The promotion of the monograph "Fleets that no longer exist" last night at the Naval Heritage Collection in Tivat was held with great public interest, and was attended by a large number of active and retired senior officers, as well as the commander of the Croatian Navy, the battleship captain Darko Vuković.
All of them were intrigued by the book authored by Milan Đuran, a retired naval-technical lieutenant colonel from Split, who a few years ago embarked on the enormous task of collecting and systematizing data on the history of navies on the eastern coast of the Adriatic - from the fall of Venice in 1797 to the independence of Montenegro in 2006. years.
"This is a unique book that tells about the last two hundred years - what the navy did, what the fleets did, which did not die in the war, but because of politics they disintegrated and disappeared. This book will explain a lot about why the fleets of Austria-Hungary, the Royal Navy of Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav Navy disintegrated. During our working life, we did not manage to find this kind of literature with a series of historical facts, there was a gap in our historical interests, we thought that history begins with us, and unfortunately a hole was created in our historical knowledge. This book will clarify a lot for us", said the last commander of the former JRM Fleet, retired Vice Admiral Fridrih Moretti.
The former director of the Tivat Arsenal, retired MT colonel Stanislav Jovanović, highlighted the enormous effort, expertise, efforts and financial investments that the countries on the eastern coast of the Adriatic - from Austria-Hungary to the collapse of the SFRY - invested in the design, construction and exploitation of hundreds of warships. and submarines, all of which contributed to the extremely rapid technological and economic development of all those countries.
"Today, those fleets no longer exist, only a small number of ships of the former JRM remain, which serve in the navies of Croatia and Montenegro, as the germ of their future naval strength. Today, the Adriatic is a sea ruled by fleets of yachts and passenger ships, symbolizing some new times, changed circumstances and an opportunity that should bring economic prosperity to the population of these shores," said Jovanović.
The author of the book, Milan Đuran himself, emphasized that what he described in the book, despite the fact that it formally belonged to different countries, was actually the common, unique maritime, technological and cultural heritage of all South Slavic peoples.
"Each historical period left its mark on this area, the government changed, but the legacy was left, making it an intertwined, enviable cultural and civilizational heritage of that era", pointed out Đuran, recalling the fact that we are still using the results of Austria-Hungary's efforts to on scientific grounds, organize the maritime navigation system on the Adriatic, study and valorize the sea and its resources.
A valuable donation from Split
The maritime heritage collection of Porto Montenegro in Tivat received extremely valuable new exhibits as a donation from the retired captain of the JRM frigate from Split, Tomislav Drašković. The man who in 1967 was the first trial commander of the new, first independently constructed and built Yugoslav submarine P-821 "Heroj", and which today is the central and most attractive museum exhibit in Tivat, donated his uniform that he wore on "Heroj" to the Maritime Heritage Collection ”, an officer's cap, a series of medals and decorations with which he was awarded, and his Golden Submarine Badge, which is an extremely valuable item in itself.
Drašković also presented a panel with triggers for firing torpedoes from the stern tubes from the P-802 "Sava" submarine, which he also commanded. "I think that these items belong with the "Hero" and that the Collection of Maritime Heritage in Tivat is the right place for them to be exhibited, to be preserved and shown to future generations," said Drašković as he looked at the valuable donation that personifies all the people who have been for decades served on submarines, thanked the curator of the Tivat museum, Dražen Jovanović. He emphasized that an adequate place has already been prepared for these items on the navigation table in the "Heroj" submarine headquarters.
President of the Citizens' Association "Submarine" from Tivat, retired battleship captain Rajko Bulatović said that in cooperation with the Associations of Submarines from Pula, Ljubljana and Belgrade, a larger campaign will be launched to collect items from the personal collections of former Yugoslav submariners and hand them over to the museum in Tivat. as the place that best preserves memories of Yugoslav submarines and their crews.
Bonus video:
