River Flotilla of Serbian Armed Forces
Encyclopedia
The Serbian River flotilla is the specific unit of the Serbian Land Forces with the task of keeping and optimum operational regime of sailing and of protection of Serbian interests in interior sailing corridors, which consists of rivers and canals with a total length of 1,626 km. The unit is composed of the Command ship "Kozara", river minesweepers and assault loading boats.

The command of River Flotilla is based in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

, like the most of its units, except for a few of them based in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 and Šabac
Šabac
Šabac is a city and municipality in western Serbia, along the Sava river, in the historic region of Mačva. It is the administrative center of the Mačva District. The city has a population of 52,822 , while population of the municipality is 115,347...

.

Origins

Alexander the Great had the first fleet on the Danube basin, according to written documents. The Romans were the first to have a Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 river flotilla.

Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

, Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...

, Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

, Gepids, Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

 and others formed similar units.

After their arrival at the Balkan peninsula, Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

 and other Slavs used rivers and became very skilled at making ships.

The last Serbian Despot
Serbian Despotate
The Serbian Despotate was a Serbian state, the last to be conquered by the Ottoman Empire. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of the medieval Serbian state, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravian Serbia survived for 70 more years,...

, Pavle Bakić
Pavle Bakić
Pavle Bakić was the last Despot of Serbia, he ruled a large territory under the Hungarian crown until his death in 1537.-Life:Pavle had a Turkish timar, as did his father, and was the lord of great estates around Venčac in Šumadija called "Bakić's land"....

's Šajkaši
Šajkaši
Šajkaši were the river troops guarding the Danube and Sava, and especially, the Port of Belgrade, against the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to the 19th century. At the time, the rivers were borders of the Kingdom of Hungary and Habsburg Empire with the Ottoman Empire. They had special military...

 flotilla fought against the Ottomans.

On March 30, 1833, the "Serbia" set sail. It was built at shipyard Dubravica by Greek Nikola Kefala by order of Knjaz Miloš
Miloš Obrenovic I, Prince of Serbia
Miloš Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1815 to 1839, and again from 1858 to 1860. He participated in the First Serbian Uprising, led Serbs in the Second Serbian Uprising, and founded the House of Obrenović...

 (TT information: length 24m, breadth 7m, draughts 3,5m, carrying capacity 250t).
In April 1840, the Knjaz Mihailo
Mihailo Obrenovic III, Prince of Serbia
Mihailo Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1839–1842 and again from 1860–1868. His first reign ended when he was deposed in 1842 and his second when he was assassinated in 1868.-Early life and first reign:...

 was constructed in Brza Palanka
Brza Palanka
Brza Palanka is a town in Serbia. It is situated in the Kladovo municipality, in the Bor District. The population of the town is 1,076 people .The town has its origin in the Roman town of Aegeta ....

 (TT information: length 65m, breadth 7,5m, draughts 4,5m, armament of ship was 12 cannons).

Serbia received its first true warship, the patrol boat "Jadar", on August 6, 1915. It was built in Čukarica
Cukarica
Čukarica is an urban neighborhood and one of the 17 municipalities than constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.- Neighbourhoods :...

. The ship was armed and used for mine laying on the Sava river.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia and April war

The Royal Yugoslav Navy in its organization it had River flotilla composed from "Cer" based in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

 command ship, one monitor group in Dubovac
Dubovac (Kovin)
Dubovac is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Kovin municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 1,283 people .-Name:...

, four mining-barrage groups in Bezdan
Bezdan
Bezdan is a village located in Bačka, Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated in the Sombor municipality, West Bačka District...

, Stara Kanjiza and Senta
Senta
Senta is a town and municipality on the bank of the Tisa river in the Vojvodina province, Serbia. Although geographically located in Bačka, it is part of the North Banat District...

, Sremski Karlovci
Sremski Karlovci
Sremski Karlovci is a town and municipality in Serbia, in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, situated on the bank of the river Danube, 8 km from Novi Sad...

 and Smederevo
Smederevo
Smederevo is a city and municipality in Serbia, on the right bank of the Danube, about 40 km downstream of the capital Belgrade. According to official results of the 2011 census, the city has a population of 107,528...

 and Đerdap sector command in Tekija
Tekija (Kladovo)
Tekija is a village in the municipality of Kladovo in eastern Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 967 people....

 and Donji Milanovac
Donji Milanovac
Donji Milanovac is a town in eastern Serbia. It is situated in the Majdanpek municipality, in the Bor District. It is located on right bank of Lake Đerdap on Danube...

. The main vessels were four large, heavily armed and armoured river monitor
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...

s in its river flotilla. They were used to patrol the Danube, Drava and Sava rivers in the northern parts of Yugoslavia and its border with Hungary. These monitors, the "Drava", "Sava", "Morava" and "Vardar" had been inherited from the Austro-Hungarian Navy
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....

 at the end of First World War. All were of around 400-500t with a main armament of two 120mm guns, two or three 66mm guns, 120mm mortars, 40mm AA gun
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...

s and machine guns. The River fleet also had two river patrol boats built in 1929, "Graničar" and "Stražar", and three river tugs.

At the start of the April War river monitors had carried out offensive operations by shelling the airfield at Mohács
Mohács
Mohács is a town in Baranya county, Hungary on the right bank of the Danube.-History:Two famous battles took place there:# Battle of Mohács, 1526# Battle of Mohács, 1687...

 in Hungary on the 6th of April and again two days later, but had to begin withdrawing towards Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

 by the 11th of April after coming under repeated attack by German dive-bombers.
Early in the morning of 12 April, a squadron of German Junkers Ju 87
Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...

 dive-bombers attacked the Yugoslav monitors on the Danube. The "Drava" was hit by several of them but they were unable to penetrate the "Drava's" 300mm thick deck armour, until, by chance, one put a bomb straight down the funnel, killing 54 of the 67 man crew. During the attack anti-aircraft gunners on the monitors claimed 3 dive-bombers shot down.
The remaining 3 monitors were scuttled by their crews later on 12 April as German and Hungarian forces had occupied the bases and the river systems upon which they operated.

River flotilla of Yugoslav Partisans

On September 11, 1944, in Neštin, by Order of General staff of NOV i PO in Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...

, the Naval company was formed, the first official naval unit for militant fights at Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 and Sava, which came into composition of 11th Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...

 NOV brigade.
The troop was made at a crew of ship "Zagreb", signal-corps troop of General staff of Vojvodina and soldiers from different units who were earlier serving at navy. Its first commander was Kara Dimitrijević from Ledinci, deputy commander was Dragutin Iskra, political commissary Svetozar Milovanović, and deputy of political commissary Rada Prodanović.

Ship "Zagreb" was a passenger ship rearranged for mine disposal at subwater mines. Crew of "Zagreb" came into 'partizans' after they captured German part of crew. Action was led by deputy commander of "Zagreb" Dragutin Iskra. The crew brought all light arms and ship anti-aircraft cannon 20mm with them.

The troop had 70 to 80 soldiers and it had a duty to attack enemy river traffic and to do transports at Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

. It was based on 3 places at Fruška Gora
Fruška Gora
Fruška Gora is a mountain in north Syrmia. Most part of the territory is located within Vojvodina, Serbia, but a smaller part on its western side overlaps the territory of Croatia...

: at Testera, near Neštin and Krčedin.

On November 20, 1944, a navy base was formed in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

, and this troop was a part of the base. After a little bit more than two months of existence, the troop made a hard damage on 5 and light damage on 43 enemy boats and killed or injured a lot of enemy soldiers. At the same time, it transported 220,000 soldiers over Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

, about 2,000 cannons, 3,000 trucks and more thousands of different material.

In March, 1945, command of river units had flotilla of armed boats of 7 patrol boats, 9 motor boats and 7 assault boats, located in naval bases. By mid-April, it was reinforced with 5 more ships and command ship "Cer". From ships and boats from base in Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica is a city and municipality located in the Vojvodina province of Serbia, on the left bank of the Sava river. As of 2002 the town had a total population of 39,041, while Sremska Mitrovica municipality had a population of 85,605...

 was formed Sava flotilla on 20 March 1945, and from ships and boats from Novi Sad base on 14 April was formed Danube flotilla.

After the World War II

In a period from 1944 to 1965, river flotilla was organized in a few detachment of river armor boats, river assault ships, river auxiliary ships and minesweepers squadron as part of Yugoslav Navy (JRM).

From 1960 River flotilla was excluded from Navy and subordinated to command of 1st Army, but later after reorganization has again become part of Navy.

A period since 1965 to 1984 was characteristic because of technical modernization and perfecting of tactics of using RF. Minesweepers
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

 type 319 and 307 and assault ships
Amphibious assault ship
An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...

 type 401 were reconstructed, a new minesweepers type 331 were built, station for demagnetization of ships and the ships were armed with new arms.

The last combat operation of River flotilla was on November 8, 1991, during the war in Croatia, when minesweeper 308 was send to Kopački Rit
Kopacki Rit
Kopački Rit , is a nature park in eastern Croatia. It is located northwest of the confluence of the Drava and the Danube, situated at the border with Serbia. It comprises many backwaters and ponds along the Danube...

 due the information that Czechoslovak ship "Šariš" was there smuggling arms to Croats. The minesweeper was ambushed by Croatian National Guard forces, and it was hit with Zolja
M80 Rocket Launcher
The M80 nicknamed the "Zolja", meaning WASP in English, is a portable one-shot disposable 64 mm anti-tank weapon, designed in the former Yugoslavia...

 and Armbrust
Armbrust
Armbrust is a lightweight unguided anti-tank weapon designed and developed by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm of Germany, who later sold its manufacturing rights to Chartered Industries of Singapore ....

 ant-tank rockets. 1st class Warrant Officers, Lampret Kristijan i Marković Stevan were killed while commander, Zoran Marković was wounded due it was hit by sniper. Although seriously wounded, he managed to stranded boat to shore with the help of several sailors and save the crew and the ship from sinking.

Recently after reorganization of Military of Serbia, River Flotilla was organizationally subordinated to Land Forces, as the military didn't had Navy anymore as branch. Flotilla is now organized as Brigade-size unit, and two pontoon battalions from 1st Land Force Brigade subordinated to River Flotilla.

Role and tasks

River flotilla is intended for keeping the operative regime of sailing and protection of interests of Serbia at inner sailing corridors (ISC). Assignments execute independent, in cooperation with units of Serbian Army
Serbian Army
-Objectives:The Serbian Army is responsible for:* deterring armed threats* defending Serbia's territory* participation in peacekeeping operations* providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief-Personnel:...

, Air Forces and AD and in cooperation with forces of Police.

Assignments:
  • Transporting includes transport of personnel and technicians across the river and along rivers and canals.

  • Anti-terrorist actions include a protection of objects and ships at base regions, in cooperation with unites of Army at discovering of terrorist groups (TG) at grasp of ISC.

  • Security of sailing and rescuing at ISC is providing a security of sailing and rescuing at river.

  • Taking a part in international missions

Organization

  • River Flotilla
    • Command - Novi Sad
      Novi Sad
      Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

    • Command Company - Novi Sad
    • Logistic Company - Novi Sad
    • 1st River Squad - Novi Sad
    • 2nd River Squad - Belgrade
      Belgrade
      Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

    • 1st Pontoon Battalion - Šabac
      Šabac
      Šabac is a city and municipality in western Serbia, along the Sava river, in the historic region of Mačva. It is the administrative center of the Mačva District. The city has a population of 52,822 , while population of the municipality is 115,347...

    • 2nd Pontoon Battalion - Novi Sad
    • 93rd River Center - Novi Sad

93rd River Center main tasks are: reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

, demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....

 and all diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

 work in rivers and waters inside Serbia. It includes frogmen. The unit was formed on 1 June 1972.
93rd RC has trained more than 1500 scuba divers for all water-based activities, on a level corresponding to that of similar units of this type worldwide.
They have standard weapons and diver equipment, mostly of Russian origin, although some hail from Germany, France and Sweden.

Fleet

Command ship
Command ship
Command ships serve as the flagships of the Commander of a fleet. They provide communications, office space, and accommodations for a fleet commander and his staff, and serve to coordinate fleet activities....

    • RPB-30 "Kozara" 

Station for degauss
    • RSRB-36 "Šabac" 

River minesweepers
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

  • Neštin class
    • RML-331 "Neštin"
    • RML-332 "Motajica"
    • RML-335 "Vučedol"
    • RML-336 "Đerdap"
    • RML-341 "Novi Sad"

Assault ships
  • 441 class
    • DJČ-411
    • DJČ-412

Patrol boat
Patrol boat
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...

s
    • ČMP-22
    • ČMP-23
    • ČMP-24
    • RPČ-111
    • RPČ-213
    • RPČ-214
    • RPČ-216

Other Equipment

  • PTS-M
    PTS (amphibious vehicle)
    The PTS is a Soviet tracked amphibious transport. PTS stands for Plavayushchij Transportyer - Sryednyj or medium amphibious transport vehicle...

     amphibious vehicle
  • GSP amphibious transport ferry
  • PM M71
    PM M71 Floating Bridge
    PM M71 is a mobile pontoon bridge license by Yugoslavia from Soviet designed PMP Floating Bridge. It's similar to the Soviet, beside using Yugoslav made trucks and boats, and the pontoons are filled with Polyurethane foam, so when hit, it won't sink. The process of deployment is same as for Soviet...

     floating bridge

See also

  • Military of Serbia
    Military of Serbia
    The Serbian Armed Forces are the armed services of Serbia. They consist of the Serbian Army and the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence...

  • Serbian Army
    Serbian Army
    -Objectives:The Serbian Army is responsible for:* deterring armed threats* defending Serbia's territory* participation in peacekeeping operations* providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief-Personnel:...

  • SFR Yugoslav Navy
  • Yugoslav Royal Navy
    Yugoslav Royal Navy
    The Royal Yugoslav Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.This navy existed since the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, which was changed in 1929 to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia...

  • Brown-water navy
    Brown-water navy
    Brown-water navy is a term that originated in the United States Navy, referring to the small gunboats and patrol boats used in rivers, along with some of the larger ships that supported them as "mother ships," from which they operated...

  • Navies of landlocked countries
    Navies of landlocked countries
    A landlocked navy is a naval force operated by a country which does not have a coastline. While such countries are obviously unable to develop a sea-going blue-water navy, they may still deploy armed forces on major lakes or rivers....


External links

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