA 60 t motor torpedo boats and the submarine chasers of the VAS class.
At the time of the Italian armistice in September 1943, one boat was...