Proposed Sale of HMS Woolwich to Yugoslavia
Woolwich was a 3380-ton coal-fired Destroyer Depot Ship, converted from a merchant ship that had originally been launched in 1912. She was armed with two 4-inch guns. In June 1926, the Yugoslav Military Attache requested a price for Woolwich with a view to purchasing the vessel – presumably as a tender for the two submarines Yugoslavia was in the process of procuring from Great Britain. The Admiralty considered that she must be regarded as a vessel of war, and that she was intended to be used for Naval Training purposes. The sale was not progressed as it was considered that such a transaction would be contrary to the WNT. Woolwich was ultimately sold for scrapping on 13 July 1926, and Yugoslavia procured an elderly steamer which she converted into the submarine tender Hvar to meet her requirement for a submarine tender.