Posted by Michael Petrovich michaelpetrovich@hotmail.com on April 11, 2001 - transferred from old forum.
I am looking for information on the following ships and their wartime fates:

Umtali (also known as Solun and Hvar);
Thornhill (also as Neretva);
Mlada;
Durazzo;
Draga;
Istina;
Preradovic;
Dinara;
Perast;
Dunav;
Princ Andrej.

RESPONSES:

Posted by Axel van Eesbeeck gemyala@netcologne.de on April 11, 2001.
Durazzo;
I have some information about an small italian minelaying cruiser. Is this the ship you are searching for ?

: Preradovic;
british freighter Firecrest (ex. jugoslawisch Peradovic)
Date of sunk 25.08.40
Type of ship freighter
BRT 5394
Convoy HX65A
sunk by german submarine U-124
I can't tell you at what date this ship came under british control

Best regards
Axel

Posted by Roger W Jordan rogwj@aol.com on April 12, 2001.
PERAST
ex Anderton 1930, ex Coquetmede 1926, ex Thornhill 1919
Built 1911 by Short Brothers Ltd, Sunderland
Owned in 1939 by Jugoslavenska Komercijalna Plovidba DD, Susak
3871 gross tons, 6663 deadweight tons
Survived WW2 and in 1946 with the reorganisation of Yugoslav shipping, was renamed NERETVA.
In 1960, when owned by Splosna Plovba, was sold to Japanese shipbreakers. She had been lying at Yokohama since 15 Nov 1959 with collision damage.

PRINC ANDREJ
Completed October 1930 by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow
Owned in 1939 by Dubrovacka Plovidba Ackionarsko Drustvo, Dubrovnik
5041 gross tons, 9420 deadweight tons
Survived WW2 and in 1946 renamed BIHAC
In 1967 sold by Splosna Plovba, Piran, to a Panamanian company for £50,000 and renamed CONSILIA. Arrived at Split, Yugoslavia, on 15 September 1968 to be broken up by Brodospas

DRAGA
ex Gyuri 1937, ex Pearl 1937, ex Cap Ferrat 1937, ex Lieselotte, ex Turnus, ex Tarset, ex Kilburn
Launched 28 May 1918 by Hall, Russell & Co Ltd, Aberdeen, as 'Kil' class patrol sloop KILBURN for Royal Navy; sold to commercial owners 14 Febr 1920 and renamed TARSET
Owner in 1939 Alex Davaris, Piraeus, Greece (under Panamanian flag)
643 gross tons
In 1939 was laid up at Laurium, Greece, but I have been unable to trace any mention of this vessel after then

DINARA
ex Ruurlo 1936, ex Uuras 1935, ex Ruurlo 1932, ex Eigen Hulp II 1919
Completed August 1917 by Wilton's Engineering & Slipway Co, Rotterdam
3156 gross tons, 5530 net tons
In 1939 owned by Brodarsko Ackionarsko Drustvo Oceania, Susak
Survived WW2 and in 1946 renamed SPLIT
Broken up in 1961-61

ISTINA
Built 1910 by Wm Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland
In 1935 acquired by Oceania, Susak, and renamed VID
3547 gross tons, 6500 deadweight tons
In 1939 still owned by Oceania
In 1941 taken over by Ministry of War Transport, London, renamed RADCHURCH under the British flag and managed by ER Management Co Ltd, Cardiff
On 8 Aug 1942 at 1325 gmt abandoned by crew who thought that vessel had been torpedoed when in convoy SC94; later that day torpedoed, however, by U176 in 56 15N 32W; at 0649 central European time on 9 Aug 1942 torpedoed again by U176 and sunk

DURAZZO
Built 1922 by Jos L Meyer, Papenburg
1153 gross tons, 556 net tons
In 1939 owned by Hamburg-Amerika Linie and running on that company's Caribbean inter-island service
Reported in Argentina in 1939, but in 1941 sold to Compania Anonima Venezolana de Navegacion, Caracas, Venezuela, and renamed PAPARO
Survived WW2 and broken up in 1951

PRERADOVIC
ex Riol 1921 (German ship confiscated by the Allies after WW1)
Built 1907 by Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack
5341 gross tons, 8750 deadweight tons
In 1939 owned by Jugoslavenski Lloyd AD, Zagreb
In 1940 sold to Crest Shipping Co Ltd, London (run by the Ivanovic family) and renamed FIRCREST (not Firecrest)
On 25 August 1940 at 2356 central European time, when in convoy HX65A, torpedoed by U124 and sunk in 58 52N 06 34W. She was on voyage from Wabana to River Tees with a cargo of 7900 tons of iron ore. There were no survivors from the crew of 40.

DUNAV
ex Izabran 1936, ex Polish Monarch 1922, ex Polmont 1916, ex Karpat 1915
Completed October 1912 by W Dobson & Co, Newcastle
4307 gross tons, 7780 deadweight tons
In 1939 owned by the Oceania, Susak
Survived WW2 and in 1946 was renamed LJUBLJANA for Jugoslavenska Linijska Plovidba, Rijeka
In 1956 transferred to Splosna Plovba, Koper
On 19 September 1963 arrived at Split to be broken up by Brodospas.

I have been unable, yet, to trace UMTALI with the other names connected, not MLADA. Do you have any further clues about these vessels?

Roger W Jordan