History of the museum
The Croatian Maritime Museum Split, formally established in 1997 by the City of Split, is the successor of a long tradition of maritime heritage institutions in the city, beginning with the Maritime Museum founded in 1925. The museum is located within the 17th-century Gripe Fortress, a unique and well-preserved cultural monument. Its mission is to research, collect, preserve, and present the tangible and intangible maritime heritage of the Adriatic coast from prehistory to the present day.
The museum’s permanent exhibition covers a wide span of maritime history. In the courtyard, visitors encounter large artifacts such as the bow of the steamship Bakar and the gajeta Perina from 1857, one of the oldest surviving vessels on the eastern Adriatic. The galleries illustrate the development of ships and seafaring, from ancient amphorae and anchors to Dubrovnik sailing ships, steamships, and early motor vessels. Highlights include models, navigational instruments, and artifacts from naval expeditions, such as the logbook of the Austro-Hungarian frigate Novara (1857–1859).
The museum also presents the military history of the Adriatic, from Illyrian and Roman ships to Venetian galleys, the Battle of Lepanto (1571), and the decisive Battle of Vis (1866). The Austro-Hungarian era, the World Wars, and Croatia’s War of Independence are represented through original objects and artworks.
A centerpiece of the collection is the torpedo, invented by Ivan Lupis and manufactured by Robert Whitehead in Rijeka in 1866. The museum preserves the world’s oldest surviving torpedo and hosts one of the most valuable torpedo collections globally, making it a highlight of international maritime heritage.
Departments and Collections – Postcard Collection
Formed in 2012, the collection consists of postcards and correspondence dating from the late 19th century to the 1960s, featuring a wide range of motifs. These include ships, landscapes, panoramas of Adriatic cities, monuments, political and social events, portraits, everyday scenes from Dalmatia and beyond, as well as depictions of the navies of Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Yugoslavia, and the SFRY.
The majority are black-and-white photographic postcards from the first half of the 20th century, produced by both domestic and foreign publishers, some printed for propaganda or humanitarian purposes during wartime. Particularly valuable are postcards reproducing works by renowned Austro-Hungarian marine painters Johann Seits, Alexander Kircher, and Harry Heusser.
Collection of Uniforms, Costumes, and Equipment
The Collection of Uniforms, Costumes, and Equipment of the Croatian Maritime Museum Split primarily includes naval uniforms from the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Yugoslavia, the Independent State of Croatia, the Yugoslav Navy, and the Croatian Navy. It also contains items from foreign navies whose warships visited Split during the 20th century, such as those of Great Britain, France, Israel, India, Canada, the Netherlands, Mexico, Australia, and Greece.
Among the most valuable cultural and historical items are the early 19th-century uniforms of the sailors of the Boka Navy and two 19th-century sailor’s chests. The collection also preserves items from Croatia’s more recent history, including pieces from the Croatian War of Independence: part of the uniform of Mile Čatlak, the first commander of the Croatian Navy’s 1st Special Naval Detachment (1991), and the ceremonial uniform of Sveto Letica, the first admiral of the Croatian Navy.
The collection further contains numerous pieces of naval and officer equipment such as epaulettes and shoulder boards, belts, caps, cap badges, and various naval buttons from the navies that served in the Adriatic.
Collection of Weapons and Weapon Systems
This is the largest collection in the Museum, covering a time span from the 10th century—represented by an early Croatian sword—to machine guns and hand grenades known as škveranke, produced in the Split shipyard and used during the Croatian War of Independence.
Among the cold and firearms from the 16th to 19th centuries, highlights include a heavy naval musket and weapons of the Boka Navy sailors from the 19th century. From more recent history, a notable exhibit is a Browning machine gun used in World War II, which later saw active service again during the Croatian War of Independence before being returned to the Museum, a story documented in writing and displayed alongside the weapon.
Part of the collection is presented outdoors, featuring the most impressive exhibits: naval and fortress cannons from the mid-19th century, two Škoda naval guns from World War I, and anti-aircraft guns from the period 1936–1942.
Collection of Torpedo Weapons and Equipment
Among the treasures of the Croatian Maritime Museum Split, the Collection of Torpedo Weapons and Equipment holds a place of exceptional importance. Essential for any serious study of naval warfare, it traces the development of the torpedo, the most dominant naval weapon until the end of World War II.
The collection originates from the factory museum of the Whitehead Torpedo Factory in Rijeka, founded in the late 19th century. After more than a century of production, the factory closed in 1966, donating its museum collection to the Naval Museum in Split, which later became part of the Croatian Maritime Museum in 1997.
Today, the collection is presented in a modern exhibition format. It highlights both the historical context and the technical challenges behind the invention. Key artifacts include the world’s oldest preserved torpedo warhead (1866) and tail section (1868), showcasing the pioneering ideas of Giovanni Luppis and the engineering breakthroughs of Robert Whitehead.
Collection of Ship Models
Since the development of maritime history cannot be represented without ships, yet entire vessels cannot be preserved in a museum, the Croatian Maritime Museum Split has built a significant Collection of Ship Models. These models, crafted as faithful replicas of real ships, hold the same museological value as original objects.
The collection includes over 125 ship models, as well as models of the Gripe Fortress (19th century), seaplanes, a combat aircraft, a helicopter, a racing sailboat, and a crane. The oldest models date back to the Adriatic Exhibition of 1925, such as the 19th-century two-masted sailing ship of unknown authorship. Other highlights include models of traditional Dalmatian vessels like the leut and gajeta, still preserved in their original oak display cases, and finely detailed Dubrovnik sailing ships.
A large portion of the military ship models—spanning from the Austro-Hungarian Navy to the Yugoslav Navy—were built in a specialized workshop in Tivat, under Mirko Radović, while others were created in the workshop of the former Naval Museum in Split, led by Leo Verle. Together, they represent not only the ships themselves but also the tradition of naval craftsmanship and heritage preservation.
Collection of Artworks
The Artworks Collection of the Croatian Maritime Museum Split features watercolors of various sailing ships, oil paintings of steamships and naval battles, portraits of captains, and works by prominent Croatian marine painters such as Bartul Bazi Ivanković, Ivan Mirković, Vinko Foretić, Vjekoslav Parać, Jerolim Miše, and Joko Knežević.
Notable pieces include a 17th-century watercolor of the Venetian galley Galea Veneziana Capitania and an 1784 gouache of the sailing ship La Sacra Famiglia by N. Scotti. Four works depict the Battle of Vis (1866), created between the late 19th century and the 1950s, including Franz Kollarz’s color lithograph Boj kod Visa 1866 and Vinko Foretić’s oil Talijanska flota razara Vis 1866.
The collection also holds 32 cardboard oil paintings by Austro-Hungarian marine painter Alexander Kircher (1867–1939), illustrating naval vessels from around the world, and eight works by Johann Seits (1887–1967), another renowned painter of the Adriatic and its ships.
Collection of Flags and Signal Flags
The Flags and Signal Flags Collection is one of the larger collections in the museum’s holdings. Its oldest items date back to the second half of the 19th century, including flags of the Austro-Hungarian naval and merchant fleets and the Pelješac Maritime Society.
From the partisan naval operations during 1941–1945, the museum uniquely preserves two flags from partisan ships in the Makarska region (1942), used before the establishment of official Yugoslav naval and merchant flags in December 1943.
Most of the collection was inherited from the former Yugoslav Navy Museum, and therefore consists predominantly of naval flags, command flags, pennants, and ship rank flags. A special subsection includes flags and desk flags of shipping companies, ranging from the early 20th-century flag of Jadranska Plovidba d.d. from Sušak to the modern flag of Splitska Plovidba d.d., designed in independent Croatia.
Collection of Orders, Medals, and Plaques
The museum holds a collection of approximately twenty commemorative medals, dating from the early 19th century (e.g., the Treaty of Paris, 1814) to the mid-20th century (e.g., Nikola Karković medal, struck in 1966 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vis).
Notable pieces include the Wilhelm von Tegetthoff medal by prominent Viennese medalist Josef Tautenhayn; a medal commemorating the frigate Novara expedition (1857–1859); Ferdinand de Lesseps medal (1869) marking the opening of the Suez Canal; the Ivan Gundulić medal from the unveiling of the poet’s monument in Dubrovnik (1893); and the Normandie transatlantic medal awarded to passengers on its maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York (1935).
The collection also contains orders and medals from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Yugoslavia, and the Republic of Croatia. Most items relate to the SFRY period, excluding awards given to Josip Broz Tito and foreign heads of state.
A notable modern contribution is from Mile Čatlak, the first commander of the Croatian Navy’s First Naval Commando Unit, who donated all awards he received from Croatian presidents Franjo Tuđman and Stjepan Mesić.
A special subsection includes plaques from foreign warships that visited Split from the early 20th century to the present.
More about our departments and collections can be found on our website.
For more information about our work, you can find it here.