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Dalmat(yacht)

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Dalmat
SMS Dalmat with the coffins of the victims of the Sarajevo assassination on board (1914)
History
NameOssero
NamesakeItalian name forOsor, Croatia[1]
BuilderStabilimento Tecnico TriestinoinTrieste
Launched1896
Out of service1899
FateTransferred to Austro-Hungarian Navy
History
Austria-Hungary
Name
  • Ossero(1899-1901)
  • Dalmat(from 1901)
Namesake
Acquired1899
Out of service1920
FateTransferred to theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes(Yugoslavia)
History
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
NameDalmat
NamesakeAlternative name for a person of the ancientDalmataetribe[2]
In service1920
Out of service1941
FateCaptured by Italy
Italy
NameFata
NamesakeItalian for "fairy"[3]
Acquired1941
Out of service1943
FateReturned to Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
NameVila
NamesakeSerbo-Croatian[4]andSlovene[5]for "fairy"
Acquired1943
Out of service1945
FateTransferred toYugoslav Navypost-war
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Name
  • Orjen(1945-1954)
  • Istranka(from 1954)
Namesake
Acquired1945
Decommissioned1970
FateIn private ownership atSplit
General characteristics
Displacement260 long tons (264t)
Length44 metres (144 ft)
Beam6.2 metres (20 ft)
Height3.5 metres (11 ft)
Installed power325 horsepower (242 kW)
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)

TheDalmatwas a yacht of theAustro-Hungarian Navy,Royal Yugoslav Navy,Regia Marinaand theYugoslav Navy.Built asOsseroinTriestein 1896 she was transferred to the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1899 and in 1901 renamedDalmat.In 1914 she helped transportArchduke Franz Ferdinand of Austriato Sarajevo. After Ferdinand's assassination she carried his body back to Trieste.Dalmatwas transferred to theRoyal Yugoslav Navyin 1920 following theDissolution of Austria-Hungary.She was captured by the Axis in 1941 and served the Italians asFata.The vessel reverted to the Yugoslav Navy in 1943 following theArmistice of Cassibileand was renamedVila.She remained in service under the communist government of theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,being renamedOrjenin 1945 andIstrankain 1954. Sometime after 1972 she was decommissioned and became a floating restaurant. She was put up for sale in 1998 but lay derelict in a Croatian shipyard until purchased and restored by Italian politicianGianfranco Cozzi.Cozzi was denied permission to sail the vessel from Croatia in 2003. The vessel remains in Split harbour where it has twice sunk due to lack of maintenance.

Construction

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The yachtOsserowas ordered byArchduke Charles Stephen of Austria,a nephew of EmperorFranz Joseph I.[7]She was built from Czech-made steel at the San Rocco,Trieste,shipyard ofStabilimento Tecnico Triestinoin 1896.[7][8][9]She measured 44 metres (144 ft) in length, 6.2 metres (20 ft) in width and 3.5 metres (11 ft) in height.[7]She was fitted with steam propulsion and had a displacement of 260 long tons (264t).[10][7]The vessel became the flagship of theImperial and Royal Yacht Club.[7]

Military career

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In 1899 she was transferred to theAustro-Hungarian Navyand, in 1901, was renamedDalmat.She served as aroyal yachtand flagship of the governor of Dalmatia.[7][9][8][11]Dalmatwas the first ship in theAdriatic Seato use wireless telegraphy.[11]The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne,Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria,travelled to Bosnia in 1914. After travelling from Trieste toPločeaboard the battleshipViribus Unitishe transferred toDalmatfor the journey along theNeretvariver toMetković,the smaller vessel being more suited to river travel. Ferdinand completed his onward journey toSarajevoby train.[12]Ferdinand wasassassinated in Sarajevo on 28 Juneand his body was carried part of the way back to Trieste aboardDalmat.[8]

Dalmatserved in the Austro-Hungarian Navy throughout theFirst World War.From 26 August 1914 she was based atZelenika,Bosnia. From 1916 she was a command ship for a submarine force inKotor.[7]After the post-warDissolution of Austria-Hungaryshe was transferred to theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenesand served as one of two yachts (the other beingLada) in theRoyal Yugoslav Navy(the state was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929).[9][13]During the Second World War she was captured by Axis forces and from 1941 served in theRegia MarinaasFata.She returned to Yugoslav control after the 1943Armistice of Cassibileand was renamedVila.In 1945 Yugoslavia, then under communist control as theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,renamed the vessel theOrjen.She was renamed again in 1954, becoming theIstranka.[9]A 1972 edition ofJane's Fighting Shipsnoted she had a 325 horsepower (242 kW) engine and was capable of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).[14]

Later history

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Istrankawas decommissioned in 1970. It was later purchased by theUnion Dalmacija[hr]company and converted into a floating restaurant, under the same name and moored atRiva[hr]quay inSplit.[15][11][7]She ceased to be used as a restaurant in 1991.[7]Istrankawas put up for sale in 1998;[16]she is the last surviving royal yacht of theHabsburg Empire.[8]

After Union Dalmacija went bankrupt in the 1990s the vessel was purchased byGianfranco Cozzi,a Christian Democrat member of theItalian Parliament,owner of a port services business and collector of naval vessels.[15][8]He had discovered the vessel lying derelict in a Croatian shipyard and purchased it for €500,000. Cozzi claimed to have spent €5 million on restoring the vessel. Cozzi planned for the vessel to join his collection atSanto Stefano al Mare,but it was prevented from leaving the country in 2003 by the Croatian government.[8]The government declared the vessel a national treasure, despite it never having served under the Croatian flag.[8][9]

Cozzi paid to keep the vessel seaworthy but after his death the maintenance ceased.[7]The vessel sank at its moorings in Split but was recovered on 28 June 2014, despite recovery being complicated by its weak structure and a covering of mud. TheCroatian Maritime Museumtook an interest in the vessel but requests to theMinistry of Culturefailed to secure funding and it again sank in December 2019. The Maritime Museum made rudimentary repairs to secure the vessel, which remained in the ownership of Cozzi's estate. The estate offered the ship to the Croatian government for €100,000 but this was not progressed as the museum had struggled to raise the funds to make it seaworthy.[15]As of 2021,the ship is located in theKaštelabasin of the northern part of thePort of Split.[17]

References

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  1. ^Baldwin, Marshall W. (11 November 2016).A History of the Crusades, Volume 1: The First Hundred Years.University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 639.ISBN978-1-5128-1864-2.
  2. ^abShores, Louis (1964).Collier's Encyclopedia: With Bibliography and Index.Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. p. 663.
  3. ^"English translation of 'fata'".Collins Italian-English Dictionary.
  4. ^Delahunty, Andrew (23 October 2008).From Bonbon to Cha-cha: Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases.OUP Oxford. p. 374.ISBN978-0-19-954369-4.
  5. ^Kropej, Monika (1 January 2012).Supernatural beings from Slovenian myth and folktales.Založba ZRC. p. 223.ISBN978-961-254-428-7.
  6. ^Stopar, Ivan; Kordeš, Leopold (1993).Goldenstein's national costumes of Carniola(in Slovenian). Arterika. p. 10.
  7. ^abcdefghijBatričević, Ivo (18 December 2020)."Neizvjesna SudbinaistrankePosljednji Brod Austro-ugarske Flote Nekad Je Ugošćavao Europsku Elitu, a Sad Trune Zbog Nebrige ".Dubrovački dnevnik(in Croatian).Retrieved7 December2021.
  8. ^abcdefgOwen, Richard (4 April 2003)."Italy and Croatia at odds over Habsburg yacht".The Times (page 20).No. 67728.Retrieved7 December2021.
  9. ^abcdeFreivogel, Zvonimir; Schrott, Karl (1999)."Comments and Corrections: Ask Infoser: Question 6/97".Warship International.36(2): 204.ISSN0043-0374.JSTOR44890624.
  10. ^Warship International.International Naval Research Organization. 1982. p. 345.
  11. ^abc"Kraj Splita trune brod na kojem je dogovoren Prvi svjetski rat".Morski HR(in Croatian). 19 November 2019.Retrieved7 December2021.
  12. ^Bridge, Adrian (5 February 2016)."First World War centenary: Franz Ferdinand's final journey".The Telegraph.Retrieved7 December2021.
  13. ^Vego, Milan (1982)."The Yugoslav Navy 1918-41".Warship International.19(4): 347.ISSN0043-0374.JSTOR44888337.
  14. ^Jane, Frederick Thomas (1972).Jane's Fighting Ships.S. Low, Marston & Company. p. 677.
  15. ^abcGašpar, Jurica (13 July 2020)."Povijesni brod Istranka vraćen u plovno stanje – Pozadina priče o zaštićenom spomeniku kulture".Morski HR(in Croatian).Retrieved7 December2021.
  16. ^De Biasio, Stefano; Freivogel, Zvonimir; Johnson, Harold; Sieche, Erwin F.; Wetherhorn, Aryeh (1998)."Disposition of ex-Austro-Hungarian Warships".Warship International.35(1): 100.ISSN0043-0374.JSTOR44890026.
  17. ^Matić, Jadranka; Žižić, Damir (11 April 2021)."Arhitekti su zauzdali sve što je neuredno: pogledajte zašto je Ribarska luka Brižine oduševila sve, otporna je na nesretnu Kaštelansku rivijeru, propalu industriju i divlju gradnju"[Architects Reign in All That Is Messy: See Why Brižine Fishing Port Thrills Everyone, It Is Resistant to Kaštela Riviera, Failed Industry and Unregulated Construction].Slobodna Dalmacija(in Croatian).Retrieved7 December2021.