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 ...

s, one of which was on order for the SFR Yugoslav Navy and one of which, following the break-up of Yugoslavia, was built for the

Croatian Navy The Croatian Navy (HRM; ) is the naval force branch of the Croatian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1991 from what Croatian forces managed to capture from the Yugoslav Navy during the breakup of Yugoslavia and Croatian War of Independence. In ad ...

. 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 Ship class, 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 o ...

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 dukes and kings of Croatia () under domestic ethnic and elected dynasties during the Duchy of Croatia (until 925), the Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), the Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia (1102–1526 in union with Ki ...

Development and building

The Kralj class was developed by the Brodarski institut (BI) from

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

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, an officer of the

Royal Yugoslav Navy The Royal Navy ( sh-Latn, Kraljevska mornarica; sh-Cyrl, Краљевска морнарица; КМ), commonly known as the Royal Yugoslav Navy, was the naval warfare service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally called the Kingdom ...

who died preventing the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

''Zagreb'' from falling in

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hands during the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, 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 put fo ...

. 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) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

, 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 by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operational shipyard in the world. The ship ...

. The unfinished ship was captured by Croatian forces and was subsequently commissioned with the

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 A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Development and building

Description

Ships

Notes

Books

News reports

Other sources