The Croatian Danube Flotilla is the conventional name for the Croatian river forces on the Danube and its tributary, the Drava , whose units were first created during the history of the Independent State of Croatia in 1941-1945. Currently, Croatia has a limited contingent of ships on the Danube - the River Battalion, operating as part of an engineering regiment.
| River battalion | |
|---|---|
| Years of existence | 1941 - 1945 1991 - p.t. |
| A country |  Croatia |
| Function | part of the engineering forces, emergency operations |
| Wars | World War II , War in Croatia |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Boris Stubichar |
Content
Danube Flotilla of the Independent State of Croatia
The river forces of Croatia were organized in 1941, after the surrender of Yugoslavia and the formation of the Independent State of Croatia.
The first ship of the flotilla was the patrol boat Ustasha. For the police service, Germany transferred five boats transferred from the Netherlands to Croatia. They were called "Pakra", "Ptsinya", "Petrinitsa", "Pliva", "Pracha". Two auxiliary minesweepers - Zagreb and Petar Zrinsky - were to solve the trawling problem. In 1942 and 1943, flotillas that were killed during the Yugoslav campaign, the Cer mine loader, which became the headquarters ship under the name Vrbas, and the Sava and Morava monitors (commissioned under the new name - " Bosna "). By the end of 1943, river forces were also replenished with the Bosut patrol boat.
Also, the formed forces of the marine corps (subsequently reorganized into a battalion ), stationed in Zemun, were part of the river forces. The task of the unit was to ensure the operation of the flotilla on the shore and operations against partisans .
In 1944, Croatian forces suffered significant losses: the Bosna monitor and the auxiliary minesweepers Zagreb and Petar Zrinsky died on mines, and the Sava monitor was flooded by the crew. The remaining patrol boats were included in the German Danube flotilla .
Croatia's modern river forces
The first river company in the new history of Croatia was founded on June 28, 1991 as part of the 3rd brigade of the national guard. Already on August 1 of the same year, she took part in the evacuation of civilians from Alimash .
On October 1, 1991, the Drava River Military Flotilla detachment was created. In 1993, another unit was created - the river brigade in Osijek .
Since 2007, the flotilla has been the River Battalion, part of the Croatian army, as part of an engineering regiment . Housed in Osijek. The organizational structure of the river battalion includes command, command command (operational management), a detachment of river ships, mine control, and logistics management. The tasks of the battalion include: providing shipping, emergency operations, search and rescue operations, and other engineering operations. The ship's convoy is limited to patrol boats PB-91 and PB-93, several other units. The training of the crews takes place together with the naval forces: thus, the training of swimmers is carried out together with the battalion of special operations of the Croatian fleet, and firing is carried out together with the artillerymen of the fleet.
The commander of the battalion since 2007 is Colonel Boris Stubichar.
Shipboard
1941-1945
Monitors
Bosna , 1892, 448 t, 54x9x1.2 m. 2 PM = 1200 hp = 10 knots. Reservation: board 50, deck 19, wheelhouse 75, towers 19 mm. Armament: 2 120 mm, 1 66 mm guns, 1 15 mm and 4 machine guns. The crew of 84 people. The former Morava of the Yugoslav Danube Flotilla (originally SMS Körös of the Austro-Hungarian Danube Flotilla), sunk on the night of April 12, 1941 on the Sava River, was raised and joined the river forces of the Independent State of Croatia under the name Bosna. He died in a mine on July 16, 1944 on the Una River.
Sava , 1904, 470 t, 57.7 × 9.5 × 1.2 m. 2 PM = 1400 hp = 13 knots. Reservation: side 40, deck 25, wheelhouse 50 mm. Armament: 2 120 mm guns, 1 120 mm howitzer, 1 66 mm gun, 1 66 mm howitzer, 5 machine guns (after the modernization of 1952: 2 105 mm, 3 40 mm, 6 20 mm guns ) The crew of 86 people. The former monitor of the Yugoslav Danube Flotilla (originally SMS Bodrog of the Austro-Hungarian Danube Flotilla), flooded on April 12, 1941 in Belgrade, was raised and joined the river forces of the Independent State of Croatia under the same name. Sunk on September 9, 1944 by Yugoslav artillery on the Sava River. Once again raised and restored, served until the early 1960s.
Helper Minesweeps
Zagreb . He died in a mine on September 7, 1944 at Zemun. Raised by the Yugoslavs and served as a transport ship under the name Rijeka.
Petar Zrinski . He died in a mine on October 23, 1944 near Vukovar.
Patrol boats
Ustaša
Bosut
Pakra
Pcinja . According to some sources, there was another boat “Plitvice”, but, most likely, “Plitvice” and “Ptsinya” - the same boat.
Petrinjica
Pliva
Prača
Other vessels
Headquarters Cer , 1909, 256 tons, 8 knots Former auxiliary minesweeper (originally German SDDG civilian tugboat) Helene of the Austro-Hungarian Danube Flotilla. In 1919 it became part of the flotilla. Flooded in April 1941 on the Sava River. Raised and joined the river forces of the Independent State of Croatia under the name Vrbas. In 1945, it entered the Navy of Yugoslavia. He served until the 1950s. as the headquarters ship named Srem.
Rescue boat Lika
1991 - n. at.
Patrol boats
PB-91
PB-93
See also
- Croatian Navy
- Danube Flotilla (Serbia)
Links
- River Battalion. Landing forces
- "Patyanin S. V., Barabanov M. S. Ships of the Second World War: Naval Forces of the Balkan States and the Eastern Mediterranean. Naval Campaign from Balakin and Dashyan, No. 3, 2007
- Topic on the Navy of Yugoslavia at the naval forum
- Topic on the naval forces of the Independent State of Croatia at the military forum