The Kralj class (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''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 The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essenti ...

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 , image = Seal of Croatian Navy.png , caption = Emblem of the Croatian Navy , start_date = 1991 , country = , allegiance = , branch = , type = Navy , role = , size = 1,36330 vessels , command_structure = Armed Forces of Croatia , ga ...

. 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 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'' 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 Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

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 the Royal Yugoslav Navy, was the naval warfare service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally called the Kingdom of Serb ...

who died preventing the destroyer ''Zagreb'' from falling in

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hands during the

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invasion of Yugoslavia. 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 Combined diesel and gas (CODAG) is a type of propulsion system for ships that need a maximum speed that is considerably faster than their cruise speed, particularly warships like modern frigates or corvettes. Pioneered by Germany with the , a CO ...

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 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

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 a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

Development and building

Description

Ships

Notes

Books

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