 SMSBodrog on the Danube river in 1914 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Austria-Hungary | |
| Name | Bodrog |
| Namesake | Bodrog River |
| In service | 2 August 1904 |
| Out of service | 1918 |
| Fate | Assigned to theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (KSCS) |
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia | |
| Name | Sava |
| Namesake | Sava River |
| Acquired | 15 April 1920 |
| Fate | Scuttled by the crew on 11/12 April 1941 |
 Independent State of Croatia | |
| Name | Sava |
| Acquired | Raised and repaired |
| Fate | Scuttled by the crew 8/9 September 1944 |
 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | |
| Name | Sava |
| Acquired | Raised and repaired |
| Reinstated | 1952 |
| Fate | Transferred to state-run company |
| Notes | Naval service ended in 1962 |
 Serbia | |
| Name | Sava |
| Acquired | By theSerbian Ministry of Defence andMilitary Museum in 2015 |
| Fate | Restored |
| Status |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Temes-class river monitor |
| Displacement | 440 tonnes (430 long tons) |
| Length | 57.7 m (189 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in) |
| Draught | 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 13knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement | 77–79 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
TheYugoslav monitorSava is aTemes-classriver monitor that was built for theAustro-Hungarian Navy asSMSBodrog. She fired the first shots ofWorld War I just after 01:00 on 29 July 1914, when she and two other monitors shelled Serbian defences nearBelgrade. She was part of theDanube Flotilla, and fought theSerbian andRomanian armies from Belgrade to themouth of the Danube. In the closing stages of the war, she was the last monitor to withdraw towardsBudapest, but was captured by the Serbs when shegrounded on asandbank downstream from Belgrade. After the war, she was transferred to the newly createdKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (laterYugoslavia), and renamedSava. She remained in service throughout the interwar period, although budget restrictions meant she was not always in full commission.
During the German-ledAxisinvasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941,Sava served with the 1st Monitor Division. Along with her fellow monitorVardar, she laidmines in theDanube near theRomanian border during the first few days of the invasion. The two monitors fought off several attacks by theLuftwaffe, but were forced to withdraw to Belgrade. Due to high river levels and low bridges, navigation was difficult, andSava wasscuttled on 11 April. Some of her crew tried to escape cross-country towards the southernAdriatic coast, but all were captured prior to theYugoslav surrender. The vessel was later raised by thenavy of the Axispuppet state known as theIndependent State of Croatia and continued to serve asSava until the night of 8 September 1944 when she was again scuttled.
Following World War II,Sava was raised once again, and was refurbished to serve in theYugoslav Navy from 1952 to 1962. She was then transferred to a state-owned company that was eventually privatised. In 2005, thegovernment of Serbia granted her limited heritage protection after citizens demanded that she be preserved as afloating museum, but little else was done to restore her at the time. In 2015, the SerbianMinistry of Defence and Belgrade'sMilitary Museum acquired the ship. She was restored by early 2019 and opened as a floating museum in November 2021.
ATemes-classriver monitor, the ship was built for theAustro-Hungarian Navy byH. Schönichen, and designed by Austrian naval architect Josef Thiel. Originally named SMSBodrog, she waslaid down atNeupest on 14 February 1903.[1] Like hersister shipSMS Temes, she had anoverall length of 52.6 m (172 ft 7 in),[a] abeam of 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in), and a normaldraught of 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in).[3] Herstandard displacement was 440 tonnes (430 long tons) with a full load displacement of 484.1 tonnes (476.5 long tons), and her crew consisted of between 77 and 79 officers and enlisted men.[3][b]Bodrog had twotriple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft. Steam was provided by twoYarrow water-tube boilers, and her engines were rated at 1,400indicated horsepower (1,000 kW). As designed, she had a maximum speed of 13knots (24 km/h; 15 mph),[2][3] and carried 62 tonnes (61 long tons) of coal.[4]
Bodrog was armed with two 120 mm (4.7 in)L/35[c] guns in singlegun turrets.[1][3] These were positioned forward on either side of the conning tower, which greatly reduced their firing arcs from the gun arrangement on previous Austro-Hungarian river monitors.[3] She also mounted a single 120 mm (4.7 in)L/10howitzer in acentral pivot mount,[1] positioned aft, but it was a far less effective weapon than the forward guns.[3][5] The maximum range of herŠkoda 120 mm guns was 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), and her howitzer could fire its 20 kg (44 lb) shells a maximum of 6.2 km (3.9 mi).[6]
Her armour consisted of abelt ranging from 40 mm (1.6 in) to 10 mm (0.39 in) in thickness,casemates and gun turrets 40 mm (1.6 in) to 70 mm (2.8 in) thick, anddeck armour 19 mm (0.75 in) thick. The armour on herconning tower was 50 mm (2.0 in) thick.[3][d] Her armour, made ofiron–nickel alloy, was an improvement on that of earlier Austro-Hungarian river monitors.[3]Bodrog waslaunched on 12 April 1904,commissioned on 2 August 1904,[1] and completed on 10 November 1904.[2]
Bodrog was part of theDanube Flotilla, and at the start ofWorld War I she was based inZemun, just upstream fromBelgrade on theDanube,[7] under the command ofLinienschiffsleutnant[e] (LSL) Paul Ekl.[1] She shared the base with three other monitors and threepatrol boats.[7] Austria-Hungary declared war onSerbia on 28 July 1914, and a little after 01:00 on the following day,Bodrog and two other monitors fired the first shots of the war against Serb fortifications on the Zemun–Belgrade railway bridge over theSava river and onTopčider Hill.[9] The Serbs were outgunned by the monitors, and by August began to receive assistance from theRussians. This support included the supply and emplacement of naval guns and the establishment of river obstacles andmines.[10] On 8 September, the Austro-Hungarian base at Zemun was evacuated in the face of a Serbiancounterattack.[11]Bodrog and theminesweeperAndor conducted a deception operation towardsPančevo on 19 September, and six days later,Bodrog bombarded Serb positions on the bank of the Sava near Belgrade. On 28 September, she rendezvoused with the monitorSMS Szamos atBanovci, and the following day the two monitors targeted theBelgrade Fortress and conducted a reconnaissance of Zemun. On 1 October,Bodrog sailed toBudapest, where she was placed indry dock for two weeks. She returned to the flotilla on 15 October.[1] By November, French artillery support had arrived in Belgrade, endangering the monitor's anchorage,[12] and on 12 November, Ekl was replaced by LSL Olaf Wulff. The stalemate continued until the following month, when the Serbs evacuated Belgrade in the face of an Austro-Hungarian assault.[13] On 1 December,Bodrog and the newly commissioned monitorSMS Enns engaged the retreating Serbs.[1] After less than two weeks, the Austro-Hungarians retreated from Belgrade, and it was soon recaptured by the Serbs with Russian and French support.Bodrog continued in action against Serbia and her allies at Belgrade until December, when her base was withdrawn toPetrovaradin, nearNovi Sad, for the winter.[13]
The Germans and Austro-Hungarians wanted to transport munitions down the Danube to theOttoman Empire, so on 24 December 1914,Bodrog and the minesweeperAlmos escorted thesteamerTrinitas loaded withmunitions, thepatrol boatb and twotugs from Zemun past Belgrade towards theIron Gates gorge on the Serbian–Romanian border.[1][14] The convoy ran the gauntlet of the Belgrade defences unharmed, but when it reachedSmederevo it received information that the Russians had established a minefield and log barrier just south of the Iron Gates. It turned back under heavy fire, and withdrew as far as Pančevo without serious damage to any vessel.Bodrog returned to base, and the monitorSMS Inn was sent to guard the munitions and escort the convoy back to Petrovaradin.[14] In January 1915, British artillery arrived in Belgrade, further bolstering its defences,[15] andBodrog spent the first months of the year at Zemun. On 23 February, LSL Kosimus Böhm took command. On 1 March,Bodrog and several other vessels including the monitorSMS Körös were relocated to Petrovaradin.[1] After the commencement of theGallipoli campaign, munitions supply to the Ottomans became critical, so another attempt was planned. On 30 March, the steamerBelgrad left Zemun, escorted byBodrog andEnns. The convoy was undetected as it sailed passed Belgrade at night during a storm, but after the monitors returned to base,Belgrad struck a mine nearVinča, and after coming under heavy artillery fire, exploded nearRitopek.[14] On 22 April 1915, a Britishpicket boat that had been brought overland by rail fromSalonika was used to attack the Danube Flotilla anchorage at Zemun, firing two torpedoes without success.[16]
In September 1915, the Central Powers were joined byBulgaria, and the Serbian Army soon faced an overwhelming Austro-Hungarian, German and Bulgarian ground invasion. In early October, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army attacked Belgrade, andBodrog, along with the majority of the flotilla, was heavily engaged in support of crossings near the Belgrade Fortress and the island ofAda Ciganlija.[17]
Following the capture of Belgrade on 11 October and the initial clearance of mines and other obstacles, the flotilla sailed downstream toOrșova near the Hungarian–Romanian border and waited for the lower Danube to be swept for mines. Commencing on 30 October 1915, they escorted a series of munitions convoys down the Danube toLom where the munitions were transferred to the Bulgarian railway system for shipment to the Ottoman Empire.[18]
In November 1915,Bodrog and the other monitors were assembled atRustschuk, Bulgaria.[18] TheCentral Powers were aware that the Romanians were negotiating to enter the war on the side of theEntente, so the flotilla established a sheltered base in theBelene Canal to protect the 480-kilometre (300 mi) Danube border between Romania and Bulgaria.[19] During 1915, the 120 mm howitzer on theBodrog was replaced with a single 66 mm (2.6 in)L/18 gun, and three machine guns were also fitted.[3]
When the Romanians entered the war on 27 August 1916, the monitors were again at Rustschuk, and wereimmediately attacked by three improvisedtorpedo boats operating out of the Romanian river port ofGiurgiu. The torpedoes that were fired missed the monitors but struck alighter loaded with fuel. Tasked with shelling Giurgiu the following day, the Second MonitorDivision, consisting ofBodrog and three other monitors, set fire to oil storage tanks, the railway station andmagazines, and sank several Romanian lighters. While the attack was underway, the First Monitor Division escorted supply ships back to the Belene anchorage.Bodrog and her companions then destroyed two Romanian patrol boats and an improvisedminelayer on their way back to Belene. This was followed by forays of the Division both east and west of Belene, during which bothTurnu Măgurele andZimnicea were shelled.[20]
On 2 October 1916,Bodrog andKörös attacked a Romanianpontoon bridge being established across the Danube atOryahovo, obtaining five direct hits, thus contributing to the defeat of the RomanianFlămânda Offensive.[1]Bodrog herself received five hits from the Romanian artillery during the engagement and had to retreat behind the Taban Island to repair her damaged turret. News that floating mines were launched by the Romanians forced the monitors to leave and later withdraw to Belene.[21] This was followed by action supporting the crossing ofGeneralfeldmarschall[f]August von Mackensen's Austro-Hungarian Third Army atSistow.Bodrog then wintered atTurnu Severin.[1]
From 21 February 1917,Bodrog andKörös were deployed as guardships atBrăila. On 1 March,Bodrog became stuck in ice at nearbyMăcin. LSL Guido Taschler took command ofBodrog in 1918. That year's spring thaw sawBodrog,Körös,Szamos,Bosna and several other vessels sent through the mouth of the Danube into theBlack Sea as part ofFlottenabteilung Wulff (Fleet Division Wulff) under the command ofFlottenkapitän (Fleet Captain) Olav Wulff, arriving inOdessa on 12 April. On 15 July, she andBosna sailed to the port ofNikolaev, and from 5 August,Bodrog was stationed atCherson. On 12 September, she returned to Brăila along with other vessels.[1]
Bodrog was sent toReni near the mouth of the Danube to protect withdrawing Austro-Hungarian troops, arriving there on 1 October. She then sailed upstream, reaching Rustschuk on 11 October, and Giurgiu two days later. On 14 October, she was deployed at Lom.[23] She was the last Austro-Hungarian monitor to withdraw towards Budapest and was the only one that failed to reach the city. On 31 October 1918,Bodrog collided with a sand bank while navigating through heavy fog near Vinča,[24] and heavy Serbian artillery fire prevented her from being salvaged.[3] She was later captured by the Serbian Army.[25]
From theArmistice to September 1919,Bodrog was crewed by sailors of the newly createdKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Serbo-Croatian:Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca, KSCS; later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Under the terms of theTreaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye,Bodrog was transferred to the KSCS along with a range of other vessels, including three other river monitors,[26] but was not officially handed over to theKSCS Navy and renamedSava until 15 April 1920.[27][28] Her sister shipTemes was transferred to Romania and renamedArdeal.[2] In 1925–26,Sava was refitted, but by the following year only two of the four river monitors of the KSCS Navy were being retained in full commission at any time.[29] In 1932, the British navalattaché reported that Yugoslav ships were engaging in little gunnery training, and few exercises or manoeuvres, due to reduced budgets.[30] Between 1933 and 1934, a single VickersQF 2-pounder (40 mm (1.6 in)) L/39 anti-aircraft gun, which had been removed from one of theHrabri-classsubmarines during a rebuild, was mounted onSava to improve her anti-aircraft defences. In 1939, this gun was replaced by a singleŠkoda 40 mm L/67 anti-aircraft gun.[3]
Sava was based atDubovac when the German-led Axisinvasion of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941. She was assigned to the 1st Monitor Division,[31] and was responsible for the Romanian border on the Danube, under the operational control of the3rd Infantry DivisionDunavska.[32] Her commander wasPoručnik bojnog broda[g] Srećko Rojs.[3]
On that day,Sava and her fellow monitorVardar fought off several attacks by individualLuftwaffe aircraft on their base.[34] Over the next three days, the two monitors laid mines in the Danube near the Romanian border.[35] On 11 April, they were forced to withdraw from Dubovac towards Belgrade.[36] During their withdrawal, they came under repeated attacks byJunkers Ju 87Stukadive bombers.[37]Sava and her fellow monitor were undamaged, and anchored at the confluence of the Danube and Sava near Belgrade at about 20:00, where they were joined by theMorava. The three captains conferred, and decided to scuttle their vessels due to the high water levels in the rivers and low bridges, which meant there was insufficient clearance for the monitors to navigate freely. The crews of the monitors were then transshipped to two tugboats, but when one of the tugs was passing under a railway bridge, charges on the bridge accidentally exploded and the bridge fell onto the tug. Of the 110 officers and men aboard the vessel, 95 were killed.[36][38]
After the scuttling of the monitors, around 450 officers and men from theSava and various other riverine vessels gathered atObrenovac. Armed only with personal weapons and some machine guns stripped from the scuttled vessels, the crews started towards theBay of Kotor in the southernAdriatic in two groups. The smaller of the two groups reached its objective, but the larger group only made it as far asSarajevo by 14 April before they were obliged to surrender.[39] The remainder made their way to the Bay of Kotor, which was captured by theItalian XVII Corps on 17 April.[40]
Sava was raised and repaired by thenavy of the Axis puppet state the Independent State of Croatia,[38] at the railway rolling stock factory atSlavonski Brod,[3] and served alongside her fellow monitorMorava, which was also raised, repaired, and was renamedBosna. Along with six captured motorboats and ten auxiliary vessels, they made up the riverine police force of the Croatian state.[41]Sava was part of the 1st Patrol Group of the River Flotilla Command, headquartered at Zemun,[42] and was commanded byKapetan korvete[h] Stjepan Lerner.[3] In Croatian service,Sava was armed with two 120 mm guns, one 40 mm anti-aircraft gun, oneZbrojovka Brno 15 mm (0.59 in)ZB-60 anti-aircraft machine gun, two light machine guns, and twomine throwers.[3] Her crew scuttled her near Slavonski Brod on the night of 8 September 1944 and defected to theYugoslav Partisans.[43]
Sava was again raised and refurbished after World War II. Armed with two single 105 mm (4.1 in) gun turrets, three single 40 mm (1.6 in) gun mounts and six 20 mm (0.79 in) weapons,[44] she served in theYugoslav Navy from 1952 to 1962. Afterwards, she was placed into the hands of a state-owned company, which was privatised after thebreakup of Yugoslavia. In 2005, thegovernment of Serbia granted her limited heritage protection after citizens demanded that she be preserved as a floating museum, though little else had been done to restore her as of 2014, by which time she was serving as a gravel barge.[24] In December 2015,Sava was acquired by the SerbianMinistry of Defence and Belgrade'sMilitary Museum, which planned on restoring her.[45] The ship is one of only two surviving Austro-Hungarian river monitors that served during World War I.[46] The other isSMSLeitha, a much older monitor, which has been a museum ship anchored alongside theHungarian Parliament Building in Budapest since 2014.[47] By early 2019,Sava had been restored.[48] She was inaugurated as a floating museum along the Sava River in Belgrade in November 2021.[49]
| Coastal defence ship |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Light cruiser | ||
| Destroyers | ||
| Corvette | ||
| Gunboat/Royal yacht | ||
| Torpedo boats |
| |
| Motor torpedo boats | ||
| Submarines |
| |
| Minelayers | ||
| Minesweepers | ||
| River flotilla | ||
 Austro-Hungarian Navy | |
|---|---|
 Royal Romanian Navy |
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 Royal Yugoslav Navy |
|
| |
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1941 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in September 1944 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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