Visit-Montenegro.com : “Jadran” Celebrates its’ 75th Birthday at the Dry-dock

Tivat- Pride of Montenegrin Navy, training sailing boat “Jadran”; marks its’ birthday today, in a memory of 19 August 1933 when it got formally registered as a part of the fleet of, at that time, Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

This gorgeous sailing boat will celebrate its’ 75th birthday at the dock of “Jadransko brodogradiliste” shipyard at Bijela, which is conducting minor repairs and preparations for vessels’ 25-day-cruise to Barcelona commencing at the end of September.

Ministry of Defense has failed to reach an adequate agreement with the shipyard which would allow the timely celebration of this anniversary. So, instead of celebrating its’ official birthday in its’ homeport of Tivat, as it has been planned, this vessel would spend this date at the dry-dock in Bijela.

Anniversary will be marked with the promotion of an advertising jingle, showing of a documentary about this sailing boat at Montenegrin national television (RTCG) and publishing of promotional leaflets which would be distributed via four Montenegrin daily papers.

Beside vessels’ repairs, additional complication occurred due to the fact that majority of state officials is on holidays, which has led to the decision of the Ministry of Defense to proclaim that the celebration of “Jadran’s” jubilee would be moved from 19 to 29 August.

Building of the new sailing boat – training vessel for officers of, at that time, Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia – had been initiated by maritime-propaganda organization active during the last century called “Jadranska straza.”

Funds of some on million dinars had been collected from its’ members from all around the Kingdom, while the remaining amount of estimated, at that time, 623,000 Deutsch Marks had been provided from the state budget and war reparations which had been paid to Serbia by Germany for the damages inflicted during the WWI.

Building of this three-mast sailing boat of “bakartine” type, which had been projected by Yugoslav engineer, Josip Skarica, had been entrusted to a renowned German shipyard “Stulcken” in Hamburg.

Due to the difficulties with payments, building of this ship had been prolonged. Ship was launched on 25 June 1931, but it was fully ready only on 27 June 1931 when it sailed from Germany to Yugoslavia with frigate commander, Nikola Krizomali.

“Jadran” arrived to his fatherland on 16 July 1933. Ship was welcomed with a magnificent parade which included almost all the vessels of the Royal Navy, hydroplanes, numerous civilian vessels and many citizens.

It has been listed as a part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia Royal Navy fleet on 19 August 1933. On 6 September, at an event in Split, highest state officials and representatives of King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic had been formally put at Navy’s disposal.

Since then, till this very day, “Jadran” had been used for training of young naval officers.

Apart from its’ usual journeys on the Adriatic, “Jadran” had 19 longer international cruises and had docked at many ports in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America.

As the most representative vessel in our fleet and a kind of a sailing monument to our naval tradition and technical culture, “Jadran” presented former Yugoslavia (FRY) at World “EXPO” fair in Portugal in 1998.

In 2005, this vessel participated in the largest world maritime parade in the recent history, which took place at British port of Portsmouth in Great Britain, in memory of Battle of Trafalgar.

At UNESCO invitation, “Jadran” had been presented with an honor to lead the convoy of 100 sailing boats, research vessels and other similar ships which symbolize responsible relation towards the preservation of marine ecosystems, at the upcoming conference of the World Congress for Sea and Nature Preservation which will take place in Barcelona in October.

(19 August 2008)

By: S.LUKOVIĆ