T8 was a sea-going torpedo boat that was operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941, after spending World War I in Austro-Hungarian Navy service. Originally 97F, she was a 250t-class torpedo boat, which saw active service during World War I, performing convoy, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, and anti-submarine operations. Following Austria-Hungary's defeat in 1918, 97 F was allocated to the Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamed T8. 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, T8 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 ship 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. Following the Italian capitulation in September 1943, she was sunk by German aircraft while evacuating Italian troops from Dalmatia.
Background
In 1910, the Austria-Hungary Naval Technical Committee initiated the design and development of a coastal torpedo boat, specifying that it should be capable of sustaining for 10 hours. This specification was based on an expectation that the Strait of Otranto, where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea, would be blockaded by hostile forces during a future conflict. In such circumstances, there would be a need for a torpedo boat that could sail from the Austro-Hungarian Navy () base at the Bocche di Cattaro (Bay of Kotor) to the Strait during the night, locate and attack blockading ships and return to port before morning. After the first contract for eight 250t-class torpedo boats was signed, another tender was requested for four more boats, but when Ganz & Danubius reduced their price by ten percent, a total of sixteen boats were ordered from them, designated the F-group. The F-group designation signified the location of Ganz & Danubius' main shipyard at Fiume. 97 F was the sixteenth and last boat of the F-group to be completed.
Description and construction
The 250t-class F-group boats had a waterline length of , a beam of , and a normal draught of . While their designed displacement was , they displaced about fully loaded. The crew consisted of 38–41 officers and enlisted men. The boats were powered by two AEG-Curtiss steam turbines driving two propellers, using steam generated by two Yarrow water-tube boilers, one of which burned fuel oil and the other coal. The turbines were rated at with a maximum output of and designed to propel the boats to a top speed of . They carried of coal and of fuel oil, which gave them a range of at . The F-group had two funnels rather than the single funnel of the preceding T-group. Due to inadequate funding, 97 F and the rest of the 250t class were essentially coastal vessels, despite the original intention that they would be used for "high seas" operations. They were the first small Austro-Hungarian Navy boats to use turbines, and this contributed to ongoing problems with them.
The boats were armed with two Škoda L/30 guns, and four torpedo tubes. They could also carry 10–12 naval mines. 97 F was laid down on 5 March 1915, launched on 20 August 1916 and completed on 22 December 1916.
Career
World War I and the interwar period
During World War I, 97 F was used for convoy, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, and anti-submarine operations. In 1917, one of her 66 mm guns was placed on an anti-aircraft mount. 97 F survived the war intact.