''Šibenik'' (

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

RTOP-21) is a

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 ...

in service with 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 ...

. It was built 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 ...

at the Kraljevica Shipyard in the 1970s as ''Vlado Ćetković'' (RTOP-402).Wertheim (2007), p. 145. In 1991 during the early stages 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 ...

it was captured by Croatian forces while being overhauled at the "Velimir Škorpik" shipyard in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

Design and construction

''Šibenik'' was launched as ''Vlado Ćetković'' (RTOP-402) on 20 August 1977 as the second ship in a class of six

s that were being built at the Tito's Kraljevica Shipyard for the

(''Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica'' – JRM). It was commissioned with the JRM in March 1978. The ship measures in length, with a beam and draught. Propulsion utilizes 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 COD ...

arrangement with two MTU 16V 538 TB91

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s used for economical cruising whilst two RR Marine Proteus 52 M

gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

s are used for achieving higher speeds. Cruising speed is while the maximum achievable speed is . Travelling at a near maximum speed of 38 knots, the ship has a maximum range of . Powered by diesel engines only and travelling at a speed of ''Šibenik'' has a range of , with exact numbers varying from source to source. Endurance is between five and seven days. Due to changes carried out during its service, ''Šibenik'' features different armament than other ships of its class.

Service history

Just before the

Breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

, ''Vlado Ćetković'' and ''Rade Končar'' (RTOP-401) were modified by removing the 57 mm Mk.1 Bofors on their sterns and installing a Soviet made

AK-630 The AK-630 is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian fully automatic naval, rotary cannon, close-in weapon system. The "630" designation refers to the weapon's six gun barrels and their 30 mm caliber. The system is mounted in an enclosed automatic ...

CIWS A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of ...

. As the war started gaining momentum, shipyard workers and the Croatian forces managed to protect the ship from the retreating Yugoslav Navy ships and personnel. On September 28, 1991 the former RTOP-402 was commissioned with the newly formed Croatian Navy as RTOP-21 ''Šibenik'' with

Robert Hranj Robert Hranj (born 5 September 1962 in Varaždin) is a Croatian Admiral, who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Croatia. He was appointed to that position on 1 March 2020 after Zoran Milanović became the new President ...

in command. During 1993-1994 ''Šibenik'' underwent a second weapons configuration change that removed the two P-20 missiles as its main armament, installing new

RBS-15 The RBS 15 (Robotsystem 15) is a long-range fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile. The later version Mk. IV has the ability to attack land targets as well. The missile was developed by the Swedish company Saab ...

s that were acquired by the Yugoslav Navy just before the start of the war, enabling it to carry two or four missile. On October 12, 1994 ''Šibenik'' along with RTOP-11 ''Kralj Petar Krešimir IV.'' took part in the

live fire exercise A live fire exercise (LFX) is a military exercise in which live ammunition and ordnance is used, as opposed to blanks or dummies. The term can also be found in non-military usage. Military Militaries usually use live-fire exercises as an op ...

"Posejdon '94". ''Šibenik'', now under the command of Predrag Stipanović, fired a single missile successfully destroying a decommissioned

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

References

Literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sibenik (RTOP-21) 1977 ships Ships built in Yugoslavia Missile boats of the Croatian Navy Missile boats of the Yugoslav Navy Captured ships

Design and construction

Service history

See also

References

Literature