Battle of the Dalmatian Channels

Battle of the Dalmatian channels
Part of the Croatian War of Independence
A map of the first phase of the battle
Date 14–16 November 1991 Location Dalmatian islands and channels Result Decisive Croatian victory
Belligerents
Croatian Navy	Yugoslav Navy Yugoslav Air Force
Commanders and leaders
Sveto Letica Željko Seretinek Markiša Zlokić	Ilija Brčič
Strength
Coastal Batteries Naval commandos Civilian trawlers	2 frigates 4 missile boats 6 patrol boats 3 minesweepers
Casualties and losses
2 ferryboats damaged 8 civilians killed	1 patrol boat crippled and captured 1 minesweeper sunk 1 minesweeper grounded and lost 1 minesweeper damaged 2 Jastreb fighter shot down 22 killed

The Battle of the Dalmatian channels was a three-day long confrontation between two task forces of the Yugoslav War Navy and coastal defenses of the Croatian Navy along Šolta island, the port of Split, and the islands of Brač, Hvar and Korčula, which took place from 14 to 16 November 1991. The fighting developed in a three-phase battle, beginning with the attack on the Yugoslav patrol boat PČ-176 Mukos off Šolta, followed by the shelling of the Split area by the naval task forces "Kaštela" and "Vis" and ending in the ambush of task force "Kaštela" by Croatian coastal guns along the Korčula channel.

Background

Main article: Croatian War of Independence

Tensions in Croatia had started with the Log Revolution in the summer of 1990, where militant groups of Croatian Serbs, incited from Serbia, proclaimed SAO Kninska Krajina and later SAO Krajina and began blockading roads connecting Dalmatia to the rest of Croatia and obstructing and attacking Croatian police forces. They were also aided by the Yugoslav People's Army, particularly as the events escalated into the Croatian War of Independence in the spring of 1991.

Following the Croatian independence referendum, in late June 1991 Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. A Charter of the rights of Serbs and other ethnic groups within the Republic of Croatia was issued. The declaration triggered an immediate reaction of JNA. Heavy fighting broke out between rebel Croatian Serb militias and Croatian police in several regions like Baranja, Slavonia and Knin area itself. Under the pretense of stopping the conflict, the Yugoslav Army began to intervene on behalf of the Serb minority. Over the time, JNA's interventions was more and more openly pro-Serb.

In July 1991, following the Ten Day War in Slovenia, the European Community brokered the Brioni declaration that attempted to stop the hostilities, but failed as during the summer the conflict escalated into an open aggression on Croatia near Vukovar, and in Lika. In September 1991, EEC and its member states convened a Conference on Yugoslavia which established an arbitration procedure.

In September 1991 Serbian attack on Croatia was in full swing. Yugoslav Minister of Defence, General V. Kadijevic, a Croatian Serb, despatched the first column of armoured vehicles from Serbia into Croatia. By the end of September, all-out Serbian attack was raging Croatia. In response to that attack, the Croatian parliament on 8 October 1991 declared the severing all official and legal ties with Yugoslavia.

After Croatian Security forces besieged all Yugoslav Army barracks inside Croatian boundaries, the Yugoslav Navy imposed a blockade on Croatian ports from 15 September, although the operation was scaled down by 23 September when both sides agreed to a ceasefire. The truce, however, was short-lived and by 3 October the blockade was resumed, specially aimed at the cities of Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, Ploče and Dubrovnik.

Prelude

The main Yugoslav-Serb effort at sea shifted from Dalmatia to Dubrovnik and the southern Croatian coast. In order to blockade this area, the Yugoslav Navy tightened its control on the main sea lanes from other Croatian ports. Indeed, during the first days of November, a convoy of 40 small boats, led by the ferryboat Slavija was stopped twice between Brač and Korčula while on 11 November, the Maltese-flagged coaster Euro River, manned by a Croatian crew, was sunk by gunfire off Šolta. By then, President Franjo Tuđman had established the new Croatian Navy on 11 September, which some days later gathered a fleet of 29 small naval vessels after the Yugoslav Navy base at Šibenik fell into Croatian hands. The backbone of the coastal defenses, however, were the naval artillery emplacements on the shore and the islands. Meanwhile the Yugoslav Navy deployed three task forces around central Dalmatia from its bases in the islands of Vis and Lastovo. Task force "Kaštela" comprised the frigate RF-31 Split, two Končar class missile boats, one Osa I missile boat, one Shershen class torpedo boat and two Mirna class patrol boats. Task force Vis included the frigate RF-34 Pula, two Končar class missile boats and three patrol boats. The third and smaller battle group, "Ploče", was made up of one Končar class missile boat, two Osa class and three minesweepers.

Battle

PČ-176 Mukos crippled

HRM OB-02 Šolta

On 14 November the task force “Kaštela” was enforcing the blockade off Split, while the sister force “Vis” was in reserve around the island of Hvar. Task force "Ploce" was largely inactive at that time.

At 17: 34, while on patrol between the islands of Šolta and Brač , PČ-176 Mukos was rocked by an underwater explosion below her bow, either after striking a mine or being hit by an improvised torpedo launched by Croatian naval forces. Another ship of task force "Kaštela", the torpedo boat TČ-224 Pionir II was detached to assist the crippled unit. The surviving members of the crew were rescued by 18:10, while the abandoned boat was left adrift with her bow submerged. Three Yugoslav seamen lost their lives. She was later taken in tow by local fisherman and beached at Nečujam bay. Some time later, Croatian Navy divers raised Mukos, which was towed to Šibenik by a tug of the Croatian company “Brodospas”. She was put back in service by the Croatian Navy as OB-62 Šolta, which later changed her pennant number to OB-02.

The remainder warships of "Kaštela" were soon targeted by the Croatian guns emplaced in Brač and Šolta. They reacted by pounding the small villages of Stomorska and Milna with gunfire. At the same time, task force "Vis", led by the frigate Pula, was ordered to proceed toward the southern area of the islands to join the fighting, which continued through the night. According to commander Ilija Brčič, aboard Pula, his ships were engaged by 88 mm coastal guns when 7 or 8 miles away from Šolta. Brčič claims that they returned fire with Pula`s AK 726 76 mm gun. Pula also launched four broadsides of RBU-6000 rocket-propelled depth charges out of their effective range, just as a a show of force. Croatian sources recall that 800 rounds fell on Brač and Šolta, hitting farms and buildings but without inflicting casualties.

In addition to the artillery units, the Croatian Navy deployed naval commandos equipped with motorboats on the western coast of Brač.

Shelling of Split

As a retaliation for the loss of Mukos, the Yugoslav Navy commanders decided to shell selected targets around the city of Split. The operation would be carried out by task force "Kaštela".

At 6:42 of 15 November, the frigate Split gave green light to the other ships to open fire. They hit and damaged the ferryboat Vladimir Nazor and killed two members of her crew. Another ferry, the Bartol Kašić was also hit by a number of rounds. In Split itself, the gunfire damaged the town hall, the Archeological Museum, a technical school, and the city’s sports center. The old Croatian coastal guns, under the command of Admiral Sveto Letica, responded with concentrated volleys, which reportedly struck Split and other warships. The flotilla eventually withdrew to the east after a minefield prevented them from taking the shorter southern route back to their base at Vis.

At 9:30, a six Jastreb fighters mission against the Croatian artillery scrambled to support the withdrawal of task force “Kaštela” through the Neretva channel. Croatian anti-aircraft artillery from Brač claimed to have shot down two of the fighters. Serb sources reported the loss of a Jastreb over the sea on 15 November and the rescue of the pilot by their Navy, but without disclosing the exact place.

Ambush at Korčula channel

A map of the last phase of the battle

Task force “Kastela” joined three minesweepers from task force "Ploče" during its retreat from the Split channel. On the morning of 16 November, the nine-ship strong squadron steamed towards the Korčula channel, where they would meet task force "Vis". At 11:00, the warships, now between Hvar and Lovište, and led by the minesweepers, were ambushed by the Croatian guns. The artillery, specially a 76 mm emplacement at Lovište, straddled the minesweepers with its first salvoes, given their low speed. Minesweeper ML-143 Iž was hit on her bow and her sister ML-144 Olib suffered heavy damage on the engine room. At 15:30, the frigate Split responded by pouring gunfire on the coastal guns between Blace and Račišće. The Croatian gunners had built shelters which allowed them to endure the bombardment without casualties. The battery at Blace near-missed Split and another vessel when task force “Kastela” was regrouping near the island of Šćedro. The third minesweeper, ML-153 Blitvenica, was on fire after a round left a 120 x 70 cm hole on her port side. The battery at Lovište fired 76 rounds all said, while the guns of Blace fired 36. An 85 mm battery at Privala, in the westernmost side of the island of Korčula, fired 11 rounds on Split, after being shelled by this vessel and the frigate Pula, which was awaiting the rendezvous with task force “Kaštela” on the other side of the channel. Meanwhile, ML-143 sank off Šćedro not before her crew was transferred to another ship, and ML-144 ran aground at Torac bay, on the southern coast of Hvar. Eventually, the Yugoslav fleet withdrew towards Vis amid thick fog and a truce was signed shortly after, at 18:00.

Aftermath

The Yugoslav fleet didn't sail from Vis again until its final withdrawal to Boka Kotorska in December. General Mladenić, commander in chief of the Yugoslav Army in Dalmatia, acknowledged that 22 seamen were killed in the engagement, while 6 civilians and two Croatian sailors died during the naval shelling of Split. The battle secured the sea routes between the ports of Dalmatia and resulted in the end of Yugoslav naval operations in the central Adriatic. Retired Croatian Navy officer Stjepan Bernardić proposed that 15 November should be remembered as the day of the Croatian Navy, in the same way that 22 October is celebrated in Britain after Trafalgar or 10 May in Italy after the sinking of the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István during World War I.

Gallery

• 
  Frigate VPBR-31 Split, the leading unit of task force "Kaštela"
• 
  Croatian ferryboat Vladimir Nazor in 2010. She was damaged by task force "Kaštela" during the shelling of Split.
• 
  Croatian Ferryboat Bartol Kašić in 2009. She was damaged by task force "Kaštela" during the shelling of Split.
• 
  Village of Stomorska, in Šolta island, targeted by the Yugoslav fleet on 14 November 1991

References

• Admiral Letica je naredio: "Raspali!" Slobodna Dalmacija, 15 November 2004. Template:Hr icon
• IKorcula.net article about the battle, by Željko Seretinek Template:Hr icon