The Croatian Naval Legion ( hr, Hrvatska pomorska legija) was a contingent of volunteers from the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

that served with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's navy '' Kriegsmarine'', on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Formation

The legion was formed in July 1941, following the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

on 22 June. It was initially comprised some 350 officers and ratings in German uniform, but this eventually swelled to 900–1,000. Their first commander was Commander Andro Vrkljan, who was commissioned as a ''

Fregattenkapitän Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy. Address In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...

'' (frigate captain) in the German navy. Vrkljan was later replaced by Captain Stjepan Rumenović. The Croats purpose in posting a naval contingent to the Black Sea was to evade the prohibition on an Adriatic navy imposed by the Treaty of Rome (18 May 1941) with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. This prohibition effectively limited the

Croatian Navy , image = Seal of Croatian Navy.png , caption = Emblem of the Croatian Navy , start_date = 1991 , country = , allegiance = , branch = , type = Navy , role = , size = 1,36330 vessels , command_structure = Armed Forces of Croatia , ga ...

(RMNDH) to a riverine flotilla.

Operational history

The Croatian Naval Legion arrived at Varna in Bulgaria on 17 July 1941. It trained on minesweepers and submarines. On 30 September it was moved to

Henichesk Henichesk ( uk, Гені́чеськ, Heniches’k, ; rus, links=on, Гени́ческ, r=Genichesk, p=ɡʲɪˈnʲit͡ɕɪsk) is a port city along the Sea of Azov in the Kherson Oblast of southern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre ...

in the Ukraine, where it was activated as the 23rd Minesweeper Flotilla (''23. Minensuchflottille''). The unit did not have any ships upon its arrival in the Sea of Azov. It managed to scrounge up 47 damaged or abandoned fishing vessels, mostly sailing ships, and to man them with hired local Russian and Ukrainian sailors, many of them deserters from the Soviet Red Navy. Over the winter of 1941–42, the legionnaires dug trenches and fought as infantry in defence of the town. They only put to sea in April 1942. In May 1942 while placing mines around the harbour entrance 25 Croatians were killed and 2 boats destroyed. The legion patrolled a coastal sector of the Sea of Azov. On 24 September 1942, the ''

Poglavnik () was the title used by Ante Pavelić, leader of the World War II Croatian movement Ustaše and of the Independent State of Croatia between 1941 and 1945. Etymology and usage The word was first recorded in a 16th-century dictionary compiled ...

Ante Pavelić Ante Pavelić (; 14 July 1889 – 28 December 1959) was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and served as dictator of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, l ...

visited the naval headquarters, where he reached an agreement with German authorities to train and equip a submarine chaser flotilla the Legion became . At the end of 1942, the legion returned to Croatia to recuperate, and in the new year returned to Varna. In 1943, the legion was expanded with a Croatian volunteer coastal artillery unit, bringing the total manpower to more than 1,000 men. With the

capitulation of Italy The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Briga ...

in September 1943, there was no impediment to a Croatian navy on the Adriatic Sea anymore. The Croatian Naval Legion returned to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

on 21 May 1944. It was then posted to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

, where it operated as a torpedo-boat flotilla ''

Schnellboot E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

'' under the German 11th Escort Flotilla (''11. Sicherungsdivision''), it was disbanded in December 1944.

Aftermath

Its crews were incorporated into the Navy of the Independent State of Croatia. The coastal artillery batteries remained stationed in Split as part of the Kriegsmarine, from February 1944.

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Croatian Naval Legion Navy of the Independent State of Croatia Military units and formations of the Kriegsmarine Foreign volunteer units of the Wehrmacht Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Independent State of Croatia Military units and formations of Germany in Yugoslavia in World War II Collaborators with Nazi Germany Foreign volunteer units of the Kriegsmarine Military units and formations of the Croatian Legion

Formation

Operational history

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References