Findings of torpedo remains in the Rijeka seabed are frequent, almost regular occurrences. This is well known especially to fishing boat crews, for whom it is not unusual to find parts of a projectile and launching mechanism in their nets. Similar occurences can be confirmed by local divers as well.
On Thursday, 2nd July, a torpedo in the Rijeka submarine will not be the backbone of a story of accidental finds. On that day, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., along the seafront next to the launch pad at the end of Baračeva Street in Rijeka, the torpedo will be the target of an organized search. Divers of the Intelligence Regiment of the Croatian Armed Forces, the Special Police of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, the diving club ZG SUB and others will go in search of the remains of projectiles and launch devices.
The location is not accidentally determined. Researchers of industrial heritage know that on the hundred meters long coastal stretch along the former Torpedo Factory, several launch pads had functioned throughout history, from which thousands of torpedoes were fired, so it is expected that in the seabed along this part of the coast there are traces of their activities in the form of torpedo remnants. For reasons related to the protection of sensitive industrial and military data, no diving research has been conducted on this move so far, so the expectations from the upcoming research are even higher.
The diving action “Search for a Torpedo” will last about 40 minutes. Each diver will explore in their own, network-defined marine “quadrant”, and their finds will be taken ashore. If this turns impossible, the finds will be marked and the extraction will be organized subsequently in a different way. Interested citizens can watch all activities from the shore.
The search for the remains of torpedoes is organized by Captain Goran Pernjek as an associate of the City Museum of Rijeka, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia.
