On 13 August 1914, at the beginning of World War I, the Baron Gautsch, an Austro-Hungarian passenger ship, sank in the Adriatic Sea during its voyage from Kotor (Montenegro) to Trieste (Italy). The ship ran into a minefield just laid by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
The 127 passengers who were killed were buried in the military cemetery in Pula (Croatia). The shipwreck was found in 1958 and listed a Croatian national heritage site in 1995. Nowadays, the shipwreck is one of the most popular diving destinations in the Adriatic Sea. Each year, divers commemorate the shipwreck.
HRT Magazin reported this year’s commemoration. In one of the interviews, Niksa Smoje talks about his grandfather Nikola Smoje, a passenger who survived. The video also shows photos of the Baron Gautsch before the accident.
Read the article and watch the video on the HRT Magazin website (both are in Croatian, you can use the Google Translate application).
For more information about the Baron Gautsch and the accident, visit Wikipedia (in English).
Read more on Maritime Heritage.