The Kralj class (
English: ''King'') is a class of two
missile boat
A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They a ...
s, one of which was on order for the
SFR Yugoslav Navy and one of which, following the
break-up of Yugoslavia
The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
, was built for the
Croatian Navy. As of 2009 both vessels remain in service. It is an upgraded version of the ''Rade Končar'' missile boat class and is longer. and its
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
are the only ships in their class. A potential third ship was under consideration in 1999, but the ship was never commissioned due to budget restraints.
''
Kralj
Kralj is a South Slavic surname and title. It literally means "king" and, according to Petar Skok, is derived from Charles the Great ( Karolus) in the same sense as Tsar is to Caesar.
In Slovenia, it is the 14th most common surname: it is present ...
'' means "king" in
Croatian - both vessels are named after historic
kings of Croatia
This is a complete list of rulers of Croatia under domestic ethnic and elected dynasties during the Croatian Kingdom (925–1918). This article follows the monarch's title number according to Hungarian succession for convenience. For example, the ...
.
Development and building
The Kralj class was developed by the Brodarski institut (BI) from
Zagreb for the
Yugoslav Navy
The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...
as a successor to the s. The project was started during the 1980s but was reported as suspended in 1989 only to be restarted again in 1991. The first ship in the new class was to have a pennant number RTOP-501 and named ''Sergej Mašera'' after
Sergej Mašera
Sergej Mašera (May 11, 1912 – April 17, 1941) was a naval Lieutenant of the Yugoslav Royal Navy. At the end of the April War, Mašera, along with his fellow Lieutenant Milan Spasić, scuttled the destroyer in the Bay of Kotor near Tivat to ...
, an officer of the
Royal Yugoslav Navy
The Royal Navy ( sh-Latn, Kraljevska mornarica; sh-Cyrl, Краљевска морнарица; КМ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Navy, was the naval warfare service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally called the Kingdom of Serbs ...
who died preventing the
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
''Zagreb'' from falling in
Italian hands during the
Axis invasion of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...
. The new class was also referred to as the Kobra class or Type 400 in some sources.
Compared to the earlier ''Končar'' class, the new class was to have a longer hull and an all-diesel propulsion unlike the ''Končar''s which were equipped with a
CODAG type of propulsion. The new class was also to be the first in Yugoslav service to be equipped with Swedish RBS-15 anti-ship missiles which were acquired in 1988 and 1989. At the start of the
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
, the first ship in the class was nearing completion at the
Kraljevica Shipyard
Kraljevica Shipyard is a shipbuilder at Kraljevica, on the Adriatic coast of Croatia. The shipyard was founded in 1729 and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operational shipyard in the world.
The shipyard has been operating under the ...
. The unfinished ship was captured by Croatian forces and was subsequently commissioned with the
Croatian Navy as ''Kralj Petar Krešimir IV.'' (RTOP-11). A second, slightly modified ship was laid down by Croatia during the 1990s and commissioned in the early 2000s as ''Kralj Dmitar Zvonimir'' (RTOP-12).
Description
There are slight differences between the two ships of the class; ''Kralj Dmitar Zvonimir'', which was completed during the early 2000s, has a longer hull and features a slightly redesigned
bridge. ''Kralj Petar Krešimir IV'' measures with a beam and a draft.
Ships
Notes
Books
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Other sources
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{{Yugoslav Ships , state=collapsed
Missile boat classes