"FSG TOUR - SLOVENIA 2008"

FSG TOUR - SLOVENIA 2008
LETNA EKSKURZIJA FSG - SLOVENIJA 2008

DAY 4: PULA
4. DAN: PULJ

Photo/Foto: A.J.Potocnik, Caspar Vermeulen, Zlatko Devedzic, Charles Blackwood

14.5.2008

This page is part of the SiteO web site.

..."Pula was the main port for the Austrian Navy for over 50 years and from 1850 the port was heavily fortified first by a ring of 10 tower forts followed in the 1880s by an outer ring of 9 detached artillery forts. The last phase came after 1900 with the island fort of Brioni Minor, to be our first stop We arrive at the little port of Fazana; here our boat Brijunka takes us out to the island. The island is wonderful, inhabited only by caretaker Ivica Bolant who looks after this very substantial fort "...
..."There were two 30.5cm L/40 guns, two 24cm L/356 guns and four Skoda 15cm L/40 guns (lower left, middle, and top right on the plan), two of which remain and a further four 7cm L/42 guns. Three caponiers project into the ditch and at least one of them was in very good condition indeed, with MG mounts still in place. There was also a torpedo station, with metal sliding doors - shut, rusty, but complete, and I found a further battery around the bay. "...
..."We left the island at 2pm and made our way back to the coach and towards Pula and its two rings of forts. Fort Punta Christo is on the western end of the outer ring, with a tower fort at its core and turned into an artillery fort by the addition of two wings and the conversion of the tower into a huge gun pit"...
..."Back on the coach and onto Fort Bourguignon, one of the last, larger, inner ring tower forts, where Zlatko Devedzic who looks after the fort showed us around. It is in good condition, with two very nice stone caponiers and a counterscarp gallery . There was no record of armament prior to WWI, when it had four 21cm M/80 coast mortars and four 9cm 1975/96 field guns. After the fort we went to a local restaurant Stari Grad 01 for an excellent marine dinner and then the long drive back to Ljubljana."...
(From FSG tour report in Casemate,
written by Alistair Graham Kerr)
with permission by the author and the editor.
Mike Brock, an eminent British engineer, was delighted and amazed to see the ENGINE ROOM of the fort Brioni Minor. Strongly believing this heritage must be saved he compiled this report (please click here). >>>

Photo above right:
Pula is best known for it's Roman amphiteatre and stop there was a must. But that wasn't the main reason for FSG visit, but rather forts once defending main Imperial&Royal War Navy port of Austria-Hungary.

Slika zgoraj:
Rimski amfiteater je najvecja znamenitost Pulja in postanek pri njem je bil obvezen. A cilj ekskurzije FSG so bile trdnjave, ki so nekoc branile glavno pristanisce Avstro-ogrske cesarskokraljeve vojne mornarice.