Velimir Škorpik

Velimir Škorpik (2 April 1919 – 7 November 1943) was a Croatian and Yugoslav Partisan naval officer and commander of several early Partisan naval units. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1940, Škorpik began his naval career as an officer in the Royal Yugoslav Navy ( – KM). Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 which saw the rapid collapse of the KM, Škorpik joined the Armed Forces of the Independent State of Croatia, serving as a harbour officer in Makarska. After coming into contact with local communist operatives, he eventually defected to the Partisans in late 1942.

Škorpik soon met with Josip Broz Tito and would be given the command of the Naval Section (), an early Partisans naval formation tasked with organizing attacks on Axis forces in the coastal areas. He would go on to command Partisan detachments operating in the Dalmatian Hinterland followed by a brief stint as the commander of a fleet of Partisan armed ships in September/October 1943. His last posting was that of the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Dalmatian Brigade. He was killed by the Ustaše in October/November 1943 near Posušje.

He was posthumously awarded the title of People's Hero of Yugoslavia. The Naval Repair Yard in Šibenik also bore his name from 1953 until 1992 as well as a Yugoslav Navy ''Osa''-class missile boat acquired from the USSR during the 1960s.

Biography

Early military service

Škorpik was born on 2 April 1919 in Brodarica near Zadar. After completing his high school education, he enrolled in the Naval Academy from which he graduated in 1940, serving in the Royal Navy ( – KM) with the rank of (Corvette Lieutenant). When the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia commenced on 6 April 1941, Škorpik was the second-in-command of the motor torpedo boat ''Četnik'' based in Šibenik. With Yugoslavia soon surrendering to the Axis, Škorpik took ''Četnik'' to Divulje near Split in order to avoid capture by the Italians and possibly to join the nascent Navy of the Independent State of Croatia ( – RMNDH). Arriving in Divulje, he attempted to damage the boat before departing for Split and eventually to Zagreb where joined the armed forces of the newly-established Axis puppet state Independent State of Croatia ( – NDH). His first and only posting with the NDH forces was that of a harbour officer in Makarska, where he soon came in touch with local members of the communist party, eventually becoming its member in late 1941. After months of secretly spreading propaganda material and passing information on Italian and NDH plans to the communists, Škorpik was ordered by the Party to abandon his post and make way to the Biokovo mountain. On 1 December 1942, Škorpik, his father, NCOs Stjepan Muhtić and Ratko Franković with the help of several partisans of the Biokovo Battalion "Vid Mihaljević", escaped Makarska taking with them dozens of rifles and ammunition. Škorpik left a proclamation calling on other naval personnel to follow their example, asserting the "truncated Croatian Navy existed only on paper" and how "... our fleet has been treacherously handed over to the enemy... using their guns to attack our villages and cities".

Yugoslav Partisans

Ten days later, Škorpik made his way from Biokovo to the Fourth Operational Zone Headquarters () in Glamoč, from where he continued to Bosanski Petrovac arriving on 18 December. There, he was invited to the Supreme Headquarters to brief the Party leadership on the actions carried out by Partisan forces on the sea and discuss future possibilities. Writing on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Yugoslav Navy in 1952, Josip Broz Tito recounted meeting Škorpik:

On same day of 18 December, The Supreme Headquarters issued the order for the creation of the Naval Section () adjunct to the Fourth Operational Zone Headquartersd with Škorpik in command. Škorpik assumed command in Livno on 23 December with the task of gathering personnel and forming the First Naval Detachment (), while Muhtić and Franković were instructed to return to the coast and establish naval stations. The Naval Detachment was formed in Podgora on 23 January 1943 composed of around 150 partisans and a flotilla consisting of two armed boats. The Naval Section was disbanded in February when the Fourth Operational Zone Headquarters became the 9th Division Headquarters, while Škorpik assumed the command of the Naval Detachment. After several successful defensive actions along the Makarska Riviera, the Detachment was reorganized in March 1943 as the Biokovo Partisan Detachment with Škorpik continuing his command. In mid-May, he assumed the role of the Chief of Staff of the Cetina Detachment, followed by the role of commander of the Group of Cetina Battalions in August.

Following the Italian surrender in September 1943, the Partisans took control of the Dalmatian coast and islands previously occupied by Italian forces, prompting German forces to recapture Split, Šibenik and Zadar fearing a potential Allied amphibious landing. On 19 September 1943 the Coastal Command ( – OK) was formed in Split with Škorpik as its commanding officer. The OK consisted of an armed ships flotilla, the 1st Island Brigade, coastal artillery and a single floatplane. It began operating in a situation where Partisan and German forces were engaged in heavy fighting for Split, while the unit itself lacked any serious supplies or equipment to fulfill the tasks set before it. The order to retreat from Split was given on 23 September and on 25 September, the OK relocated to Bol on Brač

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