During the Cold War years, the Yugoslav Navy had one of its main naval bases in the Croatian city of \u0160ibenik.<\/p>\n
\u0160ibenik has had a turbulent history. It was part of the Republic of Venice<\/strong> until the end of the 18th century, when it was taken over by the Austro-Hungarian Empire<\/strong>, which established a naval base there in 1905. After World War I, the city and its naval base became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia<\/strong>. During World War II, \u0160ibenik was annexed by Italy<\/strong> and occupied by Germany<\/strong>.<\/p>\n At the end of World War II, \u0160ibenik became part of Yugoslavia.<\/strong> During this period, the naval base was modernised and specialised in ship repair (it actually functioned as a shipyard), until in May 1991, it passed into the hands of Croatia, together with 15 ships of the Yugoslav Navy that were based there<\/strong>, approximately a quarter of the naval force that that country had at the time of its dissolution.<\/p>\n Yugoslav forces attempted to retake \u0160ibenik and its naval base in September 1991,<\/strong> in a bloody battle that ended in a Croatian victory. Finally, the shipyard was privatized in 2004, losing its military character<\/strong>. One of the abandoned facilities of the former \u0160ibenik naval base are its old fuel tanks, located underground so that they could survive any attack. A few days ago, Tattooed Traveler<\/a> published a video showing his exploration of these tanks:<\/strong><\/p>\n
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