The Association of Veterans of the Croatian Navy is marking the 35th anniversary of the defence of Split and the breaking of the naval blockade of the Adriatic. The commemorative programme will take place on 13 November in Split and on 15 November on the island of Šolta.
The main programme will be held on Friday, 13 November 2026, in Split. The commemoration begins at 09:00 with the laying of wreaths and the lighting of candles at the Lovrinac Veterans' Cemetery. At 10:00, a Croatian Navy vessel will set sail from the anchorage of the "Admiral Flote Sveto Letica Barba" barracks. At 11:00, a mass will be held at the Church of St Anthony in Poljud, and at 12:30, the General Assembly of the Association of Veterans of the Croatian Navy will take place at the Lora Officers' Club. The programme will conclude with a formal ceremony at 18:00 at the Croatian Army House, in the "Poljud" restaurant.
The commemoration continues on Sunday, 15 November 2026, on the island of Šolta. The ferry departure from Split is scheduled for 08:30. At 09:30, wreaths will be laid and candles lit at the Monument to the Defenders in Dardin Park in Grohote, and at 10:00, a mass will be held at the Church of St Stephen the First Martyr in Grohote.
The commemoration refers to November 1991, when the Yugoslav Navy attacked Split. Croatian naval forces defended the city and broke the enemy naval blockade. Divers from the Croatian Navy carried out an attack on the enemy vessel "Mukos" in the evening of 14 November 1991.
As retaliation for the attack on the vessel "Mukos", artillery fire from Yugoslav Navy ships began against Brač and Šolta. Simultaneously, fire was directed at Split from the enemy naval port of Lora. In the early hours of 15 November 1991, at dawn, the Yugoslav Navy attacked the city of Split from its ships. Enemy shells were fired at Diocletian's City from a large Yugoslav Navy patrol vessel named "Split". Explosive shells in the early hours of the battle took the lives of two sailors who died on the ferry "Vladimir Nazor".
Artillery units of the Croatian Navy from Šolta, Kašjun and Brač returned the fire. The ship commanders turned their sterns and fled together with the VPBR-31 "Split". The destroyer "Split", fleeing through the Korčula Channel, was hit by a shell from artillery on Privala on the island of Korčula and limped towards the island of Vis. Of the other ships that were in the Neretva and Korčula Channels that day and night, a total of six were hit, and one was left stranded in Torac Bay on the island of Hvar. Of the four aircraft that appeared in the first attack, Brač anti-aircraft units shot down two, which fell into the sea.
By the end of the war on the Dalmatian and other fronts, 66 members of the Croatian Navy lost their lives.
