Raid on Pula

Viribus Unitis sinking

Date	1 November 1918
Location	Pula, present-day Croatia
Result	Italian raid successfully sinks flagship Jugoslavia (formerly SMS Viribus Unitis)

Belligerents

Italy

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs

Commanders and leaders

Paolo Thaon di Reve

Janko Vuković †

Strength

1 MAS
2 diversants

port strongholds
around 20 ships

Casualties and losses

1 warship
50 or 250-400 sailors

Raid on Pula was a maritime raid undertaken on 1 November 1918 during the end of World War I. It was carried out by two officers of the Italian Regia Marina with the goal of damaging the Austro-Hungarian fleet anchored in the bay of Pula. The fleet was handed by the Austrians to the newly established State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs only a couple of hours before the raid, with Janko Vuković, previously an officer of the Austro-Hungarian navy, being declared the commander-in-chief of the new state's navy. State of SHS, declared neutrality in the war and informed the Allies shortly after taking over armed forces on 31 October. However, the attackers were not aware of this, and had rigged the main ship SMS Viribus Unitis (renamed to Jugoslavija) with explosives, which ended in the ship's sinking and the death of Vuković.

Coordinates: 44°52′36″N 13°48′27″E / 44.8767°N 13.8075°E / 44.8767; 13.8075

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